The Berlin Covenant

Paul's debut is long on stereotypes and short on originality, but her potboiler simmers along nicely with all of the right ingredients: decaying Nazis; likable, acculturated American Jews; and a heroine so selflessly good she can heal with a touch. The plot revolves around brimstone, an explosive that rivals atomic weaponry and can confer everlasting life and youth. The Nazis' plans to exploit its destructive potential were foiled by Isaac Kauffman, the Jewish scientist who had discovered the compound and who, before his murder by the SS, managed to pass the secret along to a novice nun, Margarethe, who shut the convent door in his face. She keeps the formula for 50 years, until Kauffman's nephew and then two Nazis show up at the convent in Harringdale, Pa., where she is now mother superior. Margarethe sends Brie Prescott, raised in the convent to avoid an abusive father, to deliver the formula to Kauffman's family. By the story's end, the Nazis have once again been defeated, brimstone has been tested and its use foresworn for the good of humanity and Brie has found true love. (June)