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Simon Tolkien, grandson of J.R.R., has written a gripping WWII espionage tale in his thriller ORDERS FROM BERLIN. His grandfather may have created the fantastical Middle Earth, but this Tolkien recreates for his readers a time in history that was all too real. As the book opens, it is September 1940 and the head of the Gestapo, Reinhard Heydrich, is plotting to use a carefully cultivated mole in the British secret service. The man, a British citizen named Charles Seaforth, has been gaining excellent notice from his London superiors because of the quality of information he has been supplying, supposedly from his own contacts in Hitler’s inner circle. His co-worker and immediate superior, Alex Thorne, distrusts Seaforth, and suspects him of being a spy. When a secret message is intercepted, Thorne brings it to the home of Albert Morrison, a retired agent who was once the department’s head. Later that day, Morrison is murdered, pushed off a landing. Suspicion settles on Morrison's pompous son in law, mainly because a Detective Quaid is in charge of the investigation, and Quaid's main focus is on closing the case. His subordinate, Detective William Trave, however, is drawn to discover the truth, even at the peril of his own job. Trave, the hero of two previous Tolkien mysteries, is a thoughtful and persistent investigator. Yet both Trave and Thorne are powerless to impress their superiors with the dangerous situation that they believe is occurring. How this plays out in the book creates tension and suspense. Seaforth hatches a diabolical plan that targets Churchill, and it seems that nothing can stop him from carrying it out. It is the time of the London blitz and the seemingly imminent German invasion. Tolkien recreates the sense of this horrific period in a brilliant manner, making the reader feel the state of constant terror under which the populace lived. Descriptions of nighttime bombing raids, thick blackout curtains, cramped and unsanitary conditions in the underground shelters, people being buried alive when buildings collapsed or slowly drowned when water pipes ruptured, all add verisimilitude to the book. Never knowing where the next bomb might fall could easily drive people crazy, yet seemingly normal life went on. Although the book's intensity is lost as it nears the end, with some less than convincing background information about Seaforth and his motivation, the book as a whole is intriguing, historically possible, and a compelling read. The story Tolkien tells probably did not happen, but it could have, and if the spy's plot had succeeded, our world might be very different today. Anne Corey is a writer, poet, teacher and botanical artist in New York's Hudson Valley.
Reviewed by Anne Corey, January 2013
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