Brash Books wants to make certain the late Ralph Dennis gets the attention and readership he deserves. So in addition to reissuing his Hardman series, the publisher has acquired Dennis’s other works, including the stand-alone novel THE WAR HEIST, previously published as McTAGGART’S WAR in 1979.

The time is June 1940. France is about to fall to the Nazis as the war consumes Europe. England fears a German invitation and a threat to the British Empire. So Winston Churchill secures the Empire’s wealth in gold bullion and securities, and arranges to have it shipped to Canada for safekeeping.

The first of these secret shipments travels to North America by sea and then by train to Montreal. But a group of desperate American soldiers learns about the shipment and plans to steal the gold. It falls to a lone agent for the Bank of England to block the robbery.

In the brief biography of Dennis following the conclusion, editor/publisher Lee Goldberg reveals the substantial revisions made to the original manuscript. “Several scenes and chapters were deleted, while other were moved to earlier or later in the narrative, to improve pacing, sharpen characters, and heighten suspense.”

Yet with all these revisions, the resulting novel runs slightly over 400 pages and is noticeable lopsided. Far too much time is spent with the assembly of the heist team and their various backstories as they slowly make their way to the theft location. Then, in the last 100 pages, the heist itself takes place and the narrative finally comes to life.

Dennis’s writing up to this point is credible and convincing. Dialogue flows naturally and both the characters and settings are entirely believable – there is just too much of it. The pace drags and readers are tempted to give up on the story. But when the heist takes center stage, the narrative moves forward vigorously and we get a sense of what the entire novel might have been.

Readers new to Dennis would do better with any of the reissued Hardman series. These stories display a much more effective balance between the characters and action of the plot.

Die-hard thriller fans might enjoy THE WAR HEIST, if for no other reason than its glimpse into little known occurrences in the early days of the Second World War. Most readers, however, will wonder if all the re-editing was worth the effort. —Alan Cranis

Get it at Amazon.