Hart's War

March 1, 1999
Vivid and unpredictable characters and diabolically imagined suspense distinguish Katzenbach's (The Shadow Man) seventh novel. Set in the desperately bleak landscape of a German POW compound during the latter days of WWII, this is a thriller with more on its mind than entertainment, as Katzenbach tackles the theme of racial bias that breeds explosive consequences. Held captive since 1942, 2nd Lt. Tommy Hart--ex-Harvard Law student and navigator on an ill-fated B-25--is one of the most senior POWs at Stalag Luft 13 when African-American 1st Lt. Lincoln Scott, P-51 pilot, arrives as a new prisoner in May of 1944. Abrasively antisocial, lone-wolf Scott isolates himself from the other American officers, and quickly becomes the target of racial hatred from oft-decorated, Mississippi-born Capt. Vincent Bedford, aka "Trader Vic"--a treacherous wheeler-dealer who will barter anything to friend or enemy alike. He is soon found in the latrine with his throat cut and Hart is appointed to defend the obvious suspect, Scott, against what seems to be his impending rendezvous with a firing squad. Facing almost hopeless odds, Hart enlists the aid of two British POWs with astute forensic credentials. Slowly, a pattern of deceit begins to take shape, revealing duplicity from both POWs and captors. Katzenbach's setting is flawlessly grim, and his characters chillingly reveal the divisive bigotry of soldiers ostensibly fighting for the same values, as well as some unexpected sources of redemption. Despite some unnecessary repetitive details (e.g., the ineffectively recurring symbol of Hart's cherished wristwatch), this deeply affecting, artfully paced war epic will hold readers enthralled to the nail-biting end. Military Book Club and Literary Guild alternates; film rights to MGM.

November 15, 1998
Imagine if "The Great Escape," "To Kill a Mockingbird," and a history of the Tuskegee airmen were melded into one weird plot. The author would have to create the trial of a black man, framed for a crime committed by a white man, set it in a German POW camp for U.S. and British pilots, and resolve all narrative problems in an escape attempt. So it is in this Katzenbach tale, which kicks off when the Germans discover the murdered body of "Trader Vic," the camp's wheeler-and-dealer of contraband. Tuskegee flier Lincoln Scott is charged with Trader Vic's murder; at the trial, the bad blood between him and Vic, an unreconstructed southern racist, supplies enough apparent motive to convict. But hero and defense counsel Tommy Hart ferrets out exculpatory clues in between stilted conversations with Lincoln concerning the experience of being black, circa 1944. The clinching clue drops out of the sky--a German guard reveals that Trader Vic's inventory came from him--confirming readers' early suspicions that it was his transactions, not his racism, that cost Trader Vic his life. This is confirmed by the tunneling escapees in scenes lifted straight from the exploits of Steve McQueen and friends. Technically, the mystery and trial aspects of Katzenbach's story function properly, but the novel's supporting structure is borrowed and barely believable. ((Reviewed November 15, 1998))(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 1998, American Library Association.)