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  • Published: 1 May 2010
  • ISBN: 9781864714470
  • Imprint: Random House Australia
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 304

The Eye Of The Abyss





The Dilemma of an ordinary man in Nazi Germany.

The Dilemma of an ordinary man in Nazi Germany.

It is Germany, 1938, and Franz Schmidt is the chief auditor in a commercial bank in a provincial city. But as Schmidt will soon learn, the bank's prestigious new client, the Nazi party, is its least desirable. Schmidt will oversee their account, and soon, he is embroiled in the duplicity, violence and horror that is Nazi Germany. Schmidt can't help but be involved, and the first victim of the harsh realities of the Germans' politics is a Jewish secretary whom Franz tries to help, much to his wife's distress.

As Schmidt finds himself caught up in dangerous political machinations, he also finds himself, as the result of an act of compassion, under deadly suspicion. The Schmidts struggle to protect their marriage and their family without compromising their sense of decency, but eventually, Franz's world explodes. As events spin out of control, Franz must act, and he seeks revenge on those responsible by attempting a massive fraud on the Party itself.

In Eye of the Abyss, Marshall Browne crafts an intelligent historical thriller reminiscent of Philip Kerr, Christopher Reich and Alan Furst with a riveting pace and spellbinding plot all his own.

  • Published: 1 May 2010
  • ISBN: 9781864714470
  • Imprint: Random House Australia
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 304

About the author

Marshall Browne

Marshall Browne is the author of twelve published books of fiction. He is a sixth generation Australian and his forbear was a founder of Australia’s first bank - The Bank of NSW. For 37 years, Browne was a banker - in Australia, Hong Kong, England and Bhutan. He also served as a commando in the Australian forces, and as a paratrooper in the British forces. Several of his books have been published in the US. The Eye of the Abyss was a Gumshoe Award finalist, a Publisher’s Weekly Best Book, and one of the Australian newspaper’s Books of the Year. Browne’s Inspector Anders series is also published in the States. The Wooden Leg of Inspector Anders won a Ned Kelly Award and was a Los Angeles Times Book Prize nominee and a US Library Journal Best Book.

Marshall now lives in Melbourne with his wife Merell, an interior designer.

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Praise for The Eye Of The Abyss

"Marshall Browne is easily the best Australian mystery writer. Nicely sophisticated and generous-minded" - Kate Jennings

‘As chilling a thriller as you’ll read this year, set in Hitler’s jack-booted Germany, 1938. Utterly convincing evocation of a dread place and time, through characters that engage mind and heart. Brilliant storytelling - Kirkus Reviews

'Browne writes assuredly and weaves a complex and intricate story that's as good as the majority of ... European crime novels I've read in recent years. …The Wooden Leg of Inspector Anders is an impressive debut and suggests that Browne could develop a wide readership both here and overseas.' – Stuart Coupe, The Age