Review: Michael J. Merry's Latest Novel, Magician in Black

Author: Michael Merry

Publisher: PulishNation LLC

ISBN: 978-0-359-66389-7

Until I picked up a copy of Michael Merry's most recent novel, Magician in Black I had been aware of only one daring assassination attempt on Hitler's life that transpired in July of 1944 where Claus von Stauffenberg and other conspirators attempted to murder Hitler inside his Wolf's Lair field headquarters near Rastenburg. I was not cognizant that there were dozens of other verified plots as Merry points out on the back of  his book.

Set against the backdrop of these assassination attempts, Merry concocts quite a doozer of a yarn wherein he creates a fictitious character, Dieter Goff , who is an extremely competent detective with exceptional investigative skills. Goff becomes known as 'der Magier' or the Magician as a result of his ability to extract incriminating information from prisoners. His modus operandi, after receiving a file pertaining to someone, was to scan it, as he had an excellent memory, and with the information he pulls together, proceed to the interrogation room to commence his inquiry.

Once he was in the interrogating room, he would dismiss the arresting officers, pointing out to them that he felt sure that the prisoner won't cause a problem. This was all pre-arranged. He would then order for himself and the prisoner tea and biscuits making sure that the prisoner was relaxed before commencing his interrogation. When the snacks arrived, Goff would put on a great display of removing the captive's handcuffs that would create a kind of trust between him and the prisoner. Even the most obnoxious prisoner was treated in the same manner. In addition, Goff would assure the detainee that he would be freed if he fully co-operated with the investigation. The detainee did not realize that Goff was in possession of a great deal of incriminating information prior to his commencement of the inquiry. Consequently, he knew exactly how to separate truth from fiction. If the captive lied, he would be subjected to some very cruel punishment at the hands of Goff's staff that eventually would lead to his divulging all that Goff set out to acquire.

Heinrich Himmler, who was Reichsführer of the Schutzstaffel (Protection Squadron; SS), and a leading member of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) of Germany, became aware of Goff's skill through a recommendation made to him by Goff's superior. Himmler was searching for someone who was extremely qualified to root out any plot against Hitler's life. Before personally meeting with Himmler, Goff met with Reinhard Heydrich, a Himmler protégé and the head of the Secret Service, and was awarded the job of weeding out ambitious assassins. Not only was Goff efficient but he could also be trusted as he was one of the earliest members of the Nazi Party having joined in 1922.

As Goff diligently goes about his work in organizing a top notch team to protect Hitler, he becomes the head of the Führer Protection Unit of the SD and is greatly admired by Hitler, Goebbels, and Göhering.

Along the way, he begins a relationship with Ilse Sint, a refugee from Stalin's purges who supports her lavish lifestyle by buying and selling properties for newly enriched Nazi party members. Sint is a friend of Heydrich's wife and is privy to a great deal of gossip which at times proves quite useful to Goff. The couple also participate in delivering on behalf of Himmler and Heydrich monies that were illegally acquired to a Swiss bank. The couple are handsomely rewarded and both open their own Swiss bank accounts which would prove invaluable in the future.

Merry draws a vivid portrait of an era of one of the bleakest periods in history, the rise of Hitler and his consolidation to power which makes this an intriguing narrative with all the right elements in place. Its strength particularly lies in the manner in which he seamlessly interweaves real people and events with invented characters. Moreover, he effectively balances his plot theme and structure around Goff while cleverly using historical background, dramatic pacing and detailed construction piquing the readers' curiosity if such a person actually existed.

No doubt, Merry has done his homework in re-creating the historical setting. His skill to reveal character in small gestures and poignant reflection adds to their authenticity. We do know there were numerous bodyguard units over the years which provided security to Hitler. Was Goff the leader of one of these units? Incidentally, Merry provides his readers at the end of the book with a list of what happened to the characters mentioned in the narrative? As he states, many died during the conflict, others survived and here is what we know.

My only gripe about the novel is that there were several spelling and typo errors as well as a date that was way off. With a good proof reader, these could have been avoided.

FOLLOW HERE TO READ NORM'S INTERVIEW WITH MICHAEL J. MERRY