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248 pages

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"Weiland Herzfelde has absolutely reliable information that the Nazis plan a fake attempt on Hitler's life which is to be the signal for a general massacre. The sources of his information are the SA in Dortmund and a tapped telephone conversation between Hitler and Rohm." The Diaries of Count Harry Kessler, February 1933 Winston Churchill receives startling news from a German aristocrat in early 1933 after Adolf Hitler is appointed Chancellor of Germany. The aristocrat has learned of a plot to stage a fake assassination attempt on the new German leader that the Nazis will use as a pretext to declare martial law and liquidate their political opponents. Unknown to Hitler, however, his enemies within the Nazi party-the Black Front-are conspiring with renegade elements of his own SS to turn the fake assassination attempt into a real one. Churchill tells the American newspaper titan William Randolph Hearst of the fake plot and, together, they persuade Mattie McGary, Hearst's top photojournalist and Churchill's adventure-seeking Scottish god- daughter, to investigate. Mattie readily agrees in large part because exposing the fake plot may help her finally shed the unfortunate reputation she has in Germany as "Hitler's favorite foreign journalist". Soon after she leaves for Germany, Mattie's fianc the American lawyer and former MID agent Bourke Cockran, Jr., also travels to Germany to help his publisher client, Freedom House, acquire the rights to Rear Area Pig, an expose of Hitler's less-than-heroic wartime service. Once in Germany, both Mattie and Cockran find themselves in peril at the hands of the SS loyal to Hitler who will stop at nothing to keep Cockran from acquiring the book and Mattie from learning the truth about the fake plot. Threats to Mattie multiply when SS agents working for the Black Front attempt to coerce her into joining the real plot to kill Hitler. When Cockran learns the Black Front intends to kill Mattie along with Hitler at his alpine retreat, the Berghof, he reluctantly seeks the help of Reichspresident Herman Gring and Kurt von Sturm, a top Gring aide who is also one of Mattie's former lovers. The one-time rivals for Mattie's affection quickly conclude that there is only one way to protect Mattie. They must take out the Black Front snipers before they can assassinate Hitler. And time is running out

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Political

Politics

Thriller

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Publié par	First Edition Design Publishing
Date de parution	01 octobre 2016
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781506901619
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0600€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

Literary Awards and Praise for the
Winston Churchill Thrillers

The DeValera Deception

Grand Prize Winner Fiction, 2011 Next Generation Indie Book Awards
Historical Fiction Book of the Year, ForeWord Reviews 2011
Thriller/Suspense Book of the Year, ForeWord Reviews 2011

"Crisply written and meticulously researched, The DeValera Deception is a remarkably well-crafted adventure story."

Mysterious Reviews

"A fast-paced historical thriller. The historical aspects of the novel are especially true to life, giving it a strong factual feel.”

Suspense Magazine

The Parsifal Pursuit

Grand Prize Winner Fiction, 2012 Next Generation Indie Book Awards
Thriller/Suspense Book of the Year, ForeWord Reviews 2012

“Evocative of Ken Follet and Steve Berry at their best, The Parsifal Pursuit is a thrilling ride through pre-World War II Europe, a masterful page-turner you won't soon forget!” D.E. Johnson Award-winning author of the historical mysteries The Detroit Electric Scheme and Motor City Shakedown.

"Vivid portrayal of Churchill and unusual insights into Hitler's character, a fast-paced thriller that is hard to put down." Richard Langworth , Author of Churchill By Himself.

The Gemini Agenda

Grand Prize Winner Fiction, 2013 Next Generation Indie Book Awards
Historical Fiction Book of the Year Finalist, ForeWord Reviews 2013
Thriller/Suspense Book of the Year Finalist, ForeWord Reviews 2013

“This series set in America and Europe during the 1930s gets better each time out. The story about secret experiments on twins is both chilling and irresistibly entertaining.” Les Roberts , Past President, Private Eye Writers of America.

“The McMenamins have once more successfully woven together history and fantasy in a dramatic thriller.” David Freeman , Editor of Finest Hour, The Churchill Centre Journal.
The Berghof Betrayal

A Winston Churchill
1930s Thriller

Michael McMenamin & Patrick McMenamin

First Edition Design Publishing
Sarasota, Florida, USA
The Berghof Betrayal, A Winston Churchill 1930s Thriller
Copyright ©2016 Michael McMenamin and Patrick McMenamin

ISBN 978-1506-901-60-2 HC
ISBN 978-1506-901-59-6 PBK
ISBN 978-1506-901-61-9 EBOOK

LCCN 2016933630

May 2016

Published and Distributed by
First Edition Design Publishing, Inc.
P.O. Box 20217, Sarasota, FL 34276-3217
www.firsteditiondesignpublishing.com

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this book publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means ─ electronic, mechanical, photo-copy, recording, or any other ─ except brief quotation in reviews, without the prior permission of the author or publisher.
In the higher ranges of international intrigue, the actual facts in many cases were in every respect equal to the most fantastic inventions of romance and melodrama.

Tangle within tangle, plot and counter-plot, ruse and treachery, cross and double-cross, true agent, false agent, double agent, gold and steel, the bomb, the dagger and the firing party were interwoven in a texture so intricate as to be incredible yet true.

Winston Churchill,
“My Spy Story”,
Thoughts and Adventures , 1932
To Carol and Becca, the loves of our lives

And to more of the next generation, Samantha, Charlie and Solomon

Acknowledgements

We owe a debt of gratitude to many people who helped bring this book, our fourth Winston Churchill Thriller, to light. Katie McMenamin Sabo , our daughter and sister and the first writing teacher either of us ever had. With an MFA in Creative Writing from NYU, she really is, as she often reminds us, Rose Wilder Lane to our Laura Ingalls. Kelly McMenamin Wang , our other daughter and sister who, with her MBA from Dartmouth, is an excellent writer and editor herself and the engine behind the sisters’ website www.pixiesdidit.com that offers home and life organization advice based on Myers-Briggs personality types. Patrick’s wife Rebecca Perkins , formerly the head make-up artist on Law and Order SVU , and Michael’s wife and Patrick’s mom, Carol Breckenridge , an artist and art therapist, both of whom read and offered critical advice on numerous iterations of the book. Mystery writer Les Roberts , our close friend and ever-patient writing mentor, from whom Patrick took a college screen writing course when he was a junior in high school and who, like any good mentor, validated our dream while continuing to give us candid and insightful advice. Richard Langworth , the author of Churchill by Himself and a pre-eminent expert on everything Churchill . Alexis Dragony , Michael’s former assistant who typed many iterations of the first three books as did Jo Ann Chapman , neither of whom where shy on offering helpful advice. Cindy Bowman and Chuck Rosenbaum who read and offered comments on the manuscript. Gwen Minter, Ph.D , who read several iterations and proofread the final draft of the manuscript. And, finally, to all our other good friends and relatives who read earlier iterations of the manuscript and offered their comments.
PART I

Germany, England, America,
30 January—20 February 1933

“Weiland Herzfelde asked to see me on a matter of great urgency.

He has absolutely reliable information that the Nazis plan a fake attempt on Hitler’s life which is to be the signal for a general massacre.

The sources of his information are the SA in Dortmund and a tapped telephone conversation between Hitler and Röhm.

The only hope of stopping this crime is to publicize as widely as possible in the foreign Press, this being impossible at home. Perhaps that will scare them off.”

The Diaries of Count Harry Kessler,
February 1933
1
Mattie McGary

The Tiergarten
Berlin
Monday, 30 January 1933

THIS HAD BLOODY WELL BETTER BE WORTH IT, Mattie McGary thought as she stood in the center of an uncharacteristically deserted Tiergarten , shivering from the icy evening air. Even in winter, Berliners would stroll in the early evening through the spacious grounds of Europe’s largest metropolitan park. Tonight was different, unbelievably so. The park was in the center of Berlin, but its size—2.5 square kilometers—made it seem isolated from the city. Yet, the sound of the cheering crowds still reached her ears as torch-bearing Nazi SA Storm Troopers marched past the Brandenburg Gate on their way to the Chancellery Building where their leader and the newly appointed Chancellor of Germany, Adolf Hitler, waited at an open window to receive their accolades. It was nearly 8:30 p.m. and the Storm Troopers and crowds had been at it since 7 p.m. when Mattie had left the Hotel Adlon and joined the happy hordes mobbing the sidewalks as the SA marched down the streets. It had taken her twice as long as usual to reach the Tiergarten.
This had better be worth it, Mattie repeated to herself, as she waited at the base of the Siegessaute, the towering Victory column erected after the Franco-Prussian War in the late 19 th century. Topped by a gilded statue of Victoria known to Berliners as Gold-Else, the column was at the open center of the Tiergarten —formerly the hunting grounds of Prussian kings. Light from the globes of street lamps illuminated the open space around the Victory column and the gravel paths through the park, but darkness was thick among the surrounding trees and foliage casting long shadows. The gloomy atmosphere and the absence of other people in the park made her nervous, the distant cheering of the crowds notwithstanding.
It had better be worth it because, to make this rendezvous tonight with a hitherto unknown source who did not wish the new Nazi regime well, she had passed up a farewell dinner with another source well known to her in more ways than one. A good friend and former lover, he was a long time member of the Nazi party who despised almost every Nazi he met. Better still, he was a key member of the informal European intelligence network assembled by her godfather, Winston Churchill. Even more key now because he was slated to be a highly placed official in the new government being assembled by Hitler and the unsavory crowd around him. Farewell because she was leaving Berlin tomorrow morning on a train to Hamburg and then an ocean liner to North America. To her fiancé. To peace and quiet. To a country where violence was not used to settle political disputes. She couldn’t wait.
Still, what journalist worth her salt could pass up a potential scoop like this? Not her, that’s for sure. The rendezvous was with someone who had promised to give her the true story on how and why President Hindenburg today had shocked not only Germany, but also the world by appointing the Nazi leader Adolf Hitler as Chancellor of Germany. This morning, she had found a message slipped under her door at the Hotel Adlon instructing her to call a certain number from a public telephone exchange at 11 a.m. if she was interested in the story. She recognized the number was also from a public telephone exchange. Intrigued, she had placed the call. The man who answered told her that not only did he have the true story on how Hitler became Chancellor, he had a recording to prove it.
“And how do you know this?” Mattie had asked.
“The Black Front knows everything,” the man mysteriously replied.
Who or what the Black Front was, Mattie had no idea. As instructed, she had come alone. But not unarmed. She kept one hand in a pocket of her long, belted navy blue cashmere overcoat, her fingers curling around a Walther PPK automatic pistol; her other hand nervously fingering a strand of her tousled red hair which peeked out from beneath a cream colored beret.
Mattie saw a figure approaching from the west end of the park, opposite the Brandenburg Gate that was at the Tiergarten’s east end. As he came closer, she could see he was wearing a brown tweed overcoat, tan fedora and a white silk muffler that covered most