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3.94 AVERAGE
3.94 AVERAGE
Bernie Gunter is was a policeman in the Weimar republic just before the Hitler came to power, he was enrolled in the SS and was a murder detective during the war.
Now he's arrived in Argentina in the company of other SS officers fleeing the war crime investigators and is asked to investigate a murder that bears similarities to that of a young girl that he investigated or tried to before the war. Its an investigation that brings him into the orbit of Juan and Evita Peron, Joseph Mengele and other men and women both honourable and despicable who hold Bernie's and those he cares for live's in their hands.
When I first read Philip Kerr's Bernie Gunther novels I started with "The woman from Zagreb" and I wasn't sure how to take this story of a German detective working during the war on domestic murder cases as the setting seemed to jar with the tone of the story and the wise cracking Gunther. However having read an number of these stories now I am really enjoying them and they are both good detective stories and interesting insight into the second world war from a German perspective.
This story is almost a Bernie Gunther confessional tale as the murder investigation takes him back to his time in Germany and perhaps forward to an understanding of his complicity in what followed. It is a moving quite sad tale not quite of redemption but perhaps of Bernie Gunther starting to forgive himself
Now he's arrived in Argentina in the company of other SS officers fleeing the war crime investigators and is asked to investigate a murder that bears similarities to that of a young girl that he investigated or tried to before the war. Its an investigation that brings him into the orbit of Juan and Evita Peron, Joseph Mengele and other men and women both honourable and despicable who hold Bernie's and those he cares for live's in their hands.
When I first read Philip Kerr's Bernie Gunther novels I started with "The woman from Zagreb" and I wasn't sure how to take this story of a German detective working during the war on domestic murder cases as the setting seemed to jar with the tone of the story and the wise cracking Gunther. However having read an number of these stories now I am really enjoying them and they are both good detective stories and interesting insight into the second world war from a German perspective.
This story is almost a Bernie Gunther confessional tale as the murder investigation takes him back to his time in Germany and perhaps forward to an understanding of his complicity in what followed. It is a moving quite sad tale not quite of redemption but perhaps of Bernie Gunther starting to forgive himself
I was reading the Bernie Gunther series by the year the books are set in, and then Philip Kerr messed up my attempted timeline with two books that sneakily combined prewar and postwar plots. First, "The One From the Other" (book #4 in the series) turned out to have an intro section set in 1937, while the most part of the book is set in 1949 (of course, these two turn out to have a connection). Then, “A Quiet Flame” (#5) turned out to switch between a 1932 Berlin murder story and a later, dark, incredible plot in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1950. Again, the Berlin backstory is elemental to the Buenos Aires plot. “A Quiet Flame” is a straight sequel to "The One From the Other", in fact these two could have been published in one (albeit very thick) volume. The previous book ends with Bernie Gunther forced to flee from Germany to South America along with the Nazi war criminals he was investigating. "A Quiet Flame" picks up that same story, with Bernie now in Buenos Aires, Argentina, more or less against his will an agent of Peron's infamous secret police.
Like its' predecessor, “A Quiet Flame” is an insanely great thriller, with the backstory of the coming to power of the Nazis in 1932, the (at times quite nauseating) glimpses of both the WWII actions of the escaped Nazi war criminals living in exile in Argentina, and the incredible cruelties of the postwar Peron dictatorship. As with "The One From the Other", I wish the depictions had been a work of fiction.
This was an Audible book, and Jeff Harding did a truly fantastic reading.
Next up, must go back and reread the first half (and of corse also the rest of) "If the Dead Rise Not" (#6, 1934/1954) and then "Field Gray" (#7, 1954).
Like its' predecessor, “A Quiet Flame” is an insanely great thriller, with the backstory of the coming to power of the Nazis in 1932, the (at times quite nauseating) glimpses of both the WWII actions of the escaped Nazi war criminals living in exile in Argentina, and the incredible cruelties of the postwar Peron dictatorship. As with "The One From the Other", I wish the depictions had been a work of fiction.
This was an Audible book, and Jeff Harding did a truly fantastic reading.
Next up, must go back and reread the first half (and of corse also the rest of) "If the Dead Rise Not" (#6, 1934/1954) and then "Field Gray" (#7, 1954).
A great book! A very insight historical fiction book. In all of the "Gunther" books I have enjoy Philip Kerr writing style and humor.
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Nota real: 7/10
Berni Gunther sigue recorriendo parte de la historia de Alemania, ahora en Argentina donde se repasa el último capítulo de algunos de los jerarcas nazis exiliados y protegidos por el gobierno argentino.
Está claro que cuando el autor decidió continuar la saga de Berlin noir lo hizo con la clara intención de ir más allá de la segunda guerra mundial lo que le da a la saga más solidez que otras series de novela negra donde al final el detective debe afrontar un caso.
El problema y lo que hace que el libro se más flojo que los anteriores es el uso de un patrón bastante similar en lo que es las visicitudes del personaje. Siempre se acaba ganando alguna que otra paliza, consigue relaciones furtivas con mujeres que él piensa que no estan a su alcance y que muchas veces la suerte es lo que le hace seguir adelante.
Berni Gunther sigue recorriendo parte de la historia de Alemania, ahora en Argentina donde se repasa el último capítulo de algunos de los jerarcas nazis exiliados y protegidos por el gobierno argentino.
Está claro que cuando el autor decidió continuar la saga de Berlin noir lo hizo con la clara intención de ir más allá de la segunda guerra mundial lo que le da a la saga más solidez que otras series de novela negra donde al final el detective debe afrontar un caso.
El problema y lo que hace que el libro se más flojo que los anteriores es el uso de un patrón bastante similar en lo que es las visicitudes del personaje. Siempre se acaba ganando alguna que otra paliza, consigue relaciones furtivas con mujeres que él piensa que no estan a su alcance y que muchas veces la suerte es lo que le hace seguir adelante.
Not my usual genre, but I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Very informative and entertaining at the same time. Picked it more or less at random, only recognizing the author's name from his children's books which I used to devour. The book (while starting off with a nice pace) got kinda slow and less exciting in the middle; but I still love his writing style and am definetly gonna read more of his Bernie Gunther series.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
In my opinion, this is the best of Kerr's Gunther series, at least of what I have read so far. It's well plotted and tense. The use of flashbacks is effective and serves to enhance the narrative. I'm even willing to take it easy on Kerr's continually frustrating use of coincidence to grease his plots. A very good read.
As an avid reader, I get immense satisfaction (and a little sad) at finishing a great book. I didn't get that feeling when I finished A Quiet Flame, because such a feeling is impossible knowing that much of the "fiction" in Phillip Kerr's excellent Bernie Gunther series is actually true.
The story stretches from pre-war Germany to 1950 Buenos Aires, where is seems that the horrors of Nazi Germany would never end. I can never digest large portions of Kerr's books, they're just too heavy for large consumption, but I heartely ate up the last 150 pages over the past two days.
Kerr is a master story-teller, who makes the imagination of Argentina and Germnay very easy. Gunther is still the "Nazi" with a heart of gold, although he wouldn't say that was true of himself. I may read a few other books in the meantime, but I will happily pick up the next Bernie Gunther novel, If the Dead Rise Not; I already own a copy!
The story stretches from pre-war Germany to 1950 Buenos Aires, where is seems that the horrors of Nazi Germany would never end. I can never digest large portions of Kerr's books, they're just too heavy for large consumption, but I heartely ate up the last 150 pages over the past two days.
Kerr is a master story-teller, who makes the imagination of Argentina and Germnay very easy. Gunther is still the "Nazi" with a heart of gold, although he wouldn't say that was true of himself. I may read a few other books in the meantime, but I will happily pick up the next Bernie Gunther novel, If the Dead Rise Not; I already own a copy!