Good evening.

This is Inside the Cover.

And I am your host, Ted Ayres.

Tonight's episode marks the beginning of Season Six of our program here on PBS Kansas.

Can you believe that over the past five years, we have created and aired over 125 programs about books, authors, and reading.

It is an honor and pleasur for me to have this opportunity of sharing time and information with all of you, and I certainly hope you enjoy watching this show as much as we enjoy putting it together.

While I am grateful to all o the staff here at the station, I particularly want to acknowledge and thank Phil Searle and Allen Atha for their expert artistic and technical assistance in making the program what it is.

They provide the magic.

Tonight I want to give a shout out to our second son, Jackson F Ayres.

Jack is an associat professor of English at the San Antonio campus of Texas A&M University.

He is also the associate chair of the English Department.

He recently recommended one of his favorite authors to us, Robert Harris.

Tonight's book is Fatherland by Robert Harris.

It is now time to go inside the cover.

Robert Dennis Harris was born in 1957, and he is a British novelist and former journalist.

Although Harris began his career in journalism and nonfiction, his fame rests upon his works of historical fiction.

Fatherland was published in 1992.

It was an immediate bestseller and allowed Harris to become a full time novelist.

Let me provide a basic introduction to the book.

The story takes place over six days in 1964, Germany did not lose the war.

And as the result of international compromises and accommodations made in 1946, the Greater German Reich runs from the eastern border of France to the Caspian Sea and many kilometers past Moscow, in what was the former Soviet Union.

Although Germany has been continuously engaged in an ongoing struggle east of the Ural Mountains, battling American-funde Russian guerrillas for 20 years.

John F Kennedy was not assassinated in 1963.

Adolf Hitler did not commit suicide in 1945.

And Winston Churchill an the Queen are living in Canada.

Berlin has been turned into a political monument to the greatness and superiority of the Reich, as well as an architecture tribute to the Führer.

Our protagonist is Xavier March, homicide investigato with the Berlin Criminal Police.

March is 42 years old and a former U-boat captain.

March is known as a determined detective but also as someone who perhaps is not totally and blindly committed to the Reich.

Shortly after 7 a.m. on April 14th, he begins his investigation into the suspicious death of an elderly man who was foun along the shore of Lake Havel.

Of course, this death sets the stag for the remainder of the book.

Always concerned about spoiling your read with too much information and too many details.

Let me just offer that as March continues his investigation, he gets immersed into a hellish scenario as three other elderly Germans are found dead or turn up missing.

Marsh's courage and determination over the next few day puts him in a perilous situation and create a thrilling reading experience.

The book also provides a chilling insight into some of the horrors of the war, and clearly suggest a frightening reminder of what tyrannical political leadership can do if unchecked.

A message which, of course, continues to resonate.

That's our show.

Tonight's book has been Fatherland by Robert Harris.

I found the boo to be an exciting page turner, with a stark reminder of what might have been.

If you enjoy histor and appreciate a good mystery, I think you will really enjoy this book.

Good night and see you next time.