The British Lion

Set in 1946, Schumacher’s sequel to 2014’s The Darkest Hour, in which the Germans have won WWII, does not improve on its predecessor, though it does have a few imaginative flashes. For example, Joseph Kennedy, the American ambassador to Occupied Great Britain, believes that the business investments that the U.S. and Germany are making in each other’s countries will keep the peace between them even after the Nazis get the atomic bomb. Policeman John Rossett, Hitler’s favorite Englishman and the lion of the title, seeks redemption for his collaboration with the Germans, one of whom is his SS officer friend, Ernst Koehler. Frank King, an American intelligence operative, seeks a Jewish scientist who holds the secret to the atomic bomb. King’s efforts lead to a violent confrontation with Koehler’s wife and daughter, setting Koehler on his trail. The mechanism for Rossett to make amends will strike many as contrived, and it’s not coupled with a psychologically well-developed lead. Agent: Nat Sobel, Sobel Weber Associates. (Oct.)