An Army of One: A John Rossett Novel

Set just after WWII, in an alternate universe in which the Nazis won the war and occupied Britain, Schumacher’s taut third John Rossett novel (after 2015’s The British Lion) pits the morally compromised English police detective against a worthy adversary. Rossett’s superiors in the Metropolitan Police, who both fear and mistrust him, have relegated him to pushing papers, but that doesn’t stop Kripo Generalmajor Erhard Neumann from enlisting Rossett’s aid on a sensitive inquiry. SS Capt. Karl Bauer, a ruthless killer known as the Bear, gunned down Franklin Hawthorn, an American consul, in Liverpool, shortly after shooting dead three random Englishmen in the street. The local police arrested Bauer at the scene. When Rossett and Neumann interrogate Bauer, he refuses to explain why he killed the diplomat. After Bauer manages to regain his freedom, he goes rogue and disappears into the ruins of Liverpool. A suspenseful cat-and-mouse game with Rossett ensues. Schumacher enhances the captivating plot with the impressive feat of making his lead, whose collaboration with the Germans included fighting the British resistance to the occupation, somehow sympathetic. Agent: Nat Sobel, Sobel Weber Associates. (Aug.)