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The Runner |
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 The Runner byChristopher Reich Headline Publishing 496 pages, 2000 ISBN 0747272573 Reviewed by Faith Leslie - South Africa The action of The Runner takes place in 1945 in post-war Germany. Erich Seyss, who was once one of Germany's greatest Olympic sprinters and an officer in Hitler's SS, is detained in a Prisoner of War Camp awaiting trial for war crimes. With help and much ingenuity, he escapes. Enter Devlin Judge, a lawyer with the International Military Tribunal set up to try Nazi war criminals. He is given a virtually impossible task, to track down an elite killer trained to operate behind enemy lines and to find out what conspiracy is at the heart of the story. A beautiful woman, Ingrid Bach, daughter of Germany's aristocratic society is involved. The contrast between her former and present life is faithfully delineated. Christopher Reich's background and knowledge of the time is impeccable and the story moves with all the necessary twists, turns and reverses. His story is not one-sided and he recreates the fascinating world (with some real-life key characters) which prevailed between the Second World War and the "cold" war that existed until recent times. The denouement of The Runner is quite credible and possible, given the desperate situation and the hindsight possessed by readers who have followed accounts of political solutions. |
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