An entertaining thriller with a "what if?" premise. What would have happened if Hitler did not commit suicide in his Berlin bunker? Another in the series featuring Tom Wilde the Cambridge university professor who pulls the threads together. An excellent page-turner with plenty of different threads which are skillfully drawn together.

Loved this book. Lots of interesting information to digest. This is a great read for anyone who loves to read about history. Very well written

Cracking good thriller, fast paced, lots of twists and turns, lots of threads that come together well. Interesting characters to like, hate, and not be sure about, like in real life. And the main question, was Hitler still alive? And what if he was?

7.5/10

What if Hitler didn’t blow his brains out in the bunker in those final days of WW2? There is only one person to work this tricky conundrum out, that’s right. A history professor from Cambridge University, Tom Wilde…

This is the 6th outing in the series and I’ve come to enjoy these adventures during this time period. They’re not too heavy but provide enough atmosphere and intrigue that they fly by and feel quite authentic.

The plot feels slightly different to the others in the series, perhaps more to the timeframe and being at the end of the war, but this keeps things ticking along as it would be easy to just rehash similar events until the well is dry. Tom Wilde is smart but it never comes across that he’s infallible making him a believable and relatable character and not inducing eye rolling at every other page (I’m looking your way Dan!).

I enjoy this series and hope there will be more although now we’ve got to the end of the war I’m not sure what will come next but I’ll be happy to find out.

An excellent book to read covering the closing days of world war 2:what if hitler survived and was being kept alive by a select group of nazis.This is well explored n this book which is unputdownable right to the last page.I would thoroughly recommend this book to all interested in often history,.

A Man in the Bunker by Rory Clements is a gripping spy thriller. This is my first Tom Wilde book, although this is the 6th in the series. However, it can read as a standalone. “What if Hitler is alive” is a wonderful premise which I am pleased to say Clements has built upon wonderfully.

Clements does a perfect job of portraying the atmosphere of post-war Germany where civilians are scrambling for food and shelter while many people are still unrepentant of their support to the Nazis. Amidst this hostile environment, Wilde must search for the truth.

Wilde is assigned Mozes Heck as a partner for the investigation. The trigger-happy Heck is a perfect foil to the level-headed Wilde. Heck lost his family to the war; hence, his anger is understandable. However, this creates unnecessary obstacles in the path of the investigation. The way Wilde continues despite such obstacles makes for enjoyable reading. However, Heck also contributes to the investigation equally. Initially, both dislike each other, however, gradually, they develop mutual respect and look out for each other.

Clements also sheds light on the plight of women who were shunned by society because they fell in love with the soldiers of the opposite faction. Moreover, Clements’ visually descriptive writing had me in the thrall of the picturesque locales of Germany as Wilde and Heck race through the country to find the truth.

Overall, I enjoyed reading A Man in the Bunker by Rory Clements. Recommended for fans of spy thrillers.

Many thanks to the publisher for providing me a complimentary copy. I opted to provide an honest review.

Really unsure how to rate this? It was well written and I read it easily enough, but for me, it just lacked 'something'....I felt the main characters conveniently furthered their search oftentimes by chance, and I didn't really feel at home with the characterizations...however the main reason I've given this an average rating is the damp squib of an ending, which seemed farcical! Many thanks to Netgalley.co.uk, the Publisher and Author for the opportunity to read an ARC of this book.

I’ve read two of Rory Clements’ books in his Tom Wilde series, the first one, Corpus and the fourth Hitler’s Secret, both of which I loved. So I was looking forward to reading more of his books – The Man in the Bunker is the sixth book in the series, but fortunately they all read perfectly as standalone books.

This is a complicated novel and I am not going to attempt to describe all the details. In August 1945 an American and professor of history, Tom Wilde is preparing for the Michaelmas term at his Cambridge University college. He had spent most of the last three years in a senior advisory role with the Office of Strategic Services, America’s wartime intelligence outfit. He has quit the OSS and wants to put the war behind him, so when he sees a big American car parked outside his home where he lives with his wife and young son, he is not at all pleased. His three visitors bring news that there’s reason to believe that Hitler is alive and hiding out in Bavaria – and they want Wilde to find him.

The rumour that Hitler didn’t die in the Berlin bunker has always interested me, especially as his body was never found. I remember seeing a TV documentary about it, so I wondered what Clements would make of it and what his conclusion would be. Did Hitler live on after the war or not? His version of events is thrilling and dramatic as Wilde travels across the continent, mainly in Germany and Austria, seeing the devastation the War had brought both to places and to people. There were millions of people without homes – refugees, some living in displaced persons camps dotted around Europe. Some had been slave labourers interned in concentration camps, others were survivors of the death camps.

Wilde was accompanied by a young lieutenant, Mozes Heck, a Dutch Jew who had escaped to England and joined the British Army. Heck is desperate to find out what had happened to his family, loathes the Nazis and Hitler, and he is set on revenge. He is both headstrong and dangerous. They were both co-opted to the US Counter Intelligence Corps in Garmisch, an Alpine town in Bavaria. Wilde has a difficult job restraining Heck, but eventually they work well together in tense and extremely dangerous situations.

I thoroughly enjoyed it. The search for Hitler across Germany and Austria is fast paced, full of action, danger, and violence. Needless to say really, but I was gripped by this novel and I just had to find out what had happened, whether Hitler had died in the bunker – or did Wilde find him in hiding somewhere in the Alps? I’m not telling – you’ll have to read the book to find out.

What if Hitler didn’t commit suicide in his bunker in April 1945? Could the dictator still be alive and in hiding, waiting for the rebirth of Nazism? Professor Tom Wilde, busy preparing for a return to college life after the war, is persuaded to return to Germany to discover Hitler’s fate. Accompanied by Moses Heck, a Dutch Jew more intent on making any and every Nazi pay for the deaths of his family than helping Wilde with his quest.

The Man in the Bunker is another fascinating and intriguing story from Rory Clements, with the return of Tom Wilde following his discovery of Hitler’s Secret earlier in the war. As nobody really knows what happened in that bunker, it opens an interesting idea - what if Hitler did get away? As Wilde journeys across Germany, through the different zones of post-war rule, he encounters many different characters encompassing the aftermath of the Nazi regime - the displaced refugees desperate to get out; the concentration camp survivors and their rescuers, dealing with the realities of existence; and the diehard Nazi followers, hoping for a second coming.

Clements keeps the story moving throughout, managing to balance the harrowing truths with more lighthearted and hopeful signs for the future. A great story for fans of historical intrigue.

The Man in the Bunker by Rory Clements

The war is over and it is time for the guilty to pay for their atrocities. While the Nazis are rounded up, ready for trial and punishment, their leader is believed dead. He committed suicide in his bunker under Berlin’s bombed streets, his body burned. But did Hitler really die in the bunker. The American and British secret service suspect he escaped, their suspicions supported by a trail of strange and violent deaths in Germany. It is time once more for Tom Wilde, an American Professor of History at Cambridge University and reluctant spy, to head to Germany and follow the clues and trace the witnesses to the truth. But Wilde is not alone. He is paired with Dutch soldier Mozes Heck, who has his own agenda and it could get both of them killed.

The Tom Wilde series is one of the very best being written today and I have been a huge fan of it from its beginning. Rory Clements is an excellent writer who has written both Tudor and World War Two thrillers. Interestingly, Wilde is an expert in Elizabethan history. There is a wider perspective to these novels, a strong sense that intrigue and deception are timeless and that the past can repeat itself. I like that. The Man in the Bunker is the sixth novel in a series that has taken us from the troubled, ominous years just before the war, through the war and now to its immediate aftermath when the concentration camps are being liberated and the true horror of the war is revealed. Berlin at this time is such a fascinating setting for a thriller that is enthralling from start to finish.

I think that The Man in the Bunker stands well alone as it very much focuses on the matter at hand, removing Wilde from his life and family in Cambridge. It is apart from the earlier novels. But I really recommend reading them all. Wilde is a fantastic character, an intellectual and a man of action. He has his hands full here, though, thanks to Heck, who holds his own against Wilde and adds a real edge of danger and menace to the story, while being a constant reminder of the personal motivation of many to bring the Nazis to justice. The two men uncover multiple stories of suffering and endurance. This is a powerful, disturbing novel.

Wilde and Heck interview several of the people who knew Hitler most, adding to the mystery element of the novel while also providing a chilling picture of Hitler and those closest to him during the last days of the Reich.

The Man in the Bunker is thoroughly exciting, ingenious and page-turning. Now that the war is over I wonder what the future holds for Tom Wilde but I really hope we haven’t seen the last of him and his wife, Lydia. This has been a great series from the beginning but I think that this, the sixth, is my favourite.

Other reviews
Holy Spy
Corpus
Nucleus
Nemesis
Hitler’s Secret
A Prince and a Spy

Tom Wilde is looking forward to a more peaceful life now that WWII is over. But best-laid plans... He is given a mission he is unable to refuse. Alongside Mozes Heck, they must track down the hiding place of none other than the Fuhrer himself.

A world left ravaged by war. People left with scars, both physical and mental.

The Man in the Bunker has espionage, murder, and betrayal. Thrills and suspense a-plenty.

Historian and Cambridge professor Tom Wilde is called upon term again to assist MI6 in resolving a problem within the crumbling remains of Nazi Germany. The war has ended and Germany is full of refugees, ex-camp victims and what is left of Hitler's henchmen. Hitler is reported dead having committed suicide in his Berlin bunker- but was this actually Hitler? Professor Tom Wilde reluctantly agrees to investigate and so begins a thrilling and rocketing ride through Germany. This is such a good story full of die-hard Nazis, a Jewish lieutenant set on revenge and the weakened and destitute refugees of Europe. A brilliant plot keeps the reader on the edge of their seat- desperate to know how the story will resolve itself. Just brilliant!

A classic 'what if?' thriller from one of the best thriller writers currently out there.

Did Adolf Hitler survive? Professor Wilde is sent on his trial in a tale that includes spies, die hard Nazis and plenty of intrigue.

When this is published in paperback it would be the prefect summer read.

Another great read from Rory Clements. This book is fast paced and thrilling but also thought provoking. It starts dramatically and keeps momentum (and the reader gripped) throughout. As always, Clements has created likeable but flawed three dimensional characters.
Wilde doesn’t quite know what he has let himself in for when he is partnered with Heck on this mission. The pain that Heck feels is convincing and visceral. Wilde, fortunately can hold his own and his calm, skilled and intelligent responses make Heck recognise him for the asset he is and they make a formidable team.
Clements asks the question that many have asked since April 1945 and presents us with a convincing answer.
This book could be certainly be read as a standalone but for those of us who have had the pleasure to get to know Tom and his wife, Linda, it is another thrilling part of a journey. Please don’t stop here Rory Clements!
A superb read.

1945 and the war is finally over. Adolf Hitler and his Nazi party are defeated and Berlin is in chaos. Hundreds of former soldiers and SS are in camps and under the scrutiny of the allied forces. Questions are being asked and one that seems to be on everyone’s lips is ‘Did Hitler die in the bunker or has he absconded?’ The powers that be want answers, as rumours are growing, that he has escaped to the country and is well hidden by a group of loyal followers.
Someone is needed to go on a manhunt and find the truth. That man is a reluctant Tom Wilde.
Dropped into a city run by four countries, Wilde will have to be at his best to deal with the politics and the people to get the answers he needs to unravel a possible secret that will rock the world.
This book is the best in the Tom Wilde series so far. The writing is intelligent, the atmosphere is tense and desperate, with heart wrenching scenes throughout and a story that is just incredible. A quite magnificent piece of literature.
Truly outstanding.

What a fabulous book this was! I had not read the previous books, but it didn’t spoil the story. The opening is shocking, with the intense chapters never losing pace throughout the book. It has brilliant characters and a great storyline. I could not ask for more.

Once the second World War came to an end, Hitler was high on the list to be found and brought to trial for the atrocities that he had instigated through the 1930s and war years. But rumour had it that Hilter had committed suicide in his Berlin Bunker, although his body, could not be identified. The news didn’t sit well and felt all too convenient, so an investigation began to try and prove or disprove this report.

Tom Wilde, a Cambridge Professor and spy in the war, was sent for. Two British spies who had been looking into the theory that Hitler had escaped, had been murdered. Now Tom is asked to go the finish the job they had started. Tom is paired with Lieutenant Mozes Heck, not a choice of partner that he would have made. Mozes is a Dutchman serving in the British Army and brings his own heavy-handed investigating that is dangerous for them both.

They travel far and wide to investigate the high ranking officers that had close connections with Hitler to find out if any of them had seen Hitler dead. There are heartbreaking stories of what happened to collaborators after the war and the justice the townspeople dealt out to them for their betrayal.

This is one sit on the edge of your seat story that you don’t want to miss. The story centred around a true historical event, but it has gained some additional artistic flare. Tom Wilde is one top bloke who works with logic, although he can take care of himself.

In the last quarter of the book, he comes across some pretty fanatical characters that brought me out in goosebumps, time and time again. Excellent writing! These were scary people that had warped ways of thinking. The thing is, it was always in my mind that some of these are still out there.

Highly recommended reading!

I wish to thank Net Galley and the publisher for an e-copy of this book that I have reviewed honestly.

Rory Clements’ books featuring Cambridge professor turned spy, Tom Wilde, have become one of my absolute favourite series. I’ve devoured every one of them and The Man in the Bunker was no exception. (I’m also a fan of his John Shakespeare series set in Elizabethan England.)

Who do the intelligence services in Britain and the United States call on when they’ve a tricky problem to solve? Why Cambridge professor of history turned spy Tom Wilde of course – much to the exasperation of his wife, Lydia, in this case.

The brilliantly dramatic and chilling opening chapter is a prelude to everything you could possibly want from a spy thriller: plenty of action scenes, car chases, narrow escapes, assassins waiting in the shadows, wily and ruthless villains, double-crosses galore. There are also a host of interesting secondary characters, such as the colourful Boris Minsky, Jerzy ‘the boy with the camera’ and the dedicated Dr. Angie Gray. The skilfully crafted plot means there are plenty of side stories the reason for whose inclusion remains deliciously intriguing for a large part of the book.

Wilde is assigned a companion in his investigation, Lieutenant Mozes Heck. Heck is a wonderfully drawn character. Whilst, as readers of the previous books will know, Wilde has his own share of traumatic memories, Heck’s are beyond imagining. His first-hand and very personal experience of the atrocities committed by the Nazis has given him a deep-seated hatred of those Nazis who survived the war and ‘an overpowering hunger’ for revenge. As a result he is utterly ruthless – shoot first, think later – meaning at times he is difficult for Wilde to control. ‘Heck was in a blood-red world of his own, and no amount of reasoning was going to alter that.’ On the other hand, Heck’s sharp-shooting skills, physical resilience and ability to pass unnoticed are definitely things you want in a difficult situation, and Wilde and Heck experience plenty of those.

Wilde’s investigation into whether Hitler remains alive takes him to the heart of post-war Germany giving the reader a vivid insight into the destruction visited upon cities such as Berlin by Allied bombing and the advance of the Russian army. ‘This is real life, this is the detritus of war, right here.’ Berlin has become a place of ruined buildings, piles of rubble and people trying to eke out a living in the shattered remains of their city. It’s a dangerous place as well. ‘The problems start after dark when the desperate and the dispossessed come out and defy the curfew. It’s kill or be killed.’

There also unsettling scenes in the makeshift camps for people displaced by the War including those who survived the concentration camps. And a visit to a particular site in Berlin brings Wilde a chilling reminder of the evil of the Nazi regime. ‘He did not believe in the occult, nor even an afterlife, yet he could hear the children’s cries.’

I can’t say much more about the plot without giving too much away. But, I hear you ask, does Wilde discover if Hitler survived the Berlin bunker? Sorry, not telling. Read the book and find out.

I thought The Man In The Bunker was absolutely fabulous, another masterly spy thriller from the pen of Rory Clements. A few loose ends left subtly dangling at the end of the book leaves me hoping this is not the last outing for Tom Wilde. In the meantime Tom, Lydia deserves her holiday.

I love this series featuring American Cambridge History Professor Tom Wilde, and always look forward to a new book at this time of year.
Mostly set in Germany in the summer of 1945, the Allies are on the hunt for Hitler believing he is still alive somewhere in the mountains. Tom Wilde is called in to join the search, partnered by Lieutenant Mozes Heck, a Dutchman in the British Army, who detests Nazis with a passion. A real loose canon who gave me the feeling that anything could happen when he was asking the questions!
I felt very sorry for Tom at the beginning of this book when Philip Eaton of British Intelligence came calling again. As far as Tom was concerned the war was over, he was finally feeling settled at home again with Lydia and Johnny their young son. Tom’s instant reaction was that there was no way he was going to leave home again, but Lydia managed to convince him that he’d be a fool not to go looking for Hitler.
And so a hunt for the most hated man in the world begins, taking Tom Wilde already over Germany as he follows leads from former Nazis who’d been close to their leader. Was Hitler alive and hiding, or had he really killed himself in his bunker in Berlin? Their path was full of unknown dangers and twists and turns, as Wilde and Heck looked for information in the villages of the Bavarian countryside, refugee camps and the mostly obliterated cities of Germany.
I learnt so much about Germany in 1945 reading this book. I didn’t realise how devastating the Allied bombing had been, leaving people starving and homeless. I was shocked to learn that the refugee camps were guarded by Germans who’d probably been Nazis and were now in charge of Jewish refugees!! What a truly nightmarish scenario!
This was another fab book in this fantastic series, with a lovely twist at the end, that will hopefully continue the series with more adventures for Tom Wilde, and Lydia too!

‘The Man in the Bunker’ by Rory Clements gripped me from beginning to end. It starts at the end of the Second World War when spy Tom Wilde thinks real life is beginning again. But the dilemma is in the book’s title. Who was the dead man in the bunker in Berlin? Were the burnt remains really that of Hitler? If not, where is he?
This is the sixth in Clements’ thriller series about American historian-turned-spy Wilde who spends the war working for the English and American secret services, and each of them has been unputdownable. It is now late summer 1945 and the European war is over. Germany is defeated, in ruins, starving and with millions of Holocaust survivors, displaced people and refugees. The country has been carved up between the allied forces to bring security and discipline but it is a world in which it is easy to disappear, to reinvent yourself. It is a world in which lies are told for survival. As in the previous Wilde books, it is difficult to know who is telling the truth, who is lying and why. Clements is a consummate thriller writer who writes with emotional depth, political intrigue and historical research.
The action starts at a running pace and never stops. Two men are killed on a remote road in southern Bavaria. In Cambridge, history professor Tom Wilde is anticipating the arrival of new undergraduates and his wife Lydia is applying to study medicine. Then three visitors arrive with an incredible request. Wilde must find Adolf Hitler. At first Wilde laughs, then he refuses. That night, Lydia says he will regret refusing. The next day Wilde changes his mind. First, he questions some German scientists who are imprisoned near Cambridge, their rooms bugged, their conversations and gossip recorded. A clue leads Wilde to Garmisch where he teams up with the unpredictable Lieutenant Mozes Heck, a Dutch Jew who hates the Nazis. As they identify Nazis who were close to Hitler, their progress is continually impeded by the conditions in defeated Germany; starvation, bomb damage, medical crisis and the flood of Holocaust survivors and misplaced citizens. And by Heck’s secret, personal mission.
The ending is particularly intriguing. Is ‘The Man in the Bunker’ the final book of the Tom Wilde story or will it morph into a Cold War series?
Read more of my book reviews at http://www.sandradanby.com/book-reviews-a-z/

My thanks to Bonnier Zaffre Books for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘The Man in the Bunker’ by Rory Clements in exchange for an honest review.

This is the sixth in Clements’ series of historical espionage thrillers set in 1940s Europe, featuring Cambridge history professor Tom Wilde.

While part of a series, these novels work fine on their own as Clements provides background information for readers new to the series.

It is August 1945 and while the war is officially over, Germany is facing a number of crises in the aftermath, including food shortages, lack of shelter, millions of refugees and displaced persons. With rumours circulating that Hitler didn’t die in his Berlin bunker, American intelligence are seeking to verify his death and if discovered alive to bring him in to face trial.

Tom Wilde has quit his position with the OSS and returned to teaching. Yet when Allen Dulles, now in charge of the OSS in the American section of Germany, asks him to undertake a covert mission to ascertain whether Hitler is really dead, he agrees. Wilde is partnered with a headstrong young lieutenant, Mozes Heck, who had lost his entire family in the Holocaust. No further details to avoid spoilers.

I am impressed by Rory Clements’ skill in creating another high action spy thriller that integrates historical events and figures into the kind of novel that I find almost impossible to put down.

With the Americans beginning to turn their attention to the Soviet Union, will there be further adventures for Tom Wilde? I do hope so, though I still have earlier books in the series to read.

Overall, ‘The Man in the Bunker’ contains all the ingredients I look for in historical spy thrillers. As such in its sub-genre, it rates 5 stars.