This novel begins like a thriller with an escape from a German prison camp. Right from the start we know that this is no ordinary prisoner but a man with no loyalties to anything who kills without compunction so it is no surprise as we follow along while he plots to murder his own flesh and blood, from whom he has received nothing but kindness. For a while it seems that the book has turned into an inverted detective story but it soon reverts to a thriller and becomes a simple chase. The police do little actual detecting and there is no great revelation at the end. A fairly mundane work.