Operation Long Jump leaps off the pages

Join us at the Book Festival on Feb. 15 as Howard Blum shares this never-before-told story. In the meantime, enjoy this review of Night of the Assassins.

By Carole J Greene, JBF Committee member

Readers of mystery and thriller “whodunnit” or how the good guys will out-run, out-think or outmaneuver the bad guys. They know the good guys will win in the end, but they love to use their own skills to arrive at the same denouement the author creates. And woe be unto anyone who spoils it by blabbing the ending.

The question arises: how can you enjoy a nonfiction thriller if you already know how it ends? The answer lies in what Howard Blum does so expertly in Night of the Assassins. Recognizing history has already told readers that Hitler’s plan to kill President Franklin Roosevelt, Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Marshal Joseph Stalin in November 1943 did not work, Blum uses exquisite language and fascinating details to keep readers totally invested in the story. Their minds play along as if the outcome is a surprise.

The narrative shifts between the efforts of Nazi spies organizing multi-pronged attack formulas and those of Secret Service Agent Mike Reilly, FDR’s “I’ll take a bullet for you” head of security. Walter Schellenberg, leader of the Nazi group, is the SS general heading Section 6 of the RSHA (Reich Main Security Office). Two other major players on the Nazi side are Canaris and Skorzeny. Admiral Wilhelm Canaris, as director of the espionage organization Abwehr, oversees a spy training site. SS Captain Otto Skorzeny, called “Most Dangerous Man in Europe,” hopes that, by killing the Big Three, he will earn the title “Most Dangerous Man in History.”

After discarding several unworkable assassination plans, Schellenberg settles on waiting until all three are together, then sending in commandos armed with bombs and machine guns. Blum’s meticulous research is apparent, as he sets up, then tears down plan after plan. Thanks to Allied documents that a spy discloses to Hitler’s team, Tehran, in late November 1943, is identified as the best opportunity to do the deed.

The first Canaris-trained commandos parachute into the area only to be met by Russian troops tipped off to their arrival. None of the parachutists survive. A second group soon follows. They too are neutralized. The success of the operation depends on a third group of only six commandos. Will they be discovered? How close will they get?

Blum juxtaposes Nazi plots against Mike Reilly’s considerable worries and thoughtful plans to protect FDR against killers who could come from anywhere at any time. Tensions escalate!

Not only do the events themselves excite, but Blum’s skilled use of metaphorical language also enhances readers’ enjoyment.

For example, “. . . make sure that when the Nazis pitched their tents in Iran, the natives would enthusiastically help them pound in the stakes.”

Another, “…a ragtag caravan of battered trucks and wheezing camels started its journey across the desert sands, toward… the challenge of their historic mission.”

Historic missions need memorable code names. This one was originally called merely “long-range operations,” until Schellenberg, in a moment of spontaneous inspiration, refers to it as “a long jump.” Thus was born Operation Long Jump.

In Blum’s capable hands, the true spy saga leaps off the page.

Monday, Feb. 15, 2021, 1 p.m.

Night of the Assassins: The Untold Story of Hitler’s Plot to Kill FDR, Churchill and Stalin. by Howard Blum

Sponsor: Beth Tikvah

Howard Blum is the acclaimed author of the New York Times bestselling, Edgar Award-winning American Lightning, as well as several other books, including most recently, the New York Times Notable Book, In the Enemy’s House. A contributing editor at Vanity Fair, Blum served as a reporter for The New York Times, and was twice nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting.