The best books about hunting and battling Nazi war criminals

Why am I passionate about this?

Raised in a proud Jewish home, I was instilled with an appreciation for my cultural heritage from a very young age. Today, I am utterly fascinated with the convergence of Judaism and popular culture in film, television, comics, literature, and other media. After college, I became a freelance entertainment journalist, writing stories for SYFY WIRE, The Hollywood Reporter, Forbes, and Marvel Entertainment. I currently reside in Philadelphia with my wife, Leora, and adorable Cavapoo, Archie.


I wrote...

Sunset Empire

By Josh Weiss,

Book cover of Sunset Empire

What is my book about?

December, 1959: The Korean War rages on. Protesting the bloody conflict, a Korean-American man, William Yang, blows himself up in the middle of a Los Angeles department store just before Christmas, leading the U.S. government to reopen the internment camps used during World War II. President Joseph McCarthy's America has never been more on edge, paranoid, and above all, dangerous.

Several weeks later, a woman hires Morris Baker, now working as a private investigator, to track down her missing husband—Henry Kissinger—who may have a shadowy connection to Yang's purported terrorist attack. The ensuing investigation for the missing State Department consultant working for Vice President Richard Nixon sends Baker on another thrilling adventure of deceit, intrigue, sex, murder, and conspiracy where the safety of the entire world may hang in the balance.

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of The Odessa File

Josh Weiss Why did I love this book?

If The Boys from Brazil had never been published (a very sad thought, indeed), The Odessa File would occupy the mantle of my favorite book.

As it stands, however, Frederick Forsyth’s third novel—which was released only a year after Day of the Jackal—must content itself with second place.

With all of that said, I don’t think the Morris Baker Universe would exist without the influence of this thrilling tale about a secret network of Nazi war criminals that not only shields its members from the retribution of war crimes tribunals, but also attempts to alter world events… especially where the Jews are concerned.

By Frederick Forsyth,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked The Odessa File as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The  suicide of an elderly German Jew explodes into  revelation after revelation: of a Mafia-like  organization called Odessa ...of a real-life fugitive known as the  "Butcher of Riga"..of a young German journalist  tumed obsessed avenger.......and, ultimately, of brilliant, ruthless plot  to reestablish the worldwide power of SS mass  murderers and to carry out Hitler's chilling  "Final Solution."


Book cover of Marathon Man

Josh Weiss Why did I love this book?

“Is it safe?” There is, perhaps, no other trio of words in the English language capable of sending shockwaves of unimaginable pain deep into one’s molars.

Dr. Christian Szell’s ruthless determination to obtain his diamonds, no matter the cost, makes him one of the most detestable villains in all of fiction. So detestable, in fact, that I couldn’t help borrowing his surname for a tertiary antagonist in Sunset Empire, who is part heartless physician and part mad scientist.

By William Goldman,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Marathon Man as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

William Goldman's remarkable career spans more than five decades, and his credentials run the gamut from bestselling novelist to Oscar-winning screenwriter to Hollywood raconteur. He's beloved by millions of readers as the author of the classic comic-romantic fantasy The Princess Bride. And he's notorious for creating the most harrowing visit to the dentist in literary and cinematic history--in one of the seminal thrillers of the twentieth century. . . .

MARATHON MAN

Tom "Babe" Levy is a runner in every sense: racing tirelessly toward his goals of athletic and academic excellence--and endlessly away from the specter of his famous father's…


Book cover of The Boys from Brazil

Josh Weiss Why did I love this book?

This is my favorite book in the world.

In someone else’s hands, the tale of a global Nazi conspiracy to restore the Third Reich to its former glory by cloning Adolf Hitler would probably come off as utter insanity. But Levin makes you believe every word of it, funneling the story through the eyes of Nazi hunter Yakov Liebermann (based on Simon Wiesenthal) and infamous doctor of the Auschwitz concentration camp, Josef Mengele.

By Ira Levin,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked The Boys from Brazil as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In this classic thriller, Ira Levin imagines Dr Josef Mengele's nightmarish plot to restore the Third Reich. Alive and hiding in South America, thirty years after the end of the Second World War, Mengele gathers a group of former colleagues for a sinister project - the creation of the Fourth Reich. Ageing Nazi hunter Yakov Lieberman is informed of the plot but before he hears the evidence, his source is killed . . .

Spanning continents and inspired by true events, what follows is one of Levin's most masterful tales, both timeless and chillingly plausible.

Praise for Ira Levin:

'Levin…


Book cover of The Nazi Hunters

Josh Weiss Why did I love this book?

All fiction has some kind of basis in reality.

The bestsellers penned by Forsyth, Levin, and Goldman would not exist without the true stories of the men and women who worked tirelessly in the years after World War II to bring escaped Nazis to justice.

Nagorski’s wonderfully researched work of non-fiction shines a much-deserved light on those individuals who sought closure on behalf of the murdered 6 million when no one else cared to do so: Fritz Bauer, Simon Wiesenthal, Tuvia Friedman, Elizabeth Holtzman, Beate, and Serge Klarsfeld, and more.

By Andrew Nagorski,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Nazi Hunters as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

More than seven decades after the end of the Second World War, the era of the Nazi Hunters is drawing to a close as they and the hunted die off. Their saga can now be told almost in its entirety.
After the Nuremberg trials and the start of the Cold War, most of the victors in World War II lost interest in prosecuting Nazi war criminals. Many of the lower-ranking perpetrators quickly blended in with the millions who were seeking to rebuild their lives in a new Europe, while those who felt most at risk fled the continent. In Pursuit…


Book cover of Hunters

Josh Weiss Why did I love this book?

Every book list needs a good wild card, wouldn’t you agree?

This Dark Horse one-shot published in the run-up to the premiere for Amazon’s Hunters is only a few pages long, but perfectly encapsulates the pulpy spirit of the revenge-driven series created by David Weil. Mr. Weil has stated on numerous occasions that the small screen project was a way for him to pay homage to his Holocaust survivor grandmother and tell an epic, comic book-inspired story of good vs. evil.

The one-shot does just that as the titular squad of Nazi eliminators tracks down a concentration camp doctor notorious for conducting unspeakable human experiments and collecting gruesome trophies.

By Arvid Nelson, Tom Reilly (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Hunters as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Ruth Heidelbaum has secret to kill for—hundreds of Nazis are hiding in the United States, and she's on a bloody quest to take them out, one by one. She and her rag-tag teammates call themselves THE HUNTERS, and it's kill, rinse, repeat, until justice has finally been served to every last one of them. This is not murder...it's mitzvah!


You might also like...

American Flygirl

By Susan Tate Ankeny,

Book cover of American Flygirl

Susan Tate Ankeny Author Of The Girl and the Bombardier: A True Story of Resistance and Rescue in Nazi-Occupied France

New book alert!

Why am I passionate about this?

Susan Tate Ankeny left a career in teaching to write the story of her father’s escape from Nazi-occupied France. In 2011, after being led on his path through France by the same Resistance fighters who guided him in 1944, she felt inspired to tell the story of these brave French patriots, especially the 17-year-old- girl who risked her own life to save her father’s. Susan is a member of the 8th Air Force Historical Society, the Air Force Escape and Evasion Society, and the Association des Sauveteurs d’Aviateurs Alliés. 

Susan's book list on women during WW2

What is my book about?

The first and only full-length biography of Hazel Ying Lee, an unrecognized pioneer and unsung World War II hero who fought for a country that actively discriminated against her gender, race, and ambition.

This unique hidden figure defied countless stereotypes to become the first Asian American woman in United States history to earn a pilot's license, and the first female Asian American pilot to fly for the military.

Her achievements, passionate drive, and resistance in the face of oppression as a daughter of Chinese immigrants and a female aviator changed the course of history. Now the remarkable story of a fearless underdog finally surfaces to inspire anyone to reach toward the sky.

American Flygirl

By Susan Tate Ankeny,

What is this book about?

One of WWII’s most uniquely hidden figures, Hazel Ying Lee was the first Asian American woman to earn a pilot’s license, join the WASPs, and fly for the United States military amid widespread anti-Asian sentiment and policies.

Her singular story of patriotism, barrier breaking, and fearless sacrifice is told for the first time in full for readers of The Women with Silver Wings by Katherine Sharp Landdeck, A Woman of No Importance by Sonia Purnell, The Last Boat Out of Shanghai by Helen Zia, Facing the Mountain by Daniel James Brown and all Asian American, women’s and WWII history books.…


5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in Nazism, brothers, and war criminals?

10,000+ authors have recommended their favorite books and what they love about them. Browse their picks for the best books about Nazism, brothers, and war criminals.

Nazism Explore 209 books about Nazism
Brothers Explore 108 books about brothers
War Criminals Explore 13 books about war criminals