Blood Red Sand

Larkin returns to the implausible premise of 2019’s Big Red—in the 1940s, Adolf Hitler and the Nazi leadership used alien technology to flee Earth for Mars, where they’ve established a colony—for another action-packed if not entirely successful alternate history. In 1952, President Truman must respond to the continued threat the Germans pose, deciding to use soldiers from England and France to fight them on Mars. As that operation gets underway, Reichsführer Ernst Wagner of New Berlin torments his de rigueur attractive female captive. He intends to make her “the first living subject of the Hollow Programme,” which aims to change warfare by bringing dead soldiers back to life. Mars’s Jewish population, meanwhile, works to mobilize an effective resistance. The many combat scenes keep the pages turning but aren’t particularly memorable, and the worldbuilding isn’t always logical. Hard SF fans will take issue with how little attention is paid to the mechanics of life on Mars—and tossing in time travel doesn’t help matters. This is strictly for fans of the first book. (July)