HHhH by Laurent Binet (sic)

This is an interesting and unusual book.  Stylistically it may not be to everyone's taste.  It tells the story of the attempted assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, one of Hitler's henchmen known as the Butcher of Prague.  The tale is told by a nameless narrator who has decided to research and write about Heydrich including his early life, in an attempt to understand the man and what caused him to become such a feared and detested person.  However, as the novel progresses, the presumed fictional writer becomes part of the story, and it becomes unclear whether the one is reading fiction or fact.  Is Binet writing about himself and his research or is he writing about a fictional character?  Who is the main character here?  Is it Heydrich or is it Binet or is it the unnamed author?  At times the author's obsessive anxiety about his research becomes tedious.  Nevertheless the book is fascinating and highly original, as well as suspenseful.

HHhH are the initials which stand for the German, "Himmlers flirt heist Heydrich" (Himmler's brain is called Heydrich.  By all accounts and standards, Heydrich was a thoroughly distasteful and evil character, who was one of the masterminds of eradicating the Jews in Germany and German occupied Europe during World War II.  The book becomes a nail biter when two Czechoslovak patriots volunteer to assassinate Heydrich.  The plot was called Operation Anthropoid.  The two men were given fake identities and parachuted into the countryside.

Heydrich was given to riding in an open car and the two men lay in wait.  Plans went somewhat awry when the first shooter's gun didn't hit him.  The second man quickly hurled a grenade at Heydrich, fatally wounding him, and he died days later.  The men were helped by others in the underground and the suspense builds as they attempt an escape.  In anger, Hitler retaliates by destroying the town of Lidice and deporting its inhabitants.

Just as I was finishing the book, I read a positive review of a movie about to come out based on Operation Anthropoid, with the same name.  I look forward to seeing it; I don't know if it was based on this book or on other accounts.  This is not an easy book to read as the author attempts to take the reader into the mind of such a fiendish character, but it is a brilliantly written account of a terrible time in history.