James W. Huston (1953–2016)

I would recommend that you have had some exposure to the early 20th century history to be able to get the most out of this book. I have read William L. Shirer’s The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich which helped me understand a lot of the “whats” and “whys” in the book. The book revolves around the search for the most holy relic to the Nazi culture, the Blood Flag (Blutfahne) which holds the blood from the first Nazi “Martyrs” who died during the 1923 Beer Hall Putsch. Hitler show more treated it like a holy relic. It disappeared shortly before the war ended.

Kyle Morrissey specializes in international terrorism for the FBI. He experiences a moment of unreality when days after attending the D-Day Ceremony at Normandy, he and his family are caught in a Nazi march in Germany. He questions how the evil the greatest generation fought and beat can still be in existence. As he researches modern Nazi-ism, he becomes obsessed, leading him to cooperate with the FBI agent in charge of tracking Neo-Nazis. Before too long Kyle finds himself looking for the Blood Flag as a way to gain admission to the top Neo-Nazi group in the world.

I enjoyed the history in the story. I thought the characters, especially Kyle and Jedidiah were interesting but never fully fleshed out. During the incident that starts Kyle’s obsession, he is accompanied by his wife and children. They promptly vanish except for one or two mentions for the rest of the book. He drops his own work in International Terrorism to pursue his Nazi obsession and the FBI does not reign him in. Jedidiah’s backstory is never truly explored. He was a virulent Neo-Nazi and now he is a confidential informant for the FBI. I never really got a good handle on his conversion. The German officers in the equivalent of the FBI remained a question on whether they sympathized with the Neo-Nazis or not.

To be clear, I enjoyed the book. I listened at every opportunity I had for the last few days. It certainly held my attention. But it ended somewhat abruptly and I was left with a lot of unanswered questions (see paragraph above).

Peter Ganim did a nice job as a narrator. He handled all the accents, American (both Southern and more non descript) German, and Russian well. Mr. Ganim did a nice job with the few females when they made appearances. His pacing with consistent with the action. The production values were excellent. I would definitely listen to another book narrated by Peter Ganim and will read another by James W. Huston. I just wish he had made The Blood Flag a little longer so my questions were answered.

Story (Plot) 4
Performance 5
Production Quality 5
Attention Holding 5

"This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of Audiobook Jukebox dot com." show less

I had the book in my possession for two months, and delayed reading it, thinking it'd be "ok", but probably just another military action adventure like so many others. Now, I regret the delay. It ended up being a very good legal thriller, filled with courtroom drama, a likeable ex-marine lawyer defending a French helicopter company in a wrongful death / fraud lawsuit, an easy to dislike opponent who was an unethical class-action lawyer, no superhuman hero character, some suspense and show more intrigue, and a smattering of international politics. I think if you like the style of Scott Turow and John Grisham, you'd like this book too. show less

Expecting a book about flying adventure and helicopters, I got a legal drama. Despite the book's wrapping in the banality of the legal process, the theme and exciting plot continued until the very end. I thought that a couple of the lawyers ought to be taken out back and shot, but that is the talent of the author coming through. Teased with innuendo and crammed with facts, the book is a winner. Read more Huston!

Really good listen. I enjoyed every minute of it. Our hero, an FBI agent tears after a Nazi relic. He co-opts a disaffected Southern boy Nazi and they have adventures. I thought that the bureaucracy didn't do a very good job of keeping up with him and they would have been more controlling in actuality. Author is a former Navy NFO and I enjoyed the dearth of Navy advocacy in this book. There was a good bit of history involved and it was well told. Overall, intriguing story.