Twilight of Evil

By George Alexander (Old Monk Publishing. January 2025)

Genre: Historical Fiction

Pages (print): 284

Via: Author Request

Note: We received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Fegelein pressed the top corner of the panel. It clicked and opened inward, revealing a narrow, dark passage. Hitler took Eva’s hand. “We depart.”

Move over John le Carre, Ken Follett, and Hilary Mantel. There’s a new kid in town. Name’s Alexander. George Alexander. And he’s penned one doozy of an historical fiction tome in Twilight of Evil. Like this:

A faked suicide? Body doubles? Look-alikes and stand-ins? A hidden passage and a staged suicide shrouded in uncertainty? Did Hitler, aka: Evil Mustache Due (EMD), really die at the end of World War II? Or did he escape, leaving a trail of lies and deception in his wake with visions of rebuilding the unthinkable from the ashes of defeat: A Fourth Reich?

Explores

Twilight of Evil explores how EMD, along with other high-ranking Nazis, may have escaped at the end of World War II. It includes possible escape routes. Potential hideouts. A web of collaborators and sympathizers.

The reign of terror had ended in the twilight, but the scars it left on the world would bleed for generations to come.

Then and Now

As the book opens, we join young David Hazel, a Jewish researcher, in a Berlin café. He’s waiting for historian Dr. Peter Alex. Alex soon supplies David with a “hefty leather-bound book.” It contains fifteen years’ worth of historical research and “tells the story of the Nazi regime’s final days in April 1945.” It focuses on “the escape of several high-ranking Nazis, including Hitler himself,” and their lives afterwards in exile in South America.

The book’s title? Twilight of Evil: Deconstructing the Nazi Escape. It’s an “unpublished manuscript.”

Diving In

Highly skeptical, David remains determined to go where the evidence takes him and dives in. So do we.

We’re transported back to April 1945, Berlin. The Third Reich is crumbling. So is Germany. Hunkered down in his underground bunker, Hitler, aka: Evil Mustache Dude (EMD), looks to escape.

EVD, Eva Braun and select high-ranking Nazi officials flee Berlin and head for Spain. After escaping Germany and Europe with the help of Spain’s Generalissimo Franco, EMD & Co. hightail it down to Argentina. They’re followed by the thoroughly bite-able Martin Bormann.

Kimber: What’s up with that Evita chick? And the American intel guy, Allen Dulles? You know. The airport guy. The plot thickens as the tangled web of lies, deceit, and intrigue gets even tanglier. (Kimmi: New word I just made up.)

The most feared leader in Europe, the shrewd politician who had crushed his enemies with an iron fist, had dissolved into an ordinary man, … The once vibrant flame flickered, a fading ember threatening to be extinguished by the encroaching night.

Circling Sharks

Meanwhile, the CIA, KGB, and the Mossad circle like sharks in the water. We rejoin David and Dr. Alex some 200-ish pages later as questions linger: Did EMD and other notorious Nazis really die in an underground bunker at the end of WWII? Or was it “a meticulous deception, a carefully and meticulously articulated pseudocide”?

A seed of doubt had been planted, and Jim, a man who thrived on uncovering secrets, knew he wouldn’t rest until he watered it with truth.

Buckle Up

Masterfully told and skillfully written, Twilight of Evil is a remarkable work of historical fiction. It’s powerful. Gripping. Haunting. It’s also a deep dive into a tortured mind and one of the darkest chapters of human history. The taut, tense storyline offers plenty of action and intrigue. We read it cover-to-cover in one day. In the end, Alexander leaves you to your own conclusions in this intense and gripping tale of What if…? So you might want to buckle up, Buttercup.

A Few Bones

That being said, we had a few teensy-weensy bones to pick with the book. Like, the narrative starts feeling redundant after awhile as we follow EMD’s descent into Paranoialand and Nutsville. (We get it that the guy’s unhinged. No need to beat us over the head with it.) The text could also use some additional editorial attention to clean up the stray typo, dropped comma, or repeated repeated word. But these are minor issues and do not detract from the overall read, which is quite absorbing and exceptionally well done. A list of historical figures in the novel and recommended books is included.

Final Analysis: Grab a Shovel

History buffs and lovers of historical fiction will enjoy this incisive and absorbing read. So will anyone who enjoys a good story well told. May we never forget.

Perhaps the truth lies somewhere in the shadows, waiting to be unearthed.

So, grab a shovel and start digging…

Our Rating: 4.0