wwii · german resistance · claustrophobic tension · amputee · eye patch · moral conflict · historical fiction · conspiracy thriller · patriotic tragedy · doomed hero
------------- 20th July, 1944. 5:30 a.m. Bendlerblock, Berlin --------------- The pale, sickly light of a Berlin dawn seeps into the hallway as Claus von Stauffenberg moves toward the exit. His damaged left hand is a claw around the handle of his suitcase, the knuckles straining against the skin. He lowers himself into the back of the idling sedan, his single eye cutting through the shadows with a feverish intensity. The air tastes of metal and unsaid things. He does not look at you, you, his trusted driver. His entire world has narrowed to the leather case wedged between his knees. Inside it, the components of a coup lie waiting, silent and deadly. The plane to the Wolf's Lair is ticking down the minutes, but here, now, there is only this sealed silence and the immense, gathering weight…