The Odessa File by Frederick Forsyth

Blogging about the books I've read helps me keep track of my goal for the year. This is number 8. Have not picked up a Forsyth book for a long while. Wanted something to read while I was waiting and had nothing to do. Actually I am reading another book but since that other book is a real book and not a virtual one, I couldn't read it on the go. This was supposed to be the in-between read but I finished it first. Finished it just before the school hols.

The novel is bent along the historical thriller type; historical events and people are used in the main storyline. The author injected his version of thrill by souping it up with some fictitious events.

This one is about the Riga. It is located in Latvia and was one of the many concentration camps in Nazi Germany. Eduard Roschmann, portrayed as the Butcher of Riga in the book was the commandant and also the villain. He massacred tens of thousands of Jews in the ghettos of Riga. That's part of the Holocaust, where millions of Jews perished. As many of 11 million perished in Nazi Germany; 0f which 6 million were Jews... Anyway, the main character Miller, an Aryan German was the one who did all the 'witch-hunting' for his own 'race' who perpetrated the evil of Riga. The author added a personal twist to the reason for his hunt, which was quite easy to make out almost right from the start.

I googled Eduard Roschmann, the Butcher of Riga (in the novel) and yes, he was real. And he was commandant of the Camp. So were the atrocities he committed. He murdered in cold blood, sent thousands to their deaths via the many unthinkable methods the SS were famous for.

While not totally accurate, the book does contain quite a bit of historical facts. Hitler's Germany was cruel and heartless. Till today, I cannot quite understand how so many people can fall for the madness of one man. How so many could foolishly follow one mad man who was so cruel and stark raving mad. I've read The Day of the Jackal and a couple of others by the same writer long time ago. This book is just as gripping as the others, a nice read to pass time.

2 more books and I'd meet my target for the year...