Hunting the Hangman - Howard Linskey

This is a very clever piece of work. For it can be accessed on a number of levels which surely guarantees it reaching a wider audience. It can be taken as a good old WWII yarn. It can be read as a spy/resistance thriller. You can enjoy it as an historical fiction. Students of the Holocaust will find it of interest. There’s even some fleeting chick lit appeal!

2017 is the 75th anniversary of the attempted assassination of Reinhard Heydrich who earned himself a number of nicknames none of which match what I’d like to call him but unprintable in this context! This book is a fictional account of that assassination attempt. 

And the result is an extremely readable and engaging book which may sound paradoxical given the subject matter. And it’s no mean feat either. A straightforward non fiction account of this event could have come across as somewhat turgid and inaccessible. I believe readers who might ordinarily eschew a book of this nature would be surprised at how much they gain from reading it. Mr. Linksey has liberally punctuated this book with humanity. The paradox of all the Nazis stood for in many ways? 

The narrative flows easily and gathers momentum as the book progresses. The historical research is impeccable and what shines though is Mr. Linskey’s passion for his subject. Without that this story would be just another tale. But he makes every word count. He makes his characters come to life and we care about those we are supposed to care about. 

I am not unfamiliar with Howard Linskey’s work and I love the way he has developed as a writer. But this book has elevated him even further in my opinion. And to know that it has been seventeen years in the making fills me with awe. 

I have a strong belief that the damage carried out by the Third Reich should never go unforgotten for the sake of those who perished innocently and those who gave their lives to resist the evil onslaught. So this is an important book. It also celebrates Jan Kubis and Josef Gabcik - all that they did and all that they stood for. Celebrate may seem an inappropriate choice of word for which I only partly apologise.