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3.94 AVERAGE
3.94 AVERAGE
I hate to say it but Philip Kerr has lost his touch. His trilogy "Berlin Noir" stood out for it [b:Raymond Chandler|2052|The Big Sleep|Raymond Chandler|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41AGA624Z5L._SL75_.jpg|1222673]-esque prose. It was tough, hard boiled, and super interesting becaues of the peak behind the scenes setting of Nazi era Germany. But this latest one... I don't know what to say. Its as if he read this fascinating book on Nazis in Argentina and tried to put a mystery into it but really just wanted to tell us what he had researched. There was no tension, no snap, no cynical hard boiled Bernie who learned hard lessons... just lots of exposition about the rumors about what the Nazis and the Argentines conspired to do with a very light story laid on top. I miss Berlin Noir.
This series is starting to blend together for me but I like it.
Philip Kerr doesn't make it easy on the reader. And more power to him for that! What I mean is, I'm reading them in the order of publishing, but from the last two I've read, and what I've seen elsewhere, he has a habit of jumping around with his character Bernie Gunther. During and after the war. So there isn't a chronological progression through the series, I mean.
Let's face it, if anyone can see the lighter side of escaping Nazis fleeing Europe along with Adolf Eichmann after defeat in World War II, it's our good old boy, Bernie Gunther. Though 'lighter' is perhaps wrong; darker, more appropriately. His attempts at humour are always of the (often literally) gallows kind, and invariably lead to trouble. For him. Bernie has had to escape Europe, not because of anything he did, in the War Crime way, like those he's fleeing with, but more because his name appears on some of the 'wrong' kinds of lists. If you've read his story so far, you'll know that in trying to keep out of trouble and away from the troublemakers, he inadvertently always found himself in trouble with the 'wrong' people. Though they were the 'wrong' people for him back then and are the 'wrong' people for the Allies hunting them now.
This is a finely wrought story and an involving tale of the scramble for South American safety at the end of the War. Both sides, Argentina and the Nazis, seem to think they're the ones who know what's going on, both are dependent on each other, in a way. By getting involved with a hospital pass of a case, it allows Bernie to take us on a tour of the various circumstances the various Nazis found themselves in in Argentina. If you wanted to look at it in this way; you could say that Eichmann lucked out, because he was more 'honest' than the others. He did his job and didn't pocket the cash and backhanders for it. Or he was too stupid to do what they others did. Clearly, they knew that the Third Reich wouldn't last and pretty much made sure they'd be ok after it, from the start. As I've recently read the story of Israeli capture of Eichmann, it had extra relevance for me. Philip Kerr really does know his stuff. Not just what did and what may have happened, but also how to weave it into a superb, entertaining - if you're entertained by this sort of thing - period thriller. He can do very little wrong in my, or his, book(s).
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Let's face it, if anyone can see the lighter side of escaping Nazis fleeing Europe along with Adolf Eichmann after defeat in World War II, it's our good old boy, Bernie Gunther. Though 'lighter' is perhaps wrong; darker, more appropriately. His attempts at humour are always of the (often literally) gallows kind, and invariably lead to trouble. For him. Bernie has had to escape Europe, not because of anything he did, in the War Crime way, like those he's fleeing with, but more because his name appears on some of the 'wrong' kinds of lists. If you've read his story so far, you'll know that in trying to keep out of trouble and away from the troublemakers, he inadvertently always found himself in trouble with the 'wrong' people. Though they were the 'wrong' people for him back then and are the 'wrong' people for the Allies hunting them now.
This is a finely wrought story and an involving tale of the scramble for South American safety at the end of the War. Both sides, Argentina and the Nazis, seem to think they're the ones who know what's going on, both are dependent on each other, in a way. By getting involved with a hospital pass of a case, it allows Bernie to take us on a tour of the various circumstances the various Nazis found themselves in in Argentina. If you wanted to look at it in this way; you could say that Eichmann lucked out, because he was more 'honest' than the others. He did his job and didn't pocket the cash and backhanders for it. Or he was too stupid to do what they others did. Clearly, they knew that the Third Reich wouldn't last and pretty much made sure they'd be ok after it, from the start. As I've recently read the story of Israeli capture of Eichmann, it had extra relevance for me. Philip Kerr really does know his stuff. Not just what did and what may have happened, but also how to weave it into a superb, entertaining - if you're entertained by this sort of thing - period thriller. He can do very little wrong in my, or his, book(s).
Finest book blogging: Speesh Reads
Finest Facebooking: Speesh Reads
Mickey Spillane once said “if they like you, you’re good” and I suppose, as an author, this is all you’ll ever require from your readers. I’ve read a number of Bernie Gunther novels, all of them out of sequence and some are definitely better than others, but there seems to be so many likeable qualities with Philip Kerr that I can forgive almost any of his failings as a writer. This is the first since his passing and I still find them educational and entertaining, which, ultimately, is all I require from a writer.
I hate to say it but Philip Kerr has lost his touch. His trilogy "Berlin Noir" stood out for it [b:Raymond Chandler|2052|The Big Sleep|Raymond Chandler|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41AGA624Z5L._SL75_.jpg|1222673]-esque prose. It was tough, hard boiled, and super interesting becaues of the peak behind the scenes setting of Nazi era Germany. But this latest one... I don't know what to say. Its as if he read this fascinating book on Nazis in Argentina and tried to put a mystery into it but really just wanted to tell us what he had researched. There was no tension, no snap, no cynical hard boiled Bernie who learned hard lessons... just lots of exposition about the rumors about what the Nazis and the Argentines conspired to do with a very light story laid on top. I miss Berlin Noir.
Another classic Bernie Gunther mystery thriller by [a:Philip Kerr|53936|Philip Kerr|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1242600733p2/53936.jpg]. It held my interest throughout. It delves some into some of the nasty deeds of the Perons in Argentina including Nazis escaping from Germany and the treatment of Jews there. The story has some interesting twists that kept me reading. I'll have to go find the next in the Gunther series now.
Like the third book in the series, TOftO is also set in post-war Germany and is a gripping adventure through Southern Germany and Austria. Shedding the slightly heavier going-through-the-motions style that defined Berlin Noir, Kerr adopts a more thriller-like approach with this one, throwing into the mix the likes of Adolf Eichmann and Jewish hit squads that went after the Nazis at the end of the war. Then there is the hypocritical Allied stance of taking in and sheltering those Nazis whose work they felt would benefit their own selfish interests. While the book is devoid of the mood and detail that made Berlin Noir so very good, the suspense is built up better and the pacing seems more precise. Kerr also delves into Gunther’s domestic life, a tragedy if there ever was one, and puts his hero through the paces and the rigmarole of a heavily-altered existence, pushing the character to the brink in many ways.
More at Varun Oak-Bhakay's Writer's Block
More at Varun Oak-Bhakay's Writer's Block