Grudge: Operation Highjump

By: Brian Parker

Narrated by: Roberto Scarlato

In 1946 the United States Navy conducted Operation Highjump, an expedition to evaluate the effect of extreme Antarctic cold on US equipment. However, their true purpose remains shrouded in mystery. Were the reports of Nazi activity on the Southern Continent accurate?

After engaging unknown forces in aerial combat, weather forced the Navy to abandon operations. Undeterred, the US returned every Antarctic summer until escalating tensions in Southeast Asia forced the government to secretly detonate three nuclear warheads over the continent in 1958. With the threat eliminated, the files were sealed and forgotten by all but the men who fought there.

Now the enemy has returned with a genetically superior army, indoctrinated from birth to hate Americans for their savagery, and they're intent on exacting revenge for the loss of their homeland and banishment to the icy wastes.

©2017 Brian L. Parker (P)2017 Brian L Parker

Great book

This is my first audio book... this book was amazing! going to be looking for more like it

Very enjoyable

The plot is somewhat far fetched so bring some imagination with you. I really enjoyed it anyway, nasty nazis and heroic heroes, smashing!

Interesting "What if?"

This book and the premise was a nice departure from the norm. Interesting characters and a great plot. If you are into history mashups this book is for you. Worth the time and credit.

This book was provided at no cost for a fair and honest review.

Good until the very end

This book built a fantastic story that was great in every aspect but the end. I either missed something or the author missed it, but the end seemed to miss something.

3.5* - series or standalone?

There was nothing in the title or description that indicated this was the first book of a series, but I felt that things didn't wrap up quite neatly enough to be a standalone. If you are a fan of military fantasy fiction, this will definitely appeal to you because nearly all of the characters are military personnel (good guys or bad guys). You don't have to be well-versed in WWII history, either - the author does a good job of explaining terms and concepts. The author also does a good job at making some of the bad guys sympathetic characters rather than truly evil scumbags.

There are a few reasons why I didn't give this story a higher rating. First, I didn't understand the connection between the Nazis and the UFOs clearly enough. This is why I think this book might be part of a larger series (hoping that the connection will be fleshed out in future installments). Second, there were characters that were given a lot of significance throughout the story but I couldn't quite figure out why because they didn't do or say anything of importance in the later part of the book. Again, I'm assuming that these characters will be important in future volumes, but I couldn't understand why they were so important during the second half of the book. Third, unless I missed it, I'm not sure why Germany or other countries didn't provide more assistance to the United States. Fourth, the last scene with the President, hearing his thought processes, was kind of sinister and creepy - again, this makes me think that this is more than a standalone story. Finally, I think it would have been cool to have incorporated a sideplot involving American neo-Nazis, it would have been interesting for them to figure out whose side they were on. I won't quibble about conflating Nazis and the Wehrmacht, but I suspect that WWII history geeks might have some thoughts about that. Anyway, since I'm still not sure if this is a series or a standalone story, I'm not quite sure how to rate the book. If it had been described on the cover/description to be the start of a series, I probably would have given this book a higher rating (because I would have assumed that some of my critiques would be resolved by the time the series ended). The narrator was fine, although I increased the playback speed to suit my personal preferences.

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

80 years later darkness marches again

The story was unique amoung alternate history novels has this uses real history and old conspiracies to forge a truly detailed world of why and how's of what lead to major events threw the story.

Do has I continued threw the story I began see some really dumb things on the part of Nazis that made no sense has they had contact with the outside world they should have used that time to better gain knowledge of of the world instead of being so 2D biased on how things should have worked. An the story endding on a cliffhanger was a no-no if there isn't a sequel after several years just seem really mean to reader of the story.

The scientific aspects could have been explained batter to less informed on how the more advanced weapons worked or the insides looked like. An example for weapons would be like the giant radio wave dish that the army used could have be explained if that was a true weapon or if the people on the base just used it in a creative way. Has I said tge author ignored more detailed descriptions of inside machines of tanks, plans,and UFOs could have given better details on how the pilots operated then or the consoles look tge only time the author gave a brief on it was with one UFO threw tge story.

No guts no glory

I'll start by saying I'm no good with history, while I do know how several historical events panned out, the details always get lost upon me. I had no idea operation high jump is a real thing until doing some research, so I had no preconceived thoughts on how this should go. This is the author's remix on a real event, so don't expect it to be a true and accurate historical record of events.

That being said, war is ugly and the author does an excellent job of not sugarcoating that fact. There are some gruesome and gory parts but we are talking Nazis, weapons of mass destruction, more Nazis and...Aliens?! The timestamps on the chapters helped me keep track of whether the story was currently taking place in the past or present sometimes, as the author does jump back and forth a bit. It's not hard to follow along though, honestly it's a very well thought out and written story. I really enjoyed the sci-fi aspects, they are what make this story. I did feel as the author left me longing for closure in the ending, but this does leave room for a sequel though. I had no gripes with the narrator, he did a fine job. History is not really in my wheelhouse, but I really enjoyed this listen! I am going to expand my horizons and look for some other historical fiction to dive into moving forward.

I received a free copy of this audiobook at my request in exchange for a fair and unbiased review

Wow!!!

This is a fantastically written alternate history of WWII which, of course, then leads to a terrifying future. Considering that an important portion of this story takes place next month, I'd say this is the absolute perfect time to give this a read! It's classic Brian Parker with lots of action, a tiny bit of romance, and enough twists and turns to make a pretzel look tame. Oh, and did I mention the aliens?

looking for 1 thing and found another..

the story had me pulled in completely . i listened to the whole story in 1 sitting.. great job

Just awesome story

great story from a vet who actually knows what he is talking about...
i recommend