Reich of Passage by Ace Collins

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Tell Boyer is burned out on politics and moves to Los Angeles to become an entertainment journalist. He is sleepwalking through life until he meets a reclusive doctor whose father escaped Nazi Germany, but had developed a technology to place terminally ill patients into a deep sleep until cures could be developed for their specific diseases. With stem cell technology now available to regenerate kidneys, The first person that Tell finds himself face to face with is Hollywood's most famous sex symbol--Jean Harlow. The second is Jim Blane, an American agent who penetrated the SS. As Jim Blane adjusts to modern life he discovers that they were not the only two suspended in time. With his spy expertise he recognizes men from the SS troop who are now alive and in key governmental positions throughout the world and buoyed by billions in Nazi gold. Tell races with Blane to expose a new plan for world domination and to introduce Jean Harlow to a modern world


When I spoke to Mr. Collins (ok, he let's me call him Ace, guess we're friends like that) about anything new that he had coming out and if he would be interested in letting me do a review on my new blog, I was surprised that he said yes.  It wasn't that I was surprised that he would let me do a review, I mean who wouldn't, right?  I was surprised that he had ANOTHER book ready to come out.  This guy has published over 60 books and I knew this would be another huge hit.


So what would you do if you were a journalist looking for a new direction in your writing, and you are introduced to Hollywood's most famous sex symbol, Jean Harlow?  I'm sure you'd do what Tell Boyer did in this book, take a year off and devote every minute to reacclimating this "young" lady back into society.  But wait, how did this famous lady from the 1930's get into the present without aging a bit?  Tell finds out through his association with John Gould.  John's father had experimented with a technology that allowed him to place terminally ill people into a deep sleep or a coma until their ailment could be cured.  But let's not stop there. In addition to Jean Harlow, Tell finds out that another man, Jim Blane, a former American agent who had infiltrated the German SS was also kept in a coma.  Jim begins to notice world leaders that appear to be previous members of the German SS, but how could they still look so young and what does it mean that they are in power?  What would it be like to take a star from old Hollywood and reintroduce them to today's world?  Can Jim find out how all of these former SS members are alive and what they are planning to do?  The answer is...... READ THE BOOK!


I've enjoyed each and every book by Ace Collins that I have ever read.  I learn so much through his writing, it makes me feel smarter when I put the book down.  Ace's writing style is one that infuses enough fact into the story that it makes you want to read more about characters, places or events.  Being a young guy myself, I wasn't aware of the story of Jean Harlow but I wanted to find out about her based on this book.  Ace allows his characters to develop so fully in his books that you find yourself wondering how many were patterned after real people. 


So is this a "man's book"?  Absolutely!  Famous actresses, German soldiers, world-wide government conspiracies, double-agents????  What guy in his right mind wouldn't fall for all of these plot elements?


I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest opinion.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ace Collins has authored more than sixty titles in the past two and half decades. Zondervan launched Ace's career in fiction, releasing two books in 2009 and another two in 2010. Ace has won numerous awards for his writing including three Golden Quills, an America's Writing Award, and the Angel of Excellence Award. He has written for a wide variety of publishers including St. Martin's Press, Viking-Penguin, Putnam, Harper-Collins, Thomas Nelson, Word, Zondervan, and the Chicago Review Press. In the course of his writing, he has also penned more than 2,000 magazine features for the likes of People, Us, Texas Monthly, Plus Magazine, and Guideposts. He has made scores of television guest appearances including Good Morning America, The Today Show, CBS This Morning, CNN, Fox and Friends, The NBC Nightly News, and Entertainment Tonight. Two of his books have been made into network TV specials.

Ace has always been a car lover, he has owned several Mustangs, including a 65 Fastback that he still drives, as well as cars from the 30s, 40s, 50s and 60s. On the right at the Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg Museum, Ace is shown with a famous SJ Desenberg. The oldest car he has ever owned and driven is a 1917 Model T Speedster.