Official Review: The Reich Device by Richard D. Handy

[Lennycat]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Reich Device" by Richard D. Handy.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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It is Leipzig, Germany in 1933. Hitler has just become Chancellor, and the Nazi Party is stretching its tendrils of hate and power all over the world. The University of Leipzig doubles its security checks and there are Nazi soldiers everywhere. No one can come and go without identity papers and anyone found at night can be arrested without justification. The Reich Device by Richard D. Handy explores this era in his Historical Fiction novel released in 2015.

A brilliant theoretical physicist named Gustav Mayer has made an incredible discovery using quantum energy. He goes to his friend and colleague, Albert Einstein, for advice. They worked together on the Theory of Relativity, but will Professor Mayer’s new discovery be used to travel to the stars or for evil against his fellow man? Einstein’s housekeeper is a Nazi spy and listens in as Einstein and Mayer work out his new, carbon-based theory. She immediately reports this to Commandant Kessler, a cruel and sadistic man, who decides to apprehend Mayer.

One night, as the SS soldiers are closing in on Professor Mayer, a man in grey comes out of the shadows to strike them down. The Grey Man kills the two Nazi brown shirts by throwing knives at them and whistles as he walks away, into the dark. His mission is to protect Mayer at all costs. Who is the Grey Man and who is he working for? Can he keep Professor Mayer alive?

The Reich Device is an action-packed thriller that takes place in Germany, Britain, America and South Africa, with characters that include Sir Hugh Sinclair, the head of the fledgling Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) and rich Americans ready to invest in German interests, like John D. Rockefeller. At times, Handy’s writing is poetic, as when he describes the Professor as he works on his equations: “If physics was music, then this was Mozart.” I especially liked that Handy’s expertise in nanotechnology comes to the forefront without being too technical. He explains the science behind the story line in a simple manner, so that it is easily understood and doesn’t get in the way of the action. I also like that the author does fully explore Mayer’s character at the beginning of the story. For instance, we learn that Mayer’s wife dies of Spanish influenza in 1919, and he is so very lonely without her. For him, there is only his work and the symphony of his numbers.

Some of the fight scenes went on and on and kept the story from moving forward. In other scenes, Handy uses explicit and graphic violence to get his point across. A few of the characters in the book get little mention and were never fully resolved, as is with the character of Nico, Professor Mayer’s assistant. Nico is introduced early in the book with only a line or two and then gets taken to a work camp, but we don’t ever hear from him again. Other characters are shallow and one dimensional. For example, The Grey Man’s love interest, Emily. Her character is fragile and weak and she seems to be emotionally unstable throughout the book. It left me with little sympathy for her.

Other characters are not historically believable, such is the case with Einstein’s character. It is difficult to believe that Einstein would push Mayer so hard to publish this new carbon technology, knowing fully well that the Nazis would use this new technology to grow their power throughout the world. Einstein simply wasn’t a believable character in this story and I could not fathom that he would be so pacifistic and naïve towards the Nazi regime.

I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. Although I enjoyed the action-packed thrills of the story, and enjoyed its movie-like scenes, the historical inaccuracies of some of the characters was a turn off for me. There were also several technical errors scattered throughout the book. For instance: "titled" was written instead of "tilted" and "theart" was written instead of "the art". However, this book will appeal to those people that enjoy thrillers with lots of action and some violence who don’t mind real historical figures being molded to fit into the story line.

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The Reich Device
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Like Lennycat's review? Post a comment saying so!

[Kelebogile Mbangi]

Too bad about all the errors and action scenes that dragged. I enjoy historical fiction and this story sounds promising, might check it out. Thanks for the review.

[kandscreeley]

I've seen this one around several times. I'm still considering it. Thanks for the review.

[Azeline Arcenal]

I don't like how this book has historical inaccuracies. Otherwise, it would seem like a good book to read. Great job on the review!

[KlareAllison]

Nice job on the review. Historical narrative with identifiable historicsl names? A must read for me!

[Jeremie Mondejar]

Thanks for the review. I will try historical fiction too. I guess it's full of information and exciting places to encounter.

[LadyClaire]

This one sure packs more than a handful. I'd really love to know who the grey man is. Thanks for the review

[The Researcher]

It looks exactly my kind of book as it involves quantum physics and theory of relativity. I am definitely going to read it.

[Gratey12]

I have always liked historical fiction. The suspense and anticipation are worth the time and I realize that it is the storyteller who is taking liberties of his/her heroes making the tempo jump with excitement or crawl boringly.

[cluborg]

If well known historical characters are used in the book, they should be accurate and fully researched, otherwise it just looks amateurish. Great review thought.