In a current day suspense thriller, The Hunt for Raubgold is a story of mystery, intrigue, and the quest of millions who have searched for Raubgold-the gold Germany confiscated in World War II. In book three of the bestselling Amy Prowers series, Katherine Burlake reveals where the past becomes the present.
Nothing brings out the blood in a search as much as the word gold. This gold is different. It represents the souls of the millions of people who were killed in WWII. The war ended seventy-five years ago, but the search for the gold has never ended.
Governments, treasure seekers, and political splinter groups have failed, since World War II, to find all the gold confiscated from concentration camps and other countries Germany occupied. Today the gold could be worth over a billion dollars to whoever finds it.
- Is it somewhere in Germany or another country?
- Was it destroyed during the war or lost?
- Is the missing gold only a myth?
Amy Prowers’s husband was obsessed with finding it. Did he leave clues behind before his mysterious death? A bag hidden for 20 years is uncovered by an avalanche that destroyed a wall in her home. In it is a map and journal. Now Amy intends to find the gold and vindicate his search.
The search will take them through picturesque German towns, abandoned castles and crypts, emptied graveyards, and ancient monasteries that have now become breweries. Amy’s aunt Sonora, who runs a powerful international Committee whose members include many world leaders, wants to keep the money out of the hands of right-wing radicals, and once the apolitical Amy learns that those groups are targeting refugees and plotting a Fourth Reich, she, too, is moved to the cause. At the mission’s start, though, Amy’s motives are more caught up in the past, as she strives to finish what Vince started—and get something back to descendants of the Nazi’s victims.
The novel’s first half features much discussion of the missing gold’s possible fate, and thoughtful consideration of what that gold represents—“the souls of those who died in World War II—civilians, military, the people in the camps.” The pace picks up as the stakes grow higher and, true to the novel’s subtitle, past and present collide. Burlake takes history more seriously than most treasure-hunt thriller authors, and favors shoe-leather investigation over relentless action, but a light touch and engaging hero keep this entry lively.
Takeaway: The hunt for Nazi gold powers this humane, history-minded thriller.
Comparable Titles: A. Jay Collins’s Nazi Gold, Steve Berry’s The Amber Room.
Production grades
Cover: A
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A-
Marketing copy: A-
