Alex Grecian has a great track record when it comes to historical fiction and while this book is set in the present day, Grecian draws on all his skills to write a taut thriller which reflects on one of the darkest periods in history.

Skottie Foster is working as a State Trooper in rural Kansas when a routine traffic stop means she crosses paths with Travis Roan, a Nazi Hunter. Though suspicious at first, Skottie quickly becomes drawn into Roan’s hunt for Nazi war criminal Rudolph Bormann. Bormann has carried on his sadistic killings and Roan is convinced he has captured his father, making for a deadly game of cat and mouse.

This is a really interesting and original novel. The characters are layered and engaging. Skottie is struggling to juggle work and motherhood while going through a separation from her husband. The last thing she needs is more hassle in her life, but the cop in her finds her drawn to Travis’ story. Travis is also a great character to read, not least for the addition of his loyal dog, Bear. I would happily read a whole series of books dedicated to the adventures of Travis and Bear as they track down Nazis. Skottie and Travis are from completely different walks of life but their dedication to their roles brings them together and makes for a really interesting dynamic as Skottie tries to keep Travis on the right side of the law.

As with any thriller the last few chapters are full of action and it was a really enjoyable ending to read towards. It’s a bit of a change of pace for Alex Grecian but one which he’s pulled off with ease. These are great characters he’s created and I really hope to see them in future books. Highly recommended.

I received a ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for a fair review.

Struggling to find good words for this book. I loved Bear, the dog. The plot was a bit flimsy. I liked the setting of Kansas and Skottie the Trooper, a single parent. The blurb looked promising but the book just failed to deliver. I gave up half way through. Apologies for the sorry revue. Thanks to Net Galley for my copy.

This is a fast-moving story about several people's lives being affected by a Nazi war criminal. This man is being pursued by a bounty hunter, who enlists the help of a local State Trouper to help him.
The story is quite plausible and the lives of the various characters are described skilfully.
Enjoyable and pacy.

Travis Roan is a Nazi hunter and his travels have led him to Kansas in the American Midwest and in particular to the community know as Purity First, a religious order. The founder of this sect is an elderly gentleman called Rudy Goodman a notorious Nazi better known as Rudolf Bormann, who is still adhering to evil practices on mainland USA.

It is now over 70 years since the conclusion of wartime hostilities in Europe. It therefore follows that any supporters of that regime would in all probability be very elderly and most likely infirm. This does not detract or excuse their past misdemeanours but it makes it highly unlikely that a 90 year old man would actively pursue evil practices by carrying out depraved deeds and murder. Over many years a number of children have gone missing, and it would appear that the good population of Kansas never once suspected or indeed questioned a motley group of individuals who wore "Brownshirts" acting in the manner of Adolf Hitler's SA..."all of them wearing identical brown shirts. There were perhaps twenty of them, their pink skin scrubbed clean, their fair hair neatly parted"..... In additions Rudolf Bormann owns a ranch know as the Third R which unbelievably never attracted attention from anyone in the rural community.

The hero of the moment is Trooper Skottie who certainly adds a little charm and colour to a sorry tale. Travis Roan's faithful dog Bear is at the centre of all the action, he is both deadly and loveable in equal measures and only responds to commands made in a language known as "Esperanto" (which has an estimated 2 million speakers worldwide, I am led to believe). Skottie struggles in her role as a single parent to her daughter and is drawn to the quiet reserved manner that is Roan. I quite liked the first third of this story and was prepared to overlook the fact that a very old man could be at the centre of a community funnelling drugs and people and guns and equally be the main suspect in the disappearance of young children. It was laughable to even consider that no one noticed these rather odd Brownshirts or even questioned a homestead called the third R....I suspect that if a man in brown shorts, neatly parted hair, short stubby moustache and a swastika on his arm jack booted his way down main street he would probably just been seen as an oddity and ignored! If an author chooses to use Nazi ideology as the main theme in his book the story should at least have some plausibility and not be portrayed in this nonsensical way culminating in a shootout when the main culprits were finally uncovered. As a reader and reviewer on netgalley it has to be right that I view and voice my opinions whether they be good or bad. Unfortunately in "The Wolf" I cannot find anything of merit, it was a story that had a ridiculous unfolding plot and it seems to me that the only reason for using Nazism as its central plot was a cheap ploy to draw in unsuspecting readers. Best avoided and certainly not recommended...however as always thanks to the good people at netgalley and the publisher Penguin for a gratis copy in exchange for an honest review and that is what I have written.