W.E.B. Griffin Zero Option

Informationen zum Autor Peter Kirsanow Klappentext "Dick Canidy races to stop an assassin from disrupting a vital conference that will shape the course of World War II in the latest electrifying entry in W.E.B. Griffin's New York Times bestselling Men at War series"-- Leseprobe Chapter 1 76 Tirpitzufer, Berlin 1355, 17 August 1943 The eyes of the Oberstleutnant stationed behind the desk in the anteroom to the office grew wide with awe as the door opened. The most important and imposing figures in all of the Wehrmacht had at some point during the war walked through that door: Guderian, Jodl, Keitel, Blomberg, Rommel-even Himmler and Göring. At some point each had reason to meet with Vice Admiral Wilhelm Franz Canaris, chief of the Abwehr. The Genius. Each of the figures was powerful and impressive in his own right, commanding vast military or political resources. But none, save perhaps Rommel, had a reputation as storied as the man who had just walked through the door. SS Obersturmbannführer Otto Skorzeny would be impressive even to those who were oblivious to his many exploits that had bedeviled the Allies since the advent of the war. The commando's muscular six-foot-four-inch frame conveyed the attitude and physicality of the superb natural athlete he'd been before the war, as did the four-inch scar that spanned his left cheek-the consequence of a fencing duel while at university in Vienna. So consequential had his covert missions been that it was claimed that when British general Bernard Law Montgomery and his staff were poring over the detailed maps of Operation Husky-the massive July invasion of Sicily that had engaged nearly two hundred thousand Allied troops as well as more than seven thousand ships and aircraft-he had scanned the German troop, tank, artillery, and aircraft positions and asked his subordinates just one question: "But where is Skorzeny?" The Oberstleutnant glanced at the large black-and-white wall clock above the door. All visitors to Canaris's office were expected to arrive five minutes prior to the scheduled appointment. No exceptions, no matter the visitor's importance. In most cases, those who were late were required to reschedule. Skorzeny, however, was precisely on time. Skorzeny presented himself before the Oberstleutnant and said affably, but with standard Teutonic decorum, "Obersturmbannführer Skorzeny at Herr Admiral Canaris's pleasure." The Oberstleutnant gestured deferentially toward one of the two chairs to his right. "Yes. The admiral awaits. Please be seated until the appointed time." Skorzeny smiled. "I prefer to stand." At precisely 2:05 p.m. the Oberstleutnant cleared his throat, rose from behind his desk, and opened the door to Canaris's office. Skorzeny proceeded through the door and saw Canaris seated behind a small, highly polished desk completely devoid of paper, pens, or memorabilia. Skorzeny stood in front of Canaris's desk. Even at attention the commando looked relaxed and composed. Nazi Germany's intelligence chief placed the memorandum he was holding on the mirrorlike desktop and gestured for the commando to take a seat in one of the three high-backed chairs that formed a semicircle around the desk. Skorzeny bowed slightly and then sat in the middle chair. Canaris said nothing for several seconds, his thick white eyebrows forming a canopy over his penetrating eyes-their gaze appearing to look through and beyond anything they were directed toward. Most found the gaze unnerving. Skorzeny simply smiled. Canaris spoke softly and precisely. "You have been briefed?" "Only, Herr Admiral, that the mission in question concluded without obtaining the objective." "That was an understatement, whoever briefed you. Were you informed of the nature of the objective?" "I was told that its purpose was to obtain strategically critic...

Product details

• Authors: Peter Kirsanow
• Publisher: Putnam Publishing Group
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 02.04.2024
• EAN: 9780399171222
• ISBN: 978-0-399-17122-2
• No. of pages: 384
• Dimensions: 158 mm x 239 mm x 32 mm
• Series: Men at War
• Subject: Fiction > Narrative literature