Chris Berman is a science fiction author and military historian. Berman's six books currently in print are acclaimed by authors Ben Bova, Brad Linaweaver, and David Brin, astronauts Ed Mitchell, commander of Apollo 14, and Norm Thagard, as well as military historians. He is the author of Ace of Aces, a WW II time travel adventure, and Condosaur, a horror novel set in South Florida. Das Bell, released in July, is a tale of Nazi deception, a parallel universe, and the ultimate goal, conquest and domination of our world under the Nazis' Fourth Reich. Chris's writing defies a set style in creating novels of hard science fiction, techno-thrillers, and alternate history, with each work of fiction, a unique literary adventure. Berman holds a master's degree in military history as well having extensive knowledge of the US and Russian space programs.
About the Book
On April of 1945, with the Allies closing in, Germany is about to be defeated and thousands of the Nazi elite vanish without a trace. From the watery grave of a sunken U-boat, through the enigmatic Plain of Nazca, and to the metropolis of modern-day Berlin, a mystery that imperils the entire world begins to unravel. Nazis, alien machines, interdimensional travel, and a world where the United States of America never existed! Learn the truth of Die Glocke (The Bell) a device so secret that sixty-two top-level scientists were executed by SS General Hans Kammler, rather than let the true nature of this ancient alien device fall into Allied hands. Now a new Reich is about to reclaim what had been lost to them seventy years ago. If you think World War Two ended in 1945 . . . think again!
A few years back, mysteries surrounding the Nazi Bell began to appear: SS General Hans Kammler arrives at a top secret project, located in Eastern Europe and orders the immediate execution of 62 top Nazi scientists, then removes a strange device before it can fall into Allied hands. This was Die Glocke ("The Bell"). The device required huge amounts of electrical power to activate it. Yet, once in operation, the bell seemed to draw in an almost unlimited amount of power out of thin air—something impossible, unless the Nazis had discovered how to tap into zero-point energy that permeates the universe. The Bell used a highly radioactive purple fuel that was extremely deadly. Several scientists standing too close to The Bell had been reduced to nothing but bones and black liquid when it was in operation. Was The Bell an alien device that the Nazis had discovered? Was it the "wonder weapon" that Hitler claimed could win the war for Germans, or was it something else, something far more sinister?
In Das Bell, Chris Berman speculates, "What if The Bell was a means of opening a gateway to an alternate world, one much like our own but less advanced and ripe for conquest. What if these Nazi conquerors' ultimate plan was a return to our world to reclaim what had been lost to them seventy years ago?"
Reviews
"This enemy is not Nazi-like, but the real thing that escaped the final days of the war by passing through a portal to an alternative world . . . Now they are ready to invade by coming back through a portal to continue the struggle for world domination. Throw in a handsome American archaeologist/History Channel star, a "stunningly beautiful" Ukrainian academician, and a slightly over-the-hill (NEVER!) U.S. Navy SEAL, as well as a couple of alternate-world patriots, and you have a band of worthy adversaries that would make Clive Cussler salivate."
~ The Florida Times Union
"A dashing American scientist and a beautiful Ukrainian historian race to foil Nazi super-tech schemes and solve the secret of parallel worlds, gosh. Sample any page for nonstop action!"
~ David Brin: New York Times best selling author of The Postman and The Practice Effect
If you like a fun thriller exploring the edges of physical science, you'll love this story; throw in a parallel universe, dimension-hopping Nazis, and a wildly different outcome to World War Two - complete with American Indian empires - and you have a fun ride!"
~ Dr. Joseph P. Farrell is a researcher and investigator of alternative technologies, and the author of over nineteen books on this subject, including The SS Brotherhood of the Bell.
"A very well written book! The idea that the Nazis made a device so advanced, it has the power to influence the future, our future . . . It's not over yet."
~ Igor Witkowski: Polish journalist and researcher into the history of the Nazi Bell. Author of The Wunderwaffe
"Chris Berman has written a fast paced cross between time traveling science fiction, political thriller and mystery novel that is sure to entertain. Das Bell has enough plausibility to allow you to suspend disbelief and is true enough to life to catch you up in the adventure."
~ John Broom- PhD: Professor of military history- Norwich University, Northfield, VT
An Excerpt
Nina closed her eyes. Her senses were enveloped in the smell, the taste, and the warmth of a large bowl of barley and cabbage soup. She had nearly finished all of it and was sopping the remainder with dark bread, between bites of sausage. Alan, seated next to her was busy devouring a large plate of cabbage, spaetzle, and a thick, well-spiced sausage. John Bear came over to join him speaking in Lakota. "You know, your woman eats very well for such a thin one."
Alan laughed, replying in the language of The People, "We have both been with little or nothing to eat for the past four days, trying to stay alive with these Nazis after us. We were going to make a break for it from that old warehouse when we saw you escape." Switching back into English for the benefit of Nina, Alan continued. "Right away we noticed you were different from the other prisoners, not just your hair and complexion, but your bearing. You did not look like a defeated man."
John Bear considered this before he answered, "Better for a man to die upon his feet than to crawl in the dirt. I am Lakota. We are . . .
we were a warrior people, brave and strong. We held our territory against the white nations, and established the Cheyenne-Lakota nation...until these Nazis came. They came out of nowhere with their war machines. They bombed the capital cities of every nation until their governments surrendered. We fought them as best as we could. Our people and those of our brothers, the Cheyenne, were the last to surrender. We held out for five more years, fighting from the hills, capturing their weapons and learning the use of them until that final day. We had a city of resistance in the Black Hills that was well protected. My grandfather told me the tale. One day a single Nazi flying machine appeared high in the sky, and then the Earth turned to fire. A great pillar of flame rose toward the heavens and our final refuge was gone, along with almost all of the people. Only a few hundred of us out hunting the enemy and gathering food survived. Some of the people who were not killed on that first day died of their burns or of a terrible sickness. Those who lived, like my grandfather and grandmother, went deeper into the forests in the northlands. They found others, white men and women, who would also not bend to their new masters. We became the resistance, one of many such groups in the world. We fight, but now these Nazis hold the entire world in their iron grip. I was captured and taken from the land of the Colonial Commonwealth. My sentence was to be worked to death in a slave labor camp. Over a two thousand of us were put aboard a slave ship. About two hundred or so died on the voyage before we reached Konigsberg. The Nazis tossed the dead overboard like they were trash." Then a thought came to John Bear, "Alan, how is it that you know the language of The People?"
Alan hesitated before he spoke. The truth might be a bit had to swallow but he wouldn't lie to John Bear either. "I've studied your people and their history. I know your language and your culture. I know that the Lakota-Sioux are brave and clever warriors."
The Indian looked at Carter questioningly. "I don't understand, you are a young man and strong. Yet you are not one of them, these Nazis. Only these Aryans, as they call themselves, are free men who study and learn of the world but it seems the only lessons they learn are how to build more devastating weapons, and how to kill more of the people they call sub-humans and how to bring misery to the world."
"John Bear, where I come from, it's not like that. It's not a perfect world, but it's not like here. You said that these Nazis suddenly appeared in the world with machines and devices far in advance of your own? These men, they were the defeated remains of Nazi Germany on my world. We had beaten them, finished them. We thought they were gone forever, but we were wrong. It was less than two weeks ago that Nina and I learned the truth."
John Bear stared at Alan as if he'd suddenly lost his mind.
"No, I'm not crazy and I'm not lying to you. If you would please gather the others, I'll explain."
John Bear said nothing as he stood up to gather the others in the room together. He would reserve his judgment until after the two strangers spoke. A man and a woman drew close, both with Semitic features. Two Slavic men, tall and well muscled from the Rus Empire came and sat down and finally a dark haired and olive skinned Spaniard joined the circle. Nina was surprised that she could speak in Ukrainian with the two men of the Rus and they could understand her. On this world, the Mongols were defeated at the Battle of the Kalka River and never conquered the Kievskya-Rus. Here, the former glory of an empire that stretched from the Black Sea to Arctic wastes of the White Sea and even as far as the North American continent never fell...until the arrival of the Nazis.
Alan and Nina sat in the center of the group, with Carter speaking. "First, I would like to thank all of you for your hospitality and the sanctuary of this place. What I'm going to tell you may be hard to believe. Frankly, until a few days ago, I'd have never believed it myself. Nina, would you please hand me my backpack?"
Alan dug in, pulling out a digital camera, a small voice recorder, his min-Geiger counter and a compact ten-inch wide laptop computer. He turned on the small camera, passing it around so all those present could look at the amazing color images displayed on the camera's screen. By the astonished looks of those in the room, it was clear to both Alan and Nina that those in the room had never seen anything like it. Alan then opened his compact laptop and switched it on. The hard drive contained some videos from San Diego, California as well as New York City, the last time he was there, just before leaving for Peru. Carter let the videos play, and then a slide show ran for a good ten minutes. Every eye in the room was glued to the images. Sometimes gasps of amazement could be heard as scenes of the New York skyline flashed on the screen with streets clogged with people and automobiles.
Finally, when the slide show ended, Alan again spoke. "I'm quite certain that you've never seen anything like this before. These are images of my country, the United States of America. You see, on my world, the British didn't back down in 1776 as they did on yours. The British declared war on the colonies and the colonists won. The new nation that was eventually formed stretched from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. It was my nation, the United States of America, along with Nina's country, and others, that destroyed the Nazi Empire on our world in the year 1945. But, these Nazis found a way to escape to your world where your history was different, perhaps in some ways better, certainly less violent than on mine. Your history appears to have created a more peaceful world than where we come from. But, your world was technologically less advanced than mine and Nina's. When the Nazis found out they could come here and your nations' militaries posed no threat to them, they used the weapons from my world to conquer yours."
