Golden Quest
by John Warner
Trafford Publishing

book review by Peter M. Fitzpatrick

A secret cache of Nazi gold, papers identifying fleeing Nazi's aliases, and an early form of biological weapon have been hidden by a group of S.S. men in the final days of the war. The barn where the three items have been buried winds up inside the "forbidden zone" between East and West Germany following the war, surrounded by mines and machine guns, making retrieval by interested parties impossible. In 1990, the Wall has fallen, and one Raymond Barton is sent by a British magazine to cover the re-unification process. He unknowingly visits the locale of the secret cache, and while hunting for information for a magazine article, is mistaken by interested parties as actually hunting for the cache. What follows is a whirlwind of murder, torture, and gunfire as every intelligence service from the Israeli Mossad to the British Secret Service seem to be in pursuit of Raymond. He enlists the help of an old German girlfriend of his, Astrid, who, together with his fiancé, Mandy, form what they call the "the three musketeers." Fleeing across Germany while being shot at, being kidnapped and brought to an aged Nazi holed up in Paraguay, and stealthily flying to the U.S. to warn of an impending biological attack, the three unlikely heroes show endless courage and determination. Meanwhile, old Nazis have proceeded in tandem with Middle Eastern terrorists to unleash the biological agent and cripple the U. S. economy.

Part Bourne Identity, part Odessa Files, and part Boys of Brazil, this is a fast-paced, page-turning romp full of international intrigue and nonstop action. Full of historical details about Nazis at the end of WWII, various governments' secret harboring of such for their own purposes after the war, and even modern manifestations of the same mindset in figures such as Pinochet and Middle Eastern terrorists makes for thought-provoking reading. The three main characters are sympathetic, innocents drawn into a world of ruthless intelligence services with secrets to maintain, terrorists intent on eliminating them, and even aged Nazis intent on world domination. Written before the World Trade Center attacks of 9/11, the author shows prescient perception in his depiction of the Middle Easterner's germ warfare attack on New York City. Written in smallish segments from varying viewpoint and time perspectives, the web of events and intrigue unfolds seamlessly as the story progresses. His psychological depictions of terrorists and Nazis ring true and make the historical elements come to life.

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