Pulitzer Winner and Former Shoreline Resident Reading "Blood of the Reich" at Third Place Tonight

“Blood of the Reich,” the latest work of fiction from former Shoreline resident and Pulitzer Prize-winning Seattle Times reporter William Dietrich, is an epic adventure with the heroes in a race with the Nazis reminiscent of “Raiders of  the Lost Ark.”

Dietrich will read from “Blood of the Reich,” at 7 p.m. at the Den at in Lake Forest Park. A hardback copy of the book goes for $25.99.

While Dietrich currently focuses on writing novels, his first book was nonfiction. “The Final Forest” focused on the standoff between environmentalists and loggers over the northern spotted owl in the late 1980s.

In 1994, Dietrich went to Antarctica to report on scientific research for The Seattle Times. While there, he heard of a Nazi Antarctic expedition. He wanted to write a nonfiction book about it but he couldn’t find a publisher. Instead, he wrote and later published his first work of fiction, “Ice Reich,” in 1998. The novel was based on the true story of Nazi exploration into Antarctica.

Dietrich now has developed a following for his historic fiction. He's written 10 novels, including works on the Roman Empire and the Napoleonic period in Europe.

Like “Ice Reich,” “Blood of the Reich,” is based on a true story, this time about a Nazi expedition abroad into the heart of Tibet. When the book begins in 1938, the current Dalai Lama is still a young boy.

Dietrich’s characters include Kurt Raeder, a zoologist and academic who is a member of the SS. Raeder is seeking a secret energy source to help Henrich Himmler and the SS prove their Aryan racial theories and prevail in World War II.

The book then introduces American zoologist Benjamin Hood, who has been recruited by the U.S. government to pursue the Germans. The story alternates between Raeder and Hood during the World War II era and the present. Rominey Pickett is modern Seattleite whose car is suddenly and mysteriously blown up. Pickett is thrust into the action and joined by a Seattle Times investigative reporter as she tries to discover who she really is.

“It was little tricky to organize and a little tricky to pull off,” Dietrich said, but he believes it works.

Dietrich travels to places he writes about and spent time in Tibet observing what he called a medieval culture affected by modern Chinese capitalism.  

These types of cultural contrasts -- including the ones between the Nazis and Tibetans -- are what fascinate Dietrich.

None of Dietrich’s works of fiction have been made into movies yet.

“I keep being told epics are expensive movies to make,” Dietrich said, adding that he hopes a producer, star or director takes a shot at it someday.

Still, Dietrich, who lives in Anacortes now, sells about 100,000 copies of each of his fiction books.

“It’s a good living,” he said. “I do better than most authors but I’m a long way from doing as well as the superstars.”

Editor's Note: This article was written by the Shoreline Patch editor, Tony Dondero, who has no family connection to William Dietrich. However, I -- Heidi Dietrich, Edmonds Patch editor -- am Dietrich's daughter, and obviously biased toward appreciating his fiction.