Rory Clements’ latest book, published last year, is the second instalment in the Sebastian Wolff series and follows the Munich detective after the events of the first novel, Munich Wolf.
On opening the first page of Evil In High Places, you are lost in a world of thrilling fantasy and amazing intrigue. The stakes are higher than ever and you become hooked in the world of 1930s Germany as the wonder of the Winter Olympics collides with the terror of the Nazi regime in its infancy, where polarising politics and the making of fictional films come into conflict and the aristocracy of Bavaria must contend with the harsh realities of a regime it supports. Throw in a film star who goes missing and some sensitive murders and you have a situation that no man on the planet would be able to navigate and only one man could even try: Sebastian Wolff.
Try putting this book down and you simply can’t. Lovers of spy thrillers, historical fiction and history of the period during and in the run up to the Second World War will love this book, the content being right up their street and then some. But there’s something more that Clements does in this story, whether intentional or not. He takes the travelling bug and sends it out of his pages to bite the reader and instil in them an inspiration and yearning to explore.
Snow covered mountains, beautiful buildings and fascinating history; Evil In High Places doesn’t just tell a great story, it sells the reader on great places. From the bustling city of Munich to the peaceful beauty of the Scharnitz Pass leading into Austria, Rory Clements gives the reader plenty of potential places to explore. One in particular, however, stands out above the rest.
The town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, born of the union of the separate settlements of Garmisch and Partenkirchen, takes centre stage in the second instalment of the Sebastian Wolff series. Famous for winter sports, hiking and nature and culture and history, Garmisch-Partenkirchen plays the key role in the story but is also sold by Clements as a wondrous place to discover, its charm knocking back the negativity of the Nazi history which is focused on primarily in the book.
From lessons about the political history of Germany and the Nazi regime to lessons about the local townships of Bavaria, the second instalment of the Sebastian Wolff series has much to take in.
Rory Clements has done it again. A man who seems to never run out of ideas has produced another literary, fictional masterpiece which is extremely difficult for readers to put down. In Evil In High Places, the reader can enjoy fantastic fiction and fascinating facts, all printed and bound. If this book isn’t high up on your reading list, bump it up as it’s a work not to be missed.
Words by James Jobson
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