(I received a free copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.)

November 1943: Adolf Hitler sanctioned his most audacious mission ever—to kill US President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston Churchill while they visit Cairo for a secret conference to plan the Allied invasion of Europe, an invasion which threatens imminent defeat for Germany.
Only one man is capable of leading the defiant Nazi mission—Major Johann Halder, one of the Abwehr’s most brilliant and daring agents. He is a man with a tortured soul and a talent for the impossible. Accompanied by an expert undercover team and Rachael Stern, the young and beautiful Egyptologist, Halder must race against time across a hostile desert to reach Cairo and successfully complete the assignment, or else forfeit his life and the life of his son.
When US military intelligence hears about the plan, they assign Lieutenant-Colonel Harry Weaver, one of their best officers, to hunt down and eliminate Halder and his team. But for Weaver, as well as for Halder and Stern, there’s more than the balance of war and the lives of the Allied leaders at stake—a pact of love and friendship will be tested in the frantic, high-stakes chase to the death.

Well, this was one of those occasions when you realise that you can't always go back when it comes to books...

When I saw this book was available on Net Galley, I thought, "Cool, haven't read one of his books for ages. I really enjoyed Brandenburg (and one or two others) back in the day. This should be cool..." Turns out I was wrong...

Turns out, this is a reprint of a book that was previously called "Sands Of Sakkara" - just been given a new name and a new cover. I kinda remember enjoying it a few years back so I thought, "Well, why not?" I can tell you why not...

It isn't a very good book. The plot sounds great (if you are into that kind of thing) and I do like getting stuck into a big, thick book - as long as the story is there...

And it wasn't. It was messy, full of clichés and it felt like the author had seen some cool WW2 films on TV one night and decided to write a book the next morning...without sleep. It is WAYYYYYYY too long - some 600 pages in total - and could have done being 450 or so. Too much waffle and too little action.

So, my lesson from this is - always be careful going back to reading books you read 20 years ago - they may not be quite what you remembered!


Paul
ARH

Was unable to read and review this book in a timely fashion.