The Alice Factor

Carol Laing is a Toronto-based freelance writer.

A suspense novel set in 1937, pre-World War II Europe. Richard Hagen, a
diamond salesman, who works out of Antwerp, is asked by his German
client to fill a massive industrial-diamond order that he knows is
required to feed the Nazi war machine. In anticipation of the upcoming
war, the Germans are also anxious to secure the world’s biggest
stockpile of diamonds, housed in neutral Belgium, and Hagen leads the
Germans to believe that he’ll assist them. Meanwhile, Hagen is working
for the Allies, and as he travels through prewar Germany on business he
relays his observations of the Germans’ war intentions to the British
via coded cables based on the book Through the Looking-Glass. All along
he is being followed by the Nazis, who suspect his being a double agent.

As Hagen moves between countries and the plot thickens, it becomes
confusing at times trying to follow the various characters woven into
the tale: the beautiful Arlette, Hagen’s friend Dieter (now turned
Nazi), Dieter’s sister (not a Nazi), Dieter’s sister’s part-Jewish
friend (who becomes the lover of an SS officer), Hagen’s ex-lover
Cecile, the Jewish family Hagen tries to help, Hagen’s other friend in
British Intelligence, and all the various Germans. The story could
probably have been better told with fewer characters. Similarly, the
thickened plot could have been thinned had Janes avoided using such a
contrived writing style—his somewhat forced approach jars the ear at
times. However, Janes does keep the suspense alive throughout, and the
story moves along at an exciting pace.