Fatherland by Robert Harris

 

(pb; 1992)

 

From the back cover:

“Berlin, 1964. The Greater German Reich stretches from the Rhine to the Urals, and keeps an uneasy peace with its nuclear rival, the United States. As the Fatherland prepares for a grand celebration honoring Adolf Hitler’s seventy-fifth birthday and anticipates a conciliatory visit from U.S. president Joseph Kennedy and ambassador Charles Lindbergh, a detective of the Kriminalpolizei is called out to investigate the discovery of a dead body in a lake near Berlin’s most prestigious suburb.

“But when Xavier March discovers the identity of the body, he also uncovers signs of a conspiracy that could go to the very top of the German Reich. And, with the Gestapo just one step behind, March, together with the American journalist Charlotte Maguire, is caught up in a race to discover and reveal the truth—a truth that has already killed, a truth that could topple governments, a truth that will change history.”

 

Review

Fatherland is an excellent alternate-history thriller, near-flawless in its flow, action and often nuanced characters. I was immediately immersed in its familiar-yet-strange world (set in Germany). I was put off by a key character’s noble but (I felt) unnecessary, plot-convenient sacrificial actions—I can see why Harris might’ve been tempted to have said character do that, in order to set up a cinematic set-piece of a memorable ending but it seems there was a simpler, less character-dumb way of getting to that finish/scene. That said, Fatherland is a great book, and one of my favorite reads of 2025.

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Fatherland’s cinematic counterpart, a cable/HBO film of the same name, began airing on November 26, 1994. It was directed by Christopher Menaul, its screenplay penned by Stanley Weiser and Ron Hutchinson. Rutger Hauer, who played Xavier March, and Miranda Richardson (Charlie) starred, supported by other great players.

Not Quite Dead Enough by Rex Stout

 

(pb; 1944: tenth book in Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe series. Novella anthology. “Not Quite Dead Enough” originally appeared in abridged form in The American Magazine, December 1942. “Booby Trap” was also published in The American Magazine in August 1944.)

 

From the back cover

“The army wants Nero Wolfe urgently, but he refuses their clarion call to duty. It takes Archie Goodwin to titillate Wolfe’s taste for crime with two malevolent morsels: a corpse that refuses to rest in peace and a sinister “accident” involving national security. It’s up to the Grandiose Master himself, Nero Wolfe, to set the traps to catch a pair of wily killers—as Archie lays the bait on the wrong side of the law.”

 

 

Review

Quite places Archie Goodwin and Nero Wolfe indirectly, in U.S. military service, specifically, the Army—after all, World War II is raging, and neither Goodwin nor his former employer (as of two months ago) are cowards, unlike other characters in Quite.

 

Quite is made up of two linked, patriotic-but-not-brain-dead novellas.

 

The first, “Not Quite Dead Enough,” features a returning supporting character, Lily Rowan, from Some Buried Caesar (1939). She, a fledgling romantic interest of Goodwin’s, tells him about a friend of hers (Anne), who might be in danger. Goodwin is busy with other stuff, like getting on with his new life as “Major Goodwin” in the Army intelligence sector, after ten years of working for Wolfe, as well as trying to get the suddenly health-conscious Wolfe to use his brain, not his body, in service to the Army. Then a dead body related to Lilly’s concerns come to their attention, shuffling Goodwin and Wolfe’s initial intentions back a step or two.

 

“Quite” is often delightful and hilarious, especially Wolfe and Goodwin’s friendly sparring and manipulations. As with other Wolfe works, there’s a strain of sexism on Goodwin and Wolfe’s part in both Quite novellas, more so with the latter character; this is not a complaint, merely noting how Quite reflects societal leanings back then. The killer is not surprising (for those who care about that), but the ride is a blast. Great read, “Quite.”

 

The second, “Booby Trap,” like its preceding novella, places our two leads in unfamiliar situations, often livening up the usual Wolfe story set-ups. “Trap,” however, is less warm and charming than Quite’s first novella, perhaps because of its military setting: Wolfe and Goodwin investigate the strange “accidental” death of an Army captain (Cross) who was on a hush-hush mission involving an experimental hand grenade. The stakes are heightened when another corpse is dramatically brought into (non-)being, compelling the two sleuths to further urgency in solving the case.

 

“Trap” is a good, fast-paced (for a Wolfe story) work, with a finish born of Wolfe’s dark side and notions regarding justice and, to a certain extent, patriotism.

 

Quite is followed by The Silent Speaker.