The Blood Red City

In book two of the epic Never War series (after 2015’s The Suicide Exhibition), Hitler was alerted to a spacecraft crash in the Black Forest in 1934 and wanted to use the alien technology to conquer the world. Station Z, a small group inside British Intelligence, swore to prevent this from happening. Now, in 1942, they are in search of three ancient axes that could be the keys to world destruction. It’s a journey that takes our Station Z heroes all over the world before an explosive climax in the Minotaur’s labyrinth. Richards, an author of numerous Doctor Who novels, seems to be an omnivorous recycler as he showers the reader with variations on H.P. Lovecraft, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and Raiders of the Lost Ark. Though the book is otherwise entertaining, the characterization is sacrificed for action and the narrative suffers from constant crosscutting that would work better in a movie. (Apr.)