The Himmler Equation

Kennedy, author of several successful paperback thrillers ( Toy Soldiers ), takes a tried and true route with his first hardcover. In 1944 in Germany, an American scientist masquerades as a world-renowned Swedish physicist brought in to help the rapidly failing Third Reich construct the first atomic bomb, a weapon that will turn the course of the war and bring about a German victory. Karl Anders has infiltrated the very heart of the Nazi bomb program in order to sabotage the effort. Anders's life, and that of his assistant and lover, Birgit Zorn, is seriously endangered as Himmler begins to suspect his authenticity, and doubly in peril when the British conclude that the only way to salvage Anders's mission is to assassinate him. In the end, Anders and Birgit flee across a crumbling Germany, fearing that both sides want them dead. While the events strike the reader as improbable, the narrative moves at a steady clip and provides a good read. (Dec.)