It's a testament to Robert Harris' skill to spin a yarn that, despite my knowing exactly what the real-world outcome was of the famed meeting in Munich, I found this story a page turner. His evocative descriptions of people and places had me feeling like a bug on the wall taking it all in.

This is historical fiction grounded in fact with just enough suspense to keep me engaged till the last page. My husband thought that perhaps Harris ran out of steam by the end, but I liked the ending precisely because it had me wondering what happens between the end of the book's text and the futures alluded to by Harris for the two main "fictional" players. I put fictional in quotes because, while Legat and Hartmann were not real people, they were based on real people. As to who are Legat and Hartmann? Well, you'll have to read the book to find out. :-)