Hunting the Hangman
In the realm of historical fiction, getting the facts correct is critical. But so is spinning a story the reader cannot put down. In Hunting the Hangman, Howard Linskey does both and with seemingly effortless aplomb.
In 1941-42, Nazi Germany is almost unstoppable in its march of conquest. Next to Hitler, one of its most fierce and diabolical soldiers is the high-ranking SS officer Reinhard Heydrich. The Deputy/Acting Reich Protector of Bohemia and Moravia, Heydrich brought a reign of terror to the Czechoslovakian people under his iron hand. His participation in the controversial Wannsee Conference in 1942 confirms him as one of the main architects of the Final Solution, which slaughtered millions of Jews across Europe. Hunting the Hangman details the extraordinary real-life plot to assassinate Heydrich by the Czechoslovakian government-in-exile through two of its willing soldiers: Jan Kubiš and Jozef Gabčík. From their British Special Operations training to their death-defying infiltration of Prague and analysis of Heydrich’s movements, Linskey keeps the pedal firmly to the floor as the climactic moment of ambush arrives on May 27, 1942. The aftermath is detailed in breathtaking sequences as the net closes on Kubiš, Gabčík, and other resistance members as they desperately seek to escape the city. The historical truths of Operation Anthropoid’s conclusion are realistically and touchingly portrayed by Linskey. In particular, the author’s imagined meditation of Heydrich’s final moments, along with a very creepy hospital bedside visit by Reichsführer Heinrich Himmler, are indelibly inked into the reader’s mind.
Hunting the Hangman is a high-powered WWII thriller that works more effectively than most of its genre simply for being true. Fans of WWII espionage history will want to take Linskey’s heartstopper of a novel for a fast ride.
