Review: Not one I would recommend.
Rating: 2 out of 5
Date: 11 13, 2012
Book Review: Bismarck 2013 - Hitler's Curse by Robert WalkerReviewed by J Bryden LloydWriting Style - 2.5/5.0 (Average)A flowing style with fair dialogue are all big positives for what must have been a huge undertaking as a writer. Unfortunately I thought the general editing let the book down slightly, but a nicely twisting set of sub-plots that make this a reasonable read.Character Development - 3.0/5.0 (Okay)Credit where it's due, the characters on the dive team are good and reasonably well rounded, and the two main characters develop continually throughout the story. I did not feel this was the same for the other characters in the early stages.As the story moves between past and future, the author uses the actual crew of the Bismarck to build his story around, developing one unique, fictional character in the midst of the genuine crew members, who is the key to the unfolding story.Descriptive - 2.0/5.0 (Poor)A bit of research would have made a good descriptive very much stronger. The environment of the dive-ship is perhaps not given the finite detailing that the Bismarck gets, or even the mini-subs, but the atmosphere and the feelings of the crew feel real and potent in the pre-dive narrative.Regrettably there were a lot of historical inaccuracies with regards to the state of the war and other details in the general narrative (too many to detail here). Suffice to say the author missed a trick here.Once the dive begins and the main plot is revealed, the tension-building is very good and very consistent throughout.Language & Grammar - 3.0/5.0 (Okay)The editing is not of a high standard, and I would suggest a read through and polish, but the author uses his word selections well to impart a lot of information throughout the story - if more of this had been as fact-based as the names and jobs of the crew members, it would have made this far more readable. The atmosphere in the part of the book dedicated to the `tapes' was nicely enveloped in the narrative, and the genuine doubt felt by some of the team was very well portrayed.Plot - 2.0/5.0 (Poor) - MINOR SPOILERSThe story revolves around the historical facts surrounding the voyage and sinking of the German WWII Battleship, Bismarck, but uses a fictional story of intrigue and horror to build an alternative tale of what happened aboard the fated ship as the British fleet closed in. Unfortunately, mixed in with all of this, are a LOT of incorrect facts.The sub-plot of the fictional British spy aboard Bismarck, and the underlying threat of the casket delivered personally by Adolph Hitler, play the central roles in the historical flashbacks of the piece.I thought the balance of this was good, and the use of the genuine crew members (some of whom survived) stood as testimony to the work the author put into those elements of the book.As a paranormal thriller, this was good, but I have to say that the general issues with the research side of the work made it exceedingly frustrating. As much as I can see where the author was going with this, it may have been better to have an entirely fictional ship and then the story would not have been relying so heavily on true historical fact.The ending of the mission was slightly predictable, but good nevertheless. I did, however, feel that the epilogue seemed to be hurried and (for the most part) unnecessary.General - 2.5/5.0 (Average)This is one of those books that the paranormal fans will stay away from, thinking it's all about the battle that sank the Bismarck. At the same time, thriller readers, will dodge it because they think it's all ghosts and blind panic.In fairness, there is a reasonable element of both, but this fits nicely into the paranormal thriller genre, despite the fact-based subject matter being off the mark. If this is something you are not bothered about, perhaps this is the book for you.I'm not going to say it's the best I've read. It isn't.2 stars. Not really something I would recommend, but whatever floats your boat.