Excellent book on factional theories

Fantastic book written on the South American Nazis and in particular Dr Josef Mengele and post war experimentations.
But how much truth lies in the story? Some would argue there is now lots of evidence pointing to it and certainly so much more since this excellent book was written.
Highly recommended.

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Pure Genius

This book asks and almost answers every what if question about WW11 that I've ever asked myself. Brilliant story, brilliant narration, brilliant everything. I don't know if it's obvious but I loved it!

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A chilling cloning what if ...

Not previously having read the book, or watched the film adaptation, came to listen to this with an interest fueled by a few actual known facts. History has told us of the infamous Dr Josef Mengele, the Auschwitz Angel of Death, his concentration camp experiments on children, particularly twins, that he evaded justice for his crimes, escaping to South America. And, rumors have continued to rumble that whilst in exile there, he most likely continued his fascination with theories of eugenics. Evidence to suggest he did, came to light as recently as 2009, by the discovery that in a remote Brazilian town regularly frequented by him in the 1960's, a well above average number of twins were born, the majority blue eyed, blond haired!!!
So to the story its-self, a young American Jew in Sao Paulo having spotted a member of the notorious South American Comrades Organisation, he follows him to a meeting, & has the groups conversation recorded.. It reveals a bizarre sounding plot, the deaths of 94 men world-wide, all of whom had similar jobs, and all aged about sixty-five. It's instigator Mengele, declares it will ensure the Aryan races destiny & eventually bring forth a Fourth Reich! This discovery results in the young mans murder, but not before he has alerted Liebermann, an elderly hunter of Nazi war criminals, who is left to solve the puzzle, the question of what connects all these men destined to die & why.
True to a good thriller, I didn't see the answer, adopted, cloned babies coming. Turning the nature v nurture argument on it's head, in the taking into account of the importance of nurture, the right environment etc along side nature to make a future Fuhrer is breath takingly clever. And, the irony of having Mengele killed by a German Doberman at the command of one of his little designer boys from Brazil is not lost on me.
When published in the 1976, author Levin's premise based on biological engineering, although scientifically possible in the 1970's, still saw Mengele's plan belonging firmly in the realm of fiction BUT now it's not nearly so far-fetched. Cloning of animals, favourite pets is here, genetically modified plants & livestock are in the food chain, and engineered bacteria & microorganisms are currently used in medical science, so the prospect of made to measure babies is not far away, if not already happening in exclusive private facilities.

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So good. Everything about it.

Mark Meadows is an incredible reader. He goes from character to character (doing all the voices) so convincingly.

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Great what if story

Imaginative blending of reality and possibilities, the demise of the third reich whilst plotting the fourth from the depths of the jungle brings a detailed picture of what if to life. Brilliant narration, well executed. Listen!!

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Nail-biting

Scarily good. Well paced, gripping and authentic. I couldn't wait to get back to listening to this book. I'm glad I didn't see the film.

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A great story

I have watched the film which I really enjoyed, listening to the book being read brought me great enjoyment. Mark Meadows narrated so well which added to a great story line.

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I stayed up all night listening to this!

Once I started listening, I could not stop. Brilliantly written, paced and read - I highly recommend this audiobook. The narrator is superb and the plot and characterisation is amazing.

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A stark warning about unchecked science

I don't know how far the scientists have come when it comes to cloning a human being, but this book, written in 1976,discusses it from the most chilling point of view. Imagine recreating Hitler and the circumstances he lived in.
There is an ethical dilemma facing a reader at the end of the novel. A very tough one, each of us can answer for ourselves.

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Fantastic!

Great story, excellent performance. Thoroughly recommended. An adventure story to put others to shame. Brilliant.

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3 people found this helpful