Otto Eckhart's Ordeal: Himmler, The SS and The Holy Grail Niall Edworthy
Shortlisted for 2021 Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize.
It is 1937 and an aimless young historian, back home after six years idling, is summoned to Berlin.
He is both thrilled and uneasy to be tasked with an extraordinary assignment: find the Holy Grail and bring it back for the glory of Nazi Germany. Otto Eckhart is right to be anxious. Events soon take a troubling turn and, with a dire threat hanging over him, he is set on an impossible course from which there is no obvious escape.
The feckless dreamer must use all his ingenuity and courage to defeat his inner demons and outfox Himmler's SS and Gestapo. In hunting down the sacred chalice of The Last Supper, can Eckhart discover his own Holy Grail and come of age as a man?
Otto Eckhart's Ordeal is a darkly humorous tale inspired by true - and incredible - events.