Otto Eckhart’s Ordeal: Himmler, The SS and The Holy Grail by Niall Edworthy

Synopsis

It is 1937 and an aimless young historian, back home after six years idling, is summoned to Berlin.He is both thrilled and uneasy to be tasked with an extraordinary assignment: find the Holy Grail and bring it back for the glory of Nazi Germany. Otto Eckhart is right to be anxious. Events soon take a troubling turn and, with a dire threat hanging over him, he is set on an impossible course from which there is no obvious escape.The feckless dreamer must use all his ingenuity and courage to defeat his inner demons and outfox Himmler’s SS and Gestapo. In hunting down the sacred chalice of The Last Supper, can Eckhart discover his own Holy Grail and come of age as a man? Otto Eckhart’s Ordeal is a darkly humorous tale inspired by true – and incredible – events.

 

Bookollective and Blog Tour

I was talking about some historical fiction book over twitter where Bookollective found me and asked if I’d be interested in reading some more historical fiction. That is how I cam across Otto Eckhart’s Ordeal and hence became part of this blog tour. Yep, I close it.

 

Review and Rating

History, especially the aspects that have conspiracy theories going for them, have always held interest for me and I will always be in to read more and more about them. The Holy Grail is one of those things that I actually like reading about so there was no way that I was not going to pick this one up.

One thing, apart from the historical aspect, that I loved about the book was to see the very visible character development of Otto, our main character. We see how in a span of months, not only he mans up to his responsibilities but also that he matures considerably to become a sort of hero.

As an individual who had read about Nazi Germany atrocities, it was great reading the thought processes of the ones perpetrating those atrocities. History shows that there were people either committing or suffering hardships during those days but this fictional account of a thing that really happened to many, gives insight as to what thousand things may have been going on inside the minds of many. That there may have been many who may have thought themselves in over their heads with no way out unlike Otto in the story who dives into his intelligence and cunning and paves a way out for not just himself.

This fiction story also sheds light to the fact it was not just the Jews (or anyone related to them) or those against the New Order that suffered in those days, but rather all the people who the New Order could not being to heel.

All in all, a very gripping narrative and an interesting read that I give a solid 3.5!

Lastly, I would like to thank Aimee of the Bookollective for my invite to the blog tour and my copy of the book.