CODE NAME NIMROD

by James Leasor ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 17, 1980

Another tense, tricky WW II operation, by the author of Boarding Party (1979). To mask Operation Overlord the Allies are massing life-size inflatable rubber tanks and mock submarines where they'll be spotted, misleadingly, by German reconnaissance pilots. When Churchill learns that Hitler expects the big push to come through Calais--and so is keeping his Panzers and infantry divisions east of the Seine--he agrees to send a German member of X-Troop as an ""Abwehr agent"" to tell Hitler personally that he's guessed fight. ""Such an individual,"" says Churchill, ""would indeed hold history in his hands."" But the likelihood of the agent returning, once Hitler finds himself tricked, is nil. Stephen Rosenberg, son of an Austrian Jew who died after fleeing the Nazis, is chosen from X-Troop's commandos, a group of mixed European nationals. He is given a finely built new identity (in case of capture), and becomes Steven Rigby. After intensive training--including hypnotic reinforcement of his new personality--he's flown to France, holes up with Resistance fighters, and then is purposefully captured; other double-agents have prepared his way under his code-name Nimrod. Once he's into German hands and defending his identity before high-echelon Germans, Nimrod's story escalates into pure narrative where the reader hovers over each shade and tone of dialogue. His interrogations move right up the ladder, through Rommel to the Abwehr, then on to Berchtesgaden and a surreal questioning by Hitler and his General Staff--a masterfully evocative scene over the table where Hitler directs his war. The crazed Fuhrer thinks Nimrod is a dupe but nonetheless twists his false information to fit his own ""intuitive"" theory about a Calais invasion. As D-Day hits Normandy, Steven escapes and strikes out across France to meet up with the invading forces. . . . Worthy stuff, for fans of Operation Cicero and The Man Who Never Lived.

Pub Date: Feb. 17, 1980

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1980

Categories: NONFICTION