Robert Shaw (1) (1927–1978)

Inspired by a true account, this is the story of a middle-aged British doctor who discovers an African tribe that lacks sweat glands. Shaw does a good job in creating a doctor who is tormented by his childhood , who relishes the fame his work has brought him and who tries hard to show compassion to others but sometimes fails.

Gave this a good try, but it wasn't engaging me. The situation was peculiar, but not well enough explained. Two British airmen have been taken captive, ostensibly for their own safety, by a German soldier who keeps them confined in a basement for years, long after WWII has ended. They are not physically or psychologically abused, but they have no idea that the war is over. They each develop their own ways of coping with their isolation. Their jailer's motivation is never explained, at least show more up to the point where I chucked it. The dialog isn't natural; it feels more like a stage play than a novel. I couldn't stick to it long enough to get to the promised "turning of the tables". show less

"Chained-up in a Nazi cellar for seven years, the two airmen had no idea the war was long over -- even after they escaped!" Psychological thriller, focuses on the adaptations of the two British airmen who are kept to fill the pathological needs of a sick little man. I kept thinking as I read the book that it was almost stage-ready, the dialogue read like a play, and discovered only after I finished that the author was an actor and playwright.

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