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I am a sucker for books of the "Hitler's Doctor's Dog hid art works in the salt mines of Silesia and the caves of the Harz Mountains" so when THE AMBER ROOM came in, I grabbed it. This one had it all, including Tsarists AND Stalinists. The book opens in 1945 at Mauthausen Concentration camp. Four Russian prisoners are ordered out into the freezing early spring night to help Herman Goring torture some German prisoners. Goring wants to know the location of several truckloads of stolen artwork that these men had been charged with hiding from the oncoming allies. The prisoners die rather than talk.One of the Russians is Karol Borya, who understands a little German. The scene, and the words, never leave his memory. More than 50 years later, Karl Bates enters the courtroom of Judge Rachel Cutler. He wants to change his name back to Karol Borya. He is tired of hiding, and his daughter, the Judge, is pleased to do so. The Nazis (and the Russians) stole many works of art. Some have been restored to their rightful owners. Others have been squirreled away in hidden collections, never to be seen again. A group of these collectors, calling themselves the "Retrievers of Lost Antiquities" try to outdo each other. They meet once a year and show one of their treasures to the other members of the group. Of course, the Amber Room, dismantled in the Soviet Union in 1941, taken to Germany, and subsequently lost, is the prize. The book is a fast moving thriller. It has everything for a movie of the week--torture, murder, search for stolen goods, beautiful works of art including a room made entirely of amber and gilded wood, castles on the Rhine, and caverns in the mountains. And we mustn't forget family values and revenge. It's a good first novel by a lawyer, and if you like thrillers, then try this one. You won't be disappointed.
Reviewed by Barbara Franchi, July 2003
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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