My Nazi Nemesis


Fiction - Thriller - General
236 Pages
Reviewed on 01/26/2016
Buy on Amazon

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Author Biography

Rich DiSilvio is the author of fiction and non-fiction, and has written articles for magazines and newspapers on the topics of history, art, music, politics, the military, architecture, and more, as well as seven books.

"My Nazi Nemesis" - a mystery/thriller.
"A Blazing Gilded Age" - a historical novel.
"Liszt's Dante Symphony" - an historical mystery/thriller.
"The Winds of Time" - a non-fictional study of the titans who shaped Western civilization.
"Hatred & Integrity" - two short tales of historical fiction, pitting Hitler's hatred against the integrity of FDR and Churchill.
And two YA children's books.

Rich's work in the entertainment industry includes developing creative assets for films and documentaries, such as James Cameron's "The Lost Tomb of Jesus," "Operation Valkyrie," "The War Zone series," "Return to Kirkuk," "Killing Hitler," "Tracey Ullman's State of the Union," "Monty Python: Almost the Truth," and many others.

DiSilvio's artwork has adorned many super groups, including Pink Floyd, Yes, Moody Blues, Cher, Rolling Stones, Elton John, Madonna, Sheryl Crow, Willie Nelson, Jay-Z, Alice Cooper, Black Sabbath and numerous others.

    Book Review

Reviewed by Jack Magnus for Readers' Favorite

My Nazi Nemesis: A Dark Thriller is an historical suspense novel written by Rich DiSilvio. Jack Goodwin was an OSS officer during the Second World War and had become a CIA operative after the war. He's a widower who lives with his fifteen-year-old daughter, Eleanor, in St. Louis, Missouri. His wife, Veronika, died tragically at the end of the war, and, now that Ellie is fifteen, he's decided to let her know the real story of his and Veronika’s lives. In 1942, Jack was on a mission that would insert him and four other agents into Poland; however, the plane carrying them was attacked by German planes, leaving only him and one other survivor. As the damaged aircraft began to plummet to earth, Jack parachuted out of the plane and landed in a quiet wooded area. Soon after, he heard a strange humming noise that he discovered was coming from an antiquated Russian biplane. It crashed, and Jack could see the pilot fighting to free himself from his harness as the plane began to burn. Jack rushed to help him, and the two men barely made it to safety before the plane exploded. When the pilot removed his leather cap, Jack could see he was really a beautiful woman -- the woman he would eventually make his wife.

Rich DiSilvio's historical thriller, My Nazi Nemesis: A Dark Thriller, is fast-paced and exciting. Jack Goodwin is a superlative spinner of yarns who kept me as fascinated by his stories as he does his daughter, Ellie. I've long been interested in WWII history and fiction and was impressed with the author's obvious depth of knowledge of the subject and his use of that very dark time in world history to engage and inform readers. The passages in the story that deal with Veronika’s time in Auschwitz are harrowing reminders of the atrocities committed during that war, and they are masterfully related. DiSilvio's plot is cunning and ingenious, and his characters, especially the very resourceful Jack Goodwin, won’t be easily forgotten. My Nazi Nemesis: A Dark Thriller is most highly recommended.

Deborah Lloyd

The first chapter of My Nazi Nemesis by Rich DiSilvio takes place in 1942, when the main character Jack is pushed out of a plane by his nemesis, Alois Richter. By a stroke of luck, Jack survives this murderous attempt. Fast forward to 1957 – Jack, now a CIA agent, is finally sharing his many escapades, as well as how her mother Veronika died, with his 15-year-old daughter Eleanor. Jack relates the horrors of World War II, including Veronika’s time in Auschwitz. He also tells how he and Veronika met, how he rescued her from the death camp, their falling in love and marrying. Their relationship was marred when Alois Richter, a Nazi officer, intruded into their lives and killed Veronika. Training Eleanor to be his cohort in finding and destroying Alois became Jack’s life mission. This mystery, with many unexpected twists and turns, is finally resolved in 1965 when Eleanor discovers new information.

This novel is well-written, holding the reader’s interest and curiosity throughout the evolving and intriguing story line. By interweaving historical information with a powerful and realistic tale, Rich DiSilvio crafts a fascinating novel in My Nazi Nemesis. He presents the horrors of a Nazi death camp through the experiences of Veronika, as well as several harrowing espionage events. These horrific situations are balanced by Jack’s witty sense of humor and products of the 1950s and ‘60s. Naturally, Jack tells his stories while smoking Camel cigarettes and Eleanor snacks on Good ‘n Plenty’s. This dark thriller engages the reader entirely, and one cannot wait to find out how the story ends!

Paul Johnson

My Nazi Nemesis by Rich DiSilvio begins with Jack Goodwin telling his daughter about her mother, Veronika, who died during WWII. As the story progresses, it moves to Jack’s missions as an OSS agent during the war and how he meet Veronika. The happiness of the newlyweds is short lived once they meet SS officer Alois Richter. Richter immediately falls for Veronika and quickly begins attempting to wedge himself between Jack and her. This will ultimately lead to her untimely death. Or, were things not exactly as they were told? After years of relating the events of Veronika’s death and once his daughter’s hatred for Richter has grown, Jack and she plan to embark on a deadly mission of their own, fueled by revenge against their evil enemy, Alois Richter. But in an instant, because a series of events, all that will change.

I found the author’s writing style to be quite well developed, making the dialogue between the characters very authentic. The reader will be pulled right into the story line and transported back in time to the danger and horrors of Europe of WWII. While the first half of the story is one extended flashback, the remainder of the book holds several excellent twists and surprises. The pace of the story is good and the reader will experience several mixed emotions along the way. Overall, it is a very well written tale and readers of mysteries and suspense will find it well worth their time.

Maria Beltran

In Rich DiSilvio’s My Nazi Nemesis, Eleanor, a young woman raised by her father, finds out how she lost her mother Veronika at the hands of her spurned lover. It is a chilling story of three people caught in the horrors of the Second World War. Veronika meets Jack in war ravaged Poland, where she ends up in the infamous Auschwitz concentration camp. Rescued by Jack, who is an OSS agent during the war, they meet Nazi officer Alois in Germany, who immediately falls in love with her. The love triangle ends tragically and Jack eventually goes back to the United States with his motherless young daughter. When Eleanor turns sixteen, the time has come for revenge, and father and daughter set out to find Alois and seek vengeance. The truth finally comes out in the end and it is not what anyone had ever expected.

My Nazi Nemesis brings us back to the terror of the Second World War through the eyes of Jack Goodwin, an OSS turned CIA agent who flies on a covert mission to Poland. His plane crashes and, parachuting into the unknown, he witnesses a Russian plane crash landing in front of him, and out of the plane’s fiery rubble comes Veronika, the woman that will become the love of his life. Author Rich DiSilvio’s novel is an action packed thriller that is best read with your seat belt buckled. His descriptive style is so vivid that the atrocities in Auschwitz seem to jump out of the novel’s pages. Fifteen years later, we are transported to St. Louis, Missouri when Jack tells his daughter the real facts about her mother’s untimely death in London. What follows is an unexpected twist that is both deceitful and intriguing. This is a book that will keep you guessing until the very end!

Chris Fischer

Whoa! That's exactly what I thought when I finished reading My Nazi Nemesis, the great new read by author Rich DiSilvio. Following the story of Jack Goodwin, a cocky but smart CIA agent, the story is an absolute thrill ride of a read, and readers will obsessively turn the pages from the start through to the very end. Jack's got a history, one which he finally shares with his daughter, Eleanor. He was an OSS officer during the war and, during that time, made a lifelong enemy of an SS officer named Alois Richter, a rival for the love of Eleanor's mother, Veronika. Eleanor and Jack move forward on a mission of revenge, but what they find might not be what they are expecting, and will force Eleanor to rethink all that she thought she knew.

I so, so enjoyed My Nazi Nemesis. Author Rich DiSilvio has written a real roller coaster of a book, and once I started it, I simply could not put it down! The characters are interesting and realistic, the scenarios are exciting and adventure filled, and the writing is thrilling and funny to boot. Any reader who enjoys fiction with an adventurous or thrilling format, or is simply looking for a great read, should absolutely pick up My Nazi Nemesis as soon as possible. I highly recommend this book, and am certainly looking forward to reading more from the talented author Rich DiSilvio as soon as possible!

Ed

What a great read! I really loved this story and the writing. When I started reading “My NAZI NEMESIS” I realized this book would truly live up to the billing of being a dark thriller. This book moves along swiftly thanks to a very strong story line and has lots of twists and turns to keep the reader highly engaged. The author has an exceptional talent for character development, giving lots of details and back-story, which really brought the characters to life.

Rich DiSilvio writes so descriptively about his characters that my stomach turned getting to know the very disgusting and evil character of Bronislaw. I really felt like I was transported back in time to WWII while reading this story, which is the true sign of a well-crafted work of fiction. Also, the author paints a picture with his words which allowed me to mentally visualize the events that occur. This is the first time I’ve read a book by author Rich DiSilvio and I’m truly looking forward to reading more works from this very talented author. I highly recommend “My NAZI NEMESIS”!

Jennifer Allis

This novel starts off like a memoir, but quickly becomes an action-packed thriller. The author does a masterful job of weaving fiction with historical events - especially once the main character and his daughter go after an enemy from the past. Highly recommended.

Steve Painter

Rich DiSilvio does a masterful job of weaving a tale of intrigue and drama against the backdrop of historical events in this dark thriller. Using compelling character development, he uses a conversation between a father and daughter to set off a series of events that turns into a page-turning thriller for the reader. It's clear that DiSilvio is an accomplished writer and he uses all of the tools that great writers possess. My Nazi Nemesis is an engaging read that incorporates some very emotional subjects and this indeed is reflected in the gripping novel that it is.

Ben Furman

The GPS did a poor job of getting me through the twisting streets and dark alleys of Jack Goodwin’s mind, through whom the story is told, but just in the nick-of-time, DiSilvio provides the necessary guidance to make the journey well worth taking.

DiSilvio’s strength lies in linking historical, contextual backgrounds to the fast moving events that face the characters of the story. Such things as the Nazi’s “Final Solution” or the plots to kill Hitler are not presented in a heavy-handed or preachy way. I had enough of that in History 101.

The story follows OSS Agent Jack Goodwin, his wife Veronika, and Alois Richter, the Waffen SS officer and Goodwin’s nemesis, as they play a deadly cat-and-mouse game of intrigue in war torn Poland and Germany. After the war, now CIA agent Goodwin, entwined in the dark underbelly of Cold War, explains to his fifteen-year-old daughter, Eleanor, that Richter killed her mother, Veronika in a fit of jealous rage and did his best to have Goodwin join her. Driven by revenge to find and kill Richter, the father and daughter set out to hunt him down. But, all doesn’t go according to plan and Eleanor is forced to make a life and death decision.

Eleanor responded to her father, “But how can you ever truly know if your belief system is correct? Truth to one person is a falsehood to another…”

Grady Harp

A fascinating new novel.

While some readers may pause because of the plethora of stories about WW II and the extremes of the Nazis, this reader would hastily add ‘but you haven’t thought about it the way Rich has’. His story is unique in that it relives a period of time and then brings it back in to the future like a ghost story – a very clever and successful choice for creating a fascinating new novel.

Lee

My Nazi Nemesis is a Cold War thriller that is on a more personal level than the typical spy novel. Instead of the expensive cars and high-tech gadgets of a James Bond story we get a single father raising his teen daughter during the 1950's and 60's.

The novel deals with the haunting past of a CIA agent and the death of his wife at the hands of a Nazi officer in post war WWII, as well as the horrors of the concentration camps, the early period of the cold war, and the events that culminate in the story’s 1965 climax.

The strength of this novel is in the surprises, twists, and turns that a young woman must react to. Her evolution is both quick and complete as she must adjust both emotionally and physically to new realities. This book brings back some of the emotions of the Cold War era. Some of us who lived through it would rather have the anxiety we felt by the threat of the USSR than the uncertainties of the modern terrorist conflicts. My Nazi Nemesis is a thought-provoking thriller!

Nellie Laurie

Thrill ride! Page turner! Keeps you on the edge of your seat!

Those descriptions are often used in reviews for this genre, but no book I’ve read yet has earned those descriptions as much as My Nazi Nemesis.

This is a masterfully written novel, sure to be a bestseller.

The author, Rich DiSilvio, knows how to weave a story that intricately develops the characters and progresses the plot in a way that leaves no cracks for anything to slip through.

A highly recommended read for any fan of this genre.

Bella

A revenge thriller tailor-made for military history enthusiasts, My Nazi Nemesis breathes fresh life into the Nazi hunter pantheon.

Over the past 70 plus years, the Nazi hunter/revenge story has become almost a subgenre unto itself, spawning real-life heroes in the Mossad and countless books and films, ranging from the fictional Boys from Brazil to Neal Bascob’s non-fiction novels, Nazi Hunters and Hunting Eichman. DiSilvio distinguishes himself in the genre by telling Goodwin’s story from a decidedly American and personal point of view.

Although the story devotes plenty of ink to the Nazi persecution and eradication of the Jews during the war, the primary motivation for DiSilvio’s father/daughter duo isn’t to settle a score for others, or balance the global scales of justice. Rather, their plight remains a very intimate one, focusing on a single tragic loss and an unquenched desire to avenge it. He also includes a great deal of references to military and political history, much of which is aimed at an audience that already has a great deal of interest in and knowledge of the subjects. For those reasons and others, My Nazi Nemesis is a welcome addition to the genre.

Danielle Urban

My Nazi Nemesis by Rich DiSilvio is now my new favorite historical WWII novel.

His book brings my favorite topic to life. The awful Nazis. Deadly, frightening and real.

The action is everywhere. Just opening the book, the first page catches readers’ attention. Like it did with mine. A deadly situation that can be the last, yet the main character seems to make it out...and the plot thickens.

Rich DiSilvio has masterfully woven an entertaining war novel. One that both scares and lures me. I feel like a fly landing on a killer plant...only seconds will determine if I fly off to live, or if I'll die.

The same is applied to this novel. Hilarious, romantic, and stunning. My Nazis Nemesis will engage readers from the beginning to the end. Rich DiSilvio knows how to draw readers into his book. I would love to see this story made into a big motion picture. Overall, I highly recommend My Nazis Nemesis to readers worldwide.

Ivan Hecimovic

This novel is a blast! It is amazing! Every segment and every part of it!

And I honestly do not know where to start. But to cut things short – the best thing about this book is that Jack decides to settle things down with a man named Alois Richter. And this is when the novel truly begins. Murder, mysteries and the battle against the ‘old nemesis’ is what awaits us in “My Nazi Nemesis’’.

My opinion is that DiSilvio did a truly amazing and fantastic work. Everything about the novel is great; the story, the premises, the fact that we (okay Jack, but you can understand me) need to catch and face with our old enemy. Amazing, breathtaking, a bit nerve wrecking but all in all – a Masterpiece!