1979. What I thought it was going to be: a ridiculous B movie type book about Nazi zombies in (then) modern day times. What it was: an actual realistic example of what could easily happen again. In fact, I’d hardly classify this as a horror novel though there is a smidge of supernatural going on.
We start at the end of World War 2. SS guy is contacted by mystery higher up Nazi guy. He gets told he is to go to the US undercover to start an extension of the Third Reich there. A sub takes him to a small Massachusetts town. He gets in his little rowboat and starts heading for the shore. Out of nowhere a US plane comes flying over and bombs the sub. He dies in the blast and sinks to the bottom.
Jump to the 70’s. Local cop gets an offer from the town rich guys to start a security business to protect their stuff because the cops just ain’t cutting it. He wants no part of it. He decides to go scuba diving after his shift. He stops by his buddy’s house and borrows his boat. Down in the depths he finds something shiny in the ocean floor. I hope it’s not some haunted Nazi memorabilia!
It’s the I.D. bracelet of the SS guy. He puts it on and is now possessed by the evil spirit of Nazi. The two personalities act as one for a little while. The Nazi does eventually take over. He starts the security business, hires brute criminals, dresses them in militia gear and forms his own little military.
He uses fear to get the town to feel that they need the new militia to protect them. He uses intimidation and violence for the ones who are against him. We all know the drill. Oddly enough there wasn’t really any mention of race or religion. The Nazis in this book we’re just basic aggression with the only centralized ideology being power. There was a lot of violence against women though. Holy Shit. A lot. It was rough to get through. It made me physically angry. Like, I was on edge. I wanted to walk out my door, find some shitbag and take it out on them. But yeah, this book was some, “it could happen here” type scary shit. It was amazing the way you watched it happen slowly and escalate to a point where it was completely out of anyone’s hand to stop. It was definitely a page turner but I think I’d like to go back to fun horror now. Real world horror is terrifying.
Dell books 1979.
\\\\\ Review by Nick Anderson Instagram:@next_stop_willoughy
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