The Hallervorden Collection

Rating:
Summary: The Price of Freedom
Review: The Hallervorden Collection is a powerful story told at a pace that does not let up. The author's masterful use of language and skill as a storyteller take the reader outside his or her own time and culture to lay bare the truths about the timeless struggle between good and evil, and then returns him with a jolt to the present, more aware and questioning.

Using the alarming increase of NeoNazism in today's Germany as a springboard, the novel follows the heroine, Maia Dietrich, on a trail that leads eventually to an unlikely group that was behind Hitler's excesses, and which is still promoting the same ideas from positions of power around the world.

Although the background that plays out may be alarming, it is based on well-researched fact, with dramatic license taken only for the main characters and their experiences. The Hallervorden Collection, for instance, does exist. It was the subject of a CNN report on October 7, 1997.

But there is another side to this novel that is completely refreshing and takes this story beyond Ludlum or Clancy. The main characters have a clarity and vitality that makes them heroes of a different caliber. Their values and understandings are clear, and their emotions, subtle or raw, are palpable. While the theme is deadly serious and cerebral, the book is not. It contains lighthearted and exciting moments, with enough suggestions of sex and violence to keep the readers' baser instincts intact. The author's insouciance and irrepressible sense of humor and understanding of the positive side of life, shine through, making the novel a celebration of life. The moments of innocent love, the delightfully idiosyncratic life style of the wealthy Hollywood film director, the love and caring of family, and many poignant vignettes of ordinary life provide a reality and relief that makes clear why the ugly, the evil and bad must be overcome.