Professor Hank Thorwald and his wife, Rebecca, attend a faculty party where a
parlor game has disastrous consequences for them and their daughter in Boyll’s
hardcover debut (after ten paperback novels—all horror or movie tie-ins).
Under hypnosis, Hank reveals that he is the reincarnation of Adolf Hitler and
offers what appears to be convincing proof. This leads to a tangle of perilous
and ultimately unbelievable complications involving the Thorwald family, a corrupt
investigative reporter, a wily academic with a secret past, neo-Nazis (and their
opponents), remnants of the Hitler Youth, and others in search of the Führer’s
bones. As the story ranges from the American heartland to Germany and back, multiple
plot lines slowly begin to intersect, but the increasingly violent action becomes
almost cartoonish in its excessiveness. This is all the more disappointing given
the beautifully developed characters. Still, Boyll’s work will interest
readers who enjoy suspense. Recommended for public libraries.