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Every now and then, a book ends up in my TBR list that will hit hard and make me ponder the absolute evil that mankind is capable of in ways that go deeper than I could have possibly predicted. Die Stunde X is just that.
Written in 1994 and first published in 1995, when the author Shaun Stafford was only 25, this book was originally conceived as a stand-alone novel but it eventually became the first of the Greater German Reich series.
What It’s About:
The premise of this alternate history drama work of fiction are as follows: It’s 1994 and for about 50 years now Great Britain has become a Nazi state. The Greater German Reich controls all of Europe and there’s a Cold War going on between the Reich and Russia and the US, who have formed a Russo-American Pact against the Nazi regime.
But the British citizens are far from losing hope, and freedom fighters keep the polizei constantly busy. The best organized British resistance cell at the moment seems to be the Combat UK, and a bloody chess game is being played by both sides.
When the Third Fuhrer decides to visit Great Britain occupied territories, Combat UK sees this as the perfect opportunity to murder the leader of the Reich.
Reviewer’s Take:
What I liked about the plot is that the author leads the reader to assume where the story is going but later on, with an unexpected turn of events, introduces a series of different other possibilities. This move was masterful, in my opinion.
The story also describes five different ‘interrogations by torture’ scenes, which are very graphic. I usually don’t like to read about violence and physical abuse, but in the context of what we’re reading here, it cannot be dismissed or hidden. This is alternate history drama fiction but the vivid realism of the atrocities depicted in it will make you tremble and weep for humanity.
One thing I want to reiterate is that this is not at all violence for violence’s sake. Die Stunde X is brutal, violent, raw, and of very graphic nature. But it’s also beautiful in its absolute truths, providing a mirror for all humanity to stop. And stare. This book shouldn’t make you think “I’m glad I’m not like them!” but rather “All of us carry the seed of potentially committing heinous acts while believing in a perverse and twisted idea”.
In conclusion, I want to congratulate Shaun on a magnificent job well done. This book was written almost 30 years ago and yet it has not aged a bit. No, I can’t say that I was smiling when I got to the last page, but at the same time I knew in my mind and in my heart that this book must be praised, it must be shared, it must be read, and it must be preserved for generations to come.
Thank you Shaun, and look forward to book 2!
🦀