Finished Tu 4/24/12
An absolute delight from start to finish. I started the book thinking that it would be an espionage novel set during WWII, yet the book proved to be a tremendous character study of 'a hunter' and his 'prey'.
Hans Thomas von Gall is an aging banker who has been apprehended by the Gestapo because he has certain banking codes which allowed clients of his to transfer hundreds of millions out of Germany. Instead of divulging this information to the Nazis so that they can imprison the perpetrators and reclaim the money, Gall commits suicide. His wealthy and brilliant granddaughter, Maria Weber, also knows this information, and so does her son, Thomas.
The novel is about how young Thomas plays a cat and mouse game with the Gestapo. 'The most intelligent man in the Third Reich', Gregor Laemmle is set to find and detain Thomas, and this is the crux of the story. Laemmle is a professor of Philosophy, a cultured and well-educated man in many areas, and also, a homosexual.
David John Qartermain
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