cover image The Nero Decree

The Nero Decree

Gregory Lee. Amazon/Thomas & Mercer, $14.95 trade paper (458p) ISBN 978-1-477808-71-9

An intriguing historical backdrop%E2%80%94Hitler's decision at the end of WWII to destroy as much of Germany's infrastructure as possible%E2%80%94isn't enough to save this contrived novel from Lee (the pen name of journalist Greg Williams). In 1934 Berlin, 18-year-old Thomas Meier, who's devoted to his father, Nicolas, is devastated when his Nazi half-brother, Dieter, has Nicolas arrested. Dieter threatens Meier with the same fate if he doesn't locate a key to a safety deposit box in which Nicolas has placed valuables. Meier flees as soon as he can, and once the action jumps forward to 1945, the siblings' paths predictably cross. Meier, who has become a doctor under an assumed name, happens to be on duty at a field hospital on the Eastern Front when an injured SS officer%E2%80%94who turns out to be Dieter%E2%80%94is brought in. Meier proceeds to act in ways that prolong the plot but needlessly endanger himself and his family over the remainder of this subpar thriller. Agent: Jonny Geller, Curtis Brown. (Nov.)