The Valhalla Exchange

Written by Jack Higgins

Narrated by Guy Mott

The electrifying WWII bestseller from the master of the game.

On the 30th April 1945, Russian radar reported a light aircraft leaving the vicinity of the Tiergarten in Berlin. But who was on board, and where was the plane going?

Berlin was in ruins as the Russians moved relentlessly towards the concrete bunker where the Nazi adminstration had been destroyed. But one man, Reichsleiter Martin Bormann, Adolf Hitler’s secretary and eminence grise had a daring plan to escape.

Far away to the south–west , at Schloss Arlberg above the River Inn, five prisoners of war were contemplating their fate. Would they be murdered by their captors or liberated by the Russians?

Unbeknown to them Bormann has his own plans. They are about to become part of a mystery that has fascinated the world for over sixty years. What exactly did happen to Bormann and his prisoners?

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Jun 20, 2019
• ISBN: 9780008359058

Jack Higgins

Jack Higgins lived in Belfast till the age of twelve. Leaving school at fifteen, he spent three years with the Royal Horse Guards, and was later a teacher and university lecturer. His thirty-sixth novel, The Eagle Has Landed (1975), turned him into an international bestselling author, and his novels have since sold over 250 million copies and been translated into sixty languages. Many have been made into successful films. He died in 2022, at his home in Jersey, surrounded by his family.

Reviews for The Valhalla Exchange

[bridgey_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The Valhalla Exchange - Jack Higgins *****Another brilliant book from Higgins. Written in the same style that made 'The Eagle has Landed' so popular, Higgins weaves historical fact with his own fiction. The story starts with a reporter arriving in a small village. He wants to have a look at the body of a recently deceased man. While at the morgue he notices an ageing US general approaching, and slips into the shadows unnoticed.The two later meet in bar and the general is confronted by the reporter who wants to know the reason he was there to examine the body. What follows is an intriguing tale of 'what ifs'. We are transported back to the final days in Berlin at the Führerbunker. We meet the Nazi high command and in particular the story concentrates on Martin Bormann and what may/may not have happened to him (any regular Higgins readers will know this a topic he visits on a regular basis).As usual with Higgins we meet a vast number of different characters, with good and bad personalities on either side of the war. In particular we are introduced to Ritter, a highly decorated German Panzer commander, who is described as 'Death itself'. I won't explain the characters or their reasons for being in the novel as this will spoil the storyline for other people. What I will say is that this book is one of Higgins best and will keep you guessing until the very end.

[henrimoreaux · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Originally published under the the authors true name 'Harry Patterson' the Valhalla Exchange by Jack Higgins is an enjoyable read. Whilst it may be the standard war story mix of a few base facts extrapolated into a tale of heroics and/or adventure in this case it works. The novel is set in late 1945 and covers the escape of Martin Bormann from Central Berlin (which is under siege on one side by Russia and the other side the United States) to potentially freedom outside and a plan to use 'VIP' prisoners of war as hostages.All in all and entertaining, if short, read.

[conformer_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Jack Higgins may write paperback thrillers that seem out of place if they're displayed anyplace other than in an airport gift shop, but that doesn't necessarily mean he's deserving of the position.What makes this shoot-em-up different from other fanciful yarns spun out to be untold tales of World War II is the characters. The story itself is a little formulaic and forgettable, but no worse than anything Dan Brown might come up with. And while Higgins' protagonists are trading card clones of gung-ho soldiers, wilting damsels, and golden-hearted peasants, his villains, strangely, are the ones with the most depth. This is saying something, seeing as the bad guys are Nazis. For the most part they don't spew Party rhetoric or act like assholes, but instead harbor feasible fears and doubts.Unfortunately, the book may be a little too easy to read.

[john5918 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A good old-fashioned war story; a fast-moving and exciting adventure set in the last days of World war II, with a twist in the tail.