The Saboteur: A Novel

I always believed that World War 2 was the significant event of the 20th century. As an avid reader all things pertaining to this time in history, I found this book and it was like finding a pearl inside an oyster. Told by an excellent author and based on real events, it describes the little known, until now, plot by Norway nationals to destroy the well-guarded plant being used by the Nazis to develop the necessary instruments for creating the atomic bomb. Had Germany developed this before the Allies, the war may well have been lost and the world thrown into one of the darkest periods in modern history.The story told is spellbinding and many of the characters become heroes before our eyes. For those interested in this war and for all the others who merely want to experience the human spirit in all its glory, I recommend it highly. It's a good one.

I finished Andrew Gross’s book ‘The One Man’, and immediately picked up this one, ‘The Saboteur’. While I really liked the first one and enthusiastically gave it five stars, this one left me a little disappointed.The book is a fictionalized account of an actual WWII event. During the war, Germany invaded Norway and utilized a hydroelectric plant there to produce deuterium, or “heavy water”, a key ingredient in their quest to produce an atomic bomb. The Allies discovered this and were naturally very keen to interrupt that plan. They attempted raids on the facility and its product, some successful, some tragic. The production was ultimately halted by a Norwegian team led by the hero in this story.The Norwegian hero is a guy named Kurt Nordstrum, “The Saboteur”. It’s a little hard to recognize him initially as the namesake of the book, because, for the first half, he is more or less just another one of the many raiders. Only after the final raid on the plant is completed does he separate from his team, strike out on his own, and become the central character. The second half of the book follows him as he continues to perform secret missions with the Norwegian resistance and at the end plays a key role in the final destruction of Germany’s nuclear concerns in Norway.While the historical events in this book may be described as accurately as can be expected after more than seventy years have passed, the added-in fictional elements are a little annoying and hard to swallow. There are numerous instances where the author created a person or a story line (or altered history) in the interest of creating drama. For instance, one of the main antagonists, a Norwegian native who is a police official siding with the pro-Nazi occupation government, is uncannily prescient about what Kurt is up to. It’s like he read the book beforehand and guessed Kurt’s moves as precisely as if he had a crystal ball. Also, Kurt himself seems to step out of his character on more than one occasion. An example: while he is portrayed as a highly dedicated, highly trained, mission-oriented resistance fighter, at one point he seems to suddenly forget all of this, walk down the street with a beautiful woman for a few minutes, fall in love with her, and then commence to do stupid things that compromise his mission. These “added drama” elements detract from the overall believability of the book.In addition, there are just too many things going on. The first half of the story dwells on a raid against the hydroelectric plant, and you are led to believe that is what the whole book is about. But then Kurt takes off, does his own things (for the mission and otherwise). Had the book been solely about the destruction of heavy water production, the book would have been great. But the inclusion of all of Kurt’s adventures and misadventures makes you think the author had to invent stuff just to make the right page count.Despite these complaints, the book isn’t terrible. The writing, as in ‘The One Man’, is professionally done with readable prose, good grammar, and a generally consistent plot line. It does, however, get a little tedious when some of the characters discuss their adventures, plans, feelings, and failures ad nauseam, and it gets downright irritating when you watch helplessly as Kurt steps out of character and nearly compromises the mission (multiple times). Had the author spent a little more time focusing on the history and less time on stuff that doesn’t add to the story, I would have given the book five stars. As it is, however, four stars (or thee and a half, really) is more appropriate.

This is a fictionalized account of an extraordinary event during WWII in Nazi occupied Norway. The book is written in fry prose, no extra emotions or dramatics added to what actually occurred...and what occurred was so amazing that it truly didn’t need anything added. The men and women involved were dedicated, unfailingly courageous and strong. The story made me ask myself if I would have the courage to act as the protagonists did under similar circumstances. I can only hope. This is a compelling book, well written, impeccably researched, and the author is careful to document at the end just what was fictionalized and what was not. I looked up one of the main characters on Wikipedia and if anything, he was more amazing in reality than he was in the book. A riveting, superbly written story of tru life courage and daring. If you like adventure, you will love this book.

Andrew Gross has followed up his previous book, "The One Man", with another excellent World War II historical novel.During World War II, the Germans were making progress in their development of an atomic bomb. The plant at Vemork, Norway was producing "heavy water", a crucial component to the atomic process. In this fine book, Gross tells the tale of the Allied efforts to destroy the plant.Kurt Nordstrum, a member of the Norwegian resistance, is commissioned by the British to lead a crack team to destroy the plant. Weeks of training followed. Finally, Nordstrum and his team were ready. Upon entering the plant, the team is successful in deploying charges and the containers were heavily damaged. But not destroyed. Production of heavy water began again in just a couple of months.But the Germans had been alerted by Nordstrum's raid and now opted to move their precious containers to a more secure location. The containers were to be put on a ship and carried away. But Nordstrum and his men, with help from the inside, learn of the Germans' plan. Soon, Nordstrum and his men have developed another plan, this time to sink the ship in deep water, where the containers could not be recovered. But will Nordstrum's luck hold? He must stay one step ahead of the Germans, who have been alerted to his tactics from the raid on Vemork.I thoroughly enjoyed Gross' "The One Man", and "The Saboteur" is every bit as good. The characters are well-developed, and Gross does a fine job of telling this true-life story. There are many compelling side stories, including Nordstrum's struggle to find love, along with the grief of losing his father and fiance. I highly recommend this excellent book. For readers who want to read the real story of the actual attack on Vemork in World War II, I highly recommend "The Winter Fortress", by Neal Bascomb.

While this is an enjoyable read, it prompts one big question. Why did the author feel that a heavily fictionalised re-telling of this utterly thrilling true story was needed? In the preface Gross says that he wants to tell "the story of how only a few brave men put an end to that threat", but but then proceeds to invent a cast of central characters who are at best "drawn from" the real players and have their names changed. My decision to read the book might have been different if I'd realised up front the level of fictionalisation.The central part of the book (between the commando raid and sinking the ferry) is almost entirely fictional, involving "Kurt Nordstrom" in not one but two love affairs. Now I get that "Kurt spent the summer of 1943 on the plateau eating reindeer and dodging the Germans" isn't going to fill a lot of pages, but a shorter more focused tale would have been fine. Once you realise that this section is what it is, it calls into question how much of the remainder is historic.The irony is that a lot of this is unnecessary. By Gross' own admission, the dramatic chase which separated one of the escaping Gunnerside team from the others actually happened, just to another character not the invented American, and the true story of how the plant's night watchman interrupted the commandos setting the explosives not once but twice in search of his glasses is both funny and more dramatic than the way it's told here.Beyond that, the story has been told well, with less fictionalisation, several times in recent years. The BBC documentary accompanying Ray Mears' excellent 2003 book was superb, with interviews of many of the real players. I thoroughly enjoyed the tri-partisan 2015 TV series The Saboteurs which succeeded in portraying the perspectives of not only the Norwegian commandos and their supporters, but also the British and Norwegian commanders, and key participants on the German side. Even the still enjoyable 1965 film sticks to the truth at least as much as Gross' book.The book was originally published under the title The Saboteur, which makes perfect sense, but then got re-titled The Spy, which makes none, as there's very little spying involved, and a lot of sabotage. Maybe this was to avoid an obvious clash with the international TV series, but it raises another "why?".If you want to read an enjoyable wartime romp with some real key events, then this book is fine. If you'd prefer to understand the background, achievement and the real players, track down one of the TV series.

I knew nothing about the Telemark affair in WW2 Norway, but this book is a great fictional account, better than any film, of the sabotage of the German 'heavy water' plant by a group of Norwegian heroes, who really went above and beyond the call of duty. Expert plotting, strong characterisation and well-researched background make this an unmissable read. I'd read another of his books like a shot. Go buy.

Excellent story line

It took me a while to get into it but did enjoy it in the end

really enjoyed this book