Book detail

	The Court of Blue Shadows Author: Maynard Allington Published: April 12, 1995 by Brassey's Category: Literary/thriller (From the New York Times, April 23, 1995, review by Newgate Callendar) Former military officers can be very good at action novels, but how many of them are real writers? Maynard Allington, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel who served in Vietnam and is the author of "The Grey Wolf" and "The Fox in the Field," is one of those rarities: a military man who is also a deft writer. In THE COURT OF BLUE SHADOWS, he takes us back to Germany just before World War II. The central figure is an Aryan-looking type who learns that his father is a Jew. Most of this beautifully written book has to do with the psychology of a young man who mistakenly thought he was one of the German elite. There is plenty of action, with a finale in Brazil that involves former Nazis and looted artworks. But this is not a typical adventure story. Rather, it is a sensitive and powerful examination of humanity at its worst and at its best.