The Fuhrer's Prophecy by Brian Klein
16th Mar 2023 Book Reviews
BAFTA Award-winning director of Top Gear Brian Klein last year proved that he is also an A-list author, with acclaimed political thriller The Counterfeit Candidate. Now, by popular demand, he has returned with a sequel, and another high-octane masterpiece: The Führer's Prophecy. Strap yourself in for a dramatic race against time to prevent the descendent of Adolf Hitler fulfilling the Nazi leader’s heinous plans for annihilation.
Buckle up, for new novel The Führer's Prophecy by Brian Klein is a page turner that is impossible to put down till the very end.
A thrilling and dangerous ‘What If?’ thriller, it follows on from the astounding success of Klein’s debut novel, 2021’s The Counterfeit Candidate – which has been hailed as an instant classic in the genre, becoming an Amazon bestseller with more than 60,000 sales to-date and thousands of five-star reviews.
Tantalising and gripping, The Counterfeit Candidate perfectly wove fact and fiction together into a high-concept, non-stop thrill ride which cleverly riffed on one of the world’s greatest conspiracy theories: that Nazi leader Adolf Hitler did not end his life in a Berlin bunker at the end of World War Two but instead fled to Argentina where he sired a family to, one day, realise his despicable plans.
The book received rave reviews from critics and fans alike, including among them some of the UK’s biggest celebrities including Jeremy Clarkson, Jamie Redknapp, Romesh Ranganathan and noted crime fiction author Peter James, who declared it “The best ‘what if?’ thriller I’ve read since Day of the Jackal”.
It’s no surprise, then, to learn that the novel is currently being adapted for TV but, in the meantime, its countless admirers have got their wish for a stunning sequel, which forms the second part of Klein’s ‘The Reich Trilogy’.
Set 10 years after the events of The Counterfeit Candidate, The Führer's Prophecy takes place during a time of global crises, when the Covid pandemic has swept across the planet and led all nations into lockdown.
The timing couldn’t be better for disgraced politician John George Franklin, who was revealed to be Hitler’s grandson in the previous novel.
Last time, he was narrowly prevented from reaching the White House by the combined forces of Lieutenant Troy Hembury of the LAPD and Chief Inspector Nicholas Vargas of the Buenos Aires Police Department.
When the dust cleared, he was presumed dead, but we quickly come to learn he’s still alive, and still intent on making the Nazi nightmare a horrifying reality.
We all know that one of Hitler’s most grotesque goals was seeking the extermination of the Jewish race.
What few know, however, is that he first aired this sick goal during a speech at the Reichstag in January 1939, later dubbed the ‘Führer's Prophecy’.
In the novel, which gets its title from this event, Franklin emerges from the shadows to fulfil that prophecy, with a plan as bold as it is deranged.
Being heir to pharmaceutical company Franklin Pharmaceutical Corporation, originally established by his infamous ancestor while hiding out in Argentina, Franklin he is able to create a super drug which causes female infertility.
Like its predecessor, The Counterfeit Candidate, The Führer's Prophecy by Brian Klein is a page turner that is impossible to put down till the very end.
His objective is to enter Israel and lace the water supply with this drug in a bid to kill off the Jewish people within the space of a few generations.
His fiendish masterplan is elaborate and needs the help of shady and murderous characters just as sick as he, such as feared terrorist Matias Paz, commonly known as ‘Black Scorpion’, and ruthless Taliban killers in Afghanistan.
Remarkably – and this is fact – the US military abandoned a number of Black Hawk helicopters in Afghanistan after their withdrawal and these were claimed by the Taliban.
In the story, Franklin gets his murderous hands on these to bust Black Scorpion out of a high-security prison in Argentina, in an audacious set-piece that’s alone worth the price of the ticket.
As he gets ever closer to releasing the super drug, the action moves to the Middle East, where the Taliban and Israeli secret police, Mossad, clash.
Ch Insp Vargas and Lt. Troy Hembury, joining together once again, are leading the counter-intelligence surveillance.
Despite their dogged investigations, they are always frustratingly one move behind Franklin as they seek to uncover the sinister scheme.
But as the body count rises, they are only ones who can locate the terrorists and bring Franklin down before it’s too late.
If you are new to the writing of Brian Klein then be ready for an action-packed, whirlwind-paced political thriller that holds nothing back.
A BAFTA Award-winning TV director, whose many credits include 28 series of Top Gear and seven series of Sky Max’s most-popular entertainment show League of Their Own Roadtrip, he has proven time and again that he has the nous to make electrifying entertainment.
The Führer's Prophecy benefits from all his skills behind the camera, making for pure blockbuster cinema on the printed page.
These were already on full display in his first novel, but the sequel is, arguably, even better than the first.
While The Counterfeit Candidate had foundational work to put in place, this time the plot and characters can jump straight onto the rollercoaster that is this arresting, world-spanning story of biological terror.
The storyline zips around the planet with more gusto than Michael Palin, transporting readers to the deserts of Iran, South America, the high seas, and, of course, Israel.
It also zips through time as Klein tells through judicious use of flashback how Hitler’s plans were tested out in Auschwitz, the notorious concentration camp where Nazi physician Josef Mengele perverted medical science with his experiments on helpless captives.
BAFTA Award-winning director Brian Klein has already made his mark in television. Now he’s doing the same in the literary world, with not one but two thriller masterpieces to his name. Here, he is pictured with Top Gear icon The Stig.
Far from taking the reader away from the dynamic story, they help cement it in the mind as a realistic, deep-rooted threat, as well as reminding us just what atrocities Hitler and his cronies were capable of.
Once more, Klein brings together the perfect cast for his novel and provides just the right amount of background and description to get readers invested.
Nicolas Vargas, for instance, has a score to settle with Black Scorpion, who almost killed him once before.
Troy Hembury, meanwhile, should by now be retired from service but is drawn into this case despite suffering from poor health.
Their frailties and inner demons, as well as their lasting friendship, adds an extra dimension to proceedings.
You have a blast of a read waiting for you, and one that every thriller fan should consider an essential purchase.
The Führer's Prophecy by Brian Klein (Spirit Entertainment) is out now on Amazon, priced £8.99 in paperback and audiobook formats, and £2.99 as an eBook. For more information, visit www.brianklein.tv or follow Brian Klein on Instagram (@klein443).