The Seventh Secret

By: Irving Wallace

Narrated by: Chet Williamson

Length: 11 hrs and 29 mins

Publisher's Summary

Eminent Oxford don Sir Harrison Ashcroft, on the verge of proving that Hitler did not die in the bunker, is murdered in Berlin. His daughter, Emily, continues this quest. Her life is endangered but she has new and unexpected protectors: Rex Foster, researching the vainglory of Nazi architecture; Nicholas Kirvov, curator of a Soviet art museum; and Tovah Levine, Mossad agent. The four prove a tough match for a coterie of neo-Nazis conspiring to perpetuate Hitler's image and obscure the details of his death. The true story of Hitler's last hours is revealed in counterpoint by Eva Braun, who has indeed survived. Now known as Evelyn Hoffmann, she has another secret: she and der Fuhrer had a child.

©1986 Amy Wallace & David Wallechinsky (P)2011 David N. Wilson

Solid Conspiracy Theory

One of the biggest rumors of the second World War revolves around Hitler and Ava making it out of the bunker. The theory is sound and believable with action and suspense thrown in. It is a good book for conspiracy theorists and those who like learning about the Nazis.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

preposterous denouement

I would have rated this book much higher if not for a couple of episodes that really put me off. First, there was the sex scene, which didn't seem quite plausible: that two educated, sophisticated professional people would jump into bed so casually. But then, the story was set in the '80's, so unprotected impulsive sex might be a way to reflect history, if it wasn't just that an agent told the author that some kind of sex was a contract requirement. I started to wonder if the book was written by committee, but the story picked up and moved on quite alright so I stopped being critical until the end. There, the protagonists, who had held the high moral ground to that point, suddenly became incredibly bloodthirsty and civically irresponsibly, leaving me with the notion that the author just got tired of writing and decided to wind it up any old way.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Aweful

What was most disappointing about Irving Wallace’s story?

It was absolutely predicable and infantile. Irving Wallace has written so many excellent books but this is not one of them.

Would you listen to another book narrated by Chet Williamson?

The narrator is excellent. Its the books content that is purile.

Robotic narration and dated dialogue

Not a new story, but the narration was uninspired and robotic, the love scenes just plain embarrassing, and the story interesting.

Better Narrator = Better Book...

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Well spent in terms of "what-ifs" in the storyline, but I was distracted and put off by gratuitous sex and stilted narration.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

The whole premise of "did they" or "didn't they" die in the bunker is the crux of the story and gets your mental wheels spinning. The sex was an unnecessary distraction. And if sex was to be integral to the storyline, then the author needs to make it seductive rather than clumsy. I wasn't tantalized but rather exasperated; it got in the way of the storyline progression and served no purpose. Love erotic literature, but this wasn't it and didn't complement the plot.

What didn’t you like about Chet Williamson’s performance?

While I appreciate the rich timber of Mr. Williamson's voice, he needs more practice in breath control and portraying female characters; those characters weren't believable for me. Some narrators transport you through opposite sex characters with little effort and it becomes seamless. Mr. Williamson needs more experience.

Do you think The Seventh Secret (Signet) needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

No

Not for me.

What would have made The Seventh Secret (Signet) better?

Better characters and plot. I didn't seem to care much about either by the time I was turned off by the gratuitously descriptive sex. I doubt anything else in the story was given so much care and attention to detail. Even if the bedroom scenes were less graphic, the speed at which the author got the couple into bed after meeting was remarkable and unnecessary to the plot, at least so it seems, not having continued listening. I did try to fast forward and gave up when they kept going at it. I just didn't care enough to wade through it and risk having to listen to more of the same later on. This is the same reason I returned Outlander. Nice premise, poor delivery. I'll do a more thorough reading of the reviews from now on.

Did Chet Williamson do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

Yes. What I remember was in use of accents.