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smartipants8's review
3.0
I don't know why I'm in this slump and reading so slow. I used to blow through a book like this in a few days. Anyway, it was entertaining and better than the one of his I read about Argentina. The old snappy Gunther was back. And I learned some stuff.
catheriinej's review against another edition
2.0
Le concept commence à être un peu usé selon moi.. Il est peut-être temps que Gunther prenne sa retraite! Ce livre, contrairement aux autres de M. Kerr, m'a laissé plutôt neutre. J'ai bien aimé les 10 dernières pages, mais le reste me semblait terne.
speesh's review against another edition
5.0
It really does go without saying that this is another quite superb novel from the man who can't put a foot, or a word, wrong. The plot is of course superb, but maybe less obviously so than the incomparable Field Grey partly because it is to do a different job.
The Katyn massacre was a "they did it!""No, we did it!" tennis ball hit back and forth from the Second World War onwards, until the...well, let's just say until the fall of the Berlin Wall, shall we? Bernie Gunther's depression brought-on irony, goes into overdrive. He is sent sent to Poland as a representative of the German War Crimes Bureau (a misnomer). He is of course tasked by the German authorities, with investigating a murder, or several murders, in 1943, in Eastern Europe, and pinning the blame on someone else, no Nazi. He is an ex-Policeman, and ex-Private Investigator, used to investigating murders, but usually one at a time. So, now he begins to wonder, how many murders does it take to warrant an investigation? Which murders do we actually want 'solved'? Who do 'we' want taking the blame for the murder that we're not sure we want to admit happened, until we find the culprit we have decided is guilty? You see? Coupled with his knowledge of what went on in the East in the early days of the invasion of Poland, Ukraine and then Russia, and the smell - it's a wonder he can remain sane. Luckily for us, he can and, of all places to fall in love, he falls in love in Katyn. Another more personal, poignant mirror held up to the tragedy.
That Philip Kerr constantly puts his Bernie Gunther in situations where he witnesses or even takes part in, some of the low points of the German part in World War II, has troubled me a little. But I've come to terms with it. Of course, PK wants to discuss some of these incidents and events. Constantly putting BG there, might risk seeming a trifle contrived. "What a coincidence?!" it might be easy to be cynical and suggest that PK is manipulating us/Bernie/the series, beyond what is likely (to have been real), if - as a writer - he's still trying to make real, relevant points about what you're discussing. However, Philip Kerr builds a picture of the Germans, through Bernie, to answer ideas about their post-WWII actions, even where they are today I guess, and look at the question of that having sprung from us wondering how much the average German knew of what was done in their name? How much did the German armed forces - those not privy to the motivations and operations of the SD, SS, etc, - know of what was being done? In the East, the Army went in and pushed onwards and onwards, the SS and Einsatzgruppen and SS followed in afterwards, but much of their actions were known, both to the men further forward and to those back in Germany where of course they returned on leave. So I've given up worrying and started thinking. I'm not going to say 'enjoying' given the subject matter, maybe appreciating a master of his craft at his best.
Read the blog : Speesh Reads
Or the Facebook Page : "https://www.facebook.com/SpeeshReads/">Speesh Reads
The Katyn massacre was a "they did it!""No, we did it!" tennis ball hit back and forth from the Second World War onwards, until the...well, let's just say until the fall of the Berlin Wall, shall we? Bernie Gunther's depression brought-on irony, goes into overdrive. He is sent sent to Poland as a representative of the German War Crimes Bureau (a misnomer). He is of course tasked by the German authorities, with investigating a murder, or several murders, in 1943, in Eastern Europe, and pinning the blame on someone else, no Nazi. He is an ex-Policeman, and ex-Private Investigator, used to investigating murders, but usually one at a time. So, now he begins to wonder, how many murders does it take to warrant an investigation? Which murders do we actually want 'solved'? Who do 'we' want taking the blame for the murder that we're not sure we want to admit happened, until we find the culprit we have decided is guilty? You see? Coupled with his knowledge of what went on in the East in the early days of the invasion of Poland, Ukraine and then Russia, and the smell - it's a wonder he can remain sane. Luckily for us, he can and, of all places to fall in love, he falls in love in Katyn. Another more personal, poignant mirror held up to the tragedy.
That Philip Kerr constantly puts his Bernie Gunther in situations where he witnesses or even takes part in, some of the low points of the German part in World War II, has troubled me a little. But I've come to terms with it. Of course, PK wants to discuss some of these incidents and events. Constantly putting BG there, might risk seeming a trifle contrived. "What a coincidence?!" it might be easy to be cynical and suggest that PK is manipulating us/Bernie/the series, beyond what is likely (to have been real), if - as a writer - he's still trying to make real, relevant points about what you're discussing. However, Philip Kerr builds a picture of the Germans, through Bernie, to answer ideas about their post-WWII actions, even where they are today I guess, and look at the question of that having sprung from us wondering how much the average German knew of what was done in their name? How much did the German armed forces - those not privy to the motivations and operations of the SD, SS, etc, - know of what was being done? In the East, the Army went in and pushed onwards and onwards, the SS and Einsatzgruppen and SS followed in afterwards, but much of their actions were known, both to the men further forward and to those back in Germany where of course they returned on leave. So I've given up worrying and started thinking. I'm not going to say 'enjoying' given the subject matter, maybe appreciating a master of his craft at his best.
Read the blog : Speesh Reads
Or the Facebook Page : "https://www.facebook.com/SpeeshReads/">Speesh Reads
smartipants8's review against another edition
3.0
I don't know why I'm in this slump and reading so slow. I used to blow through a book like this in a few days. Anyway, it was entertaining and better than the one of his I read about Argentina. The old snappy Gunther was back. And I learned some stuff.
benriga's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
briang_67's review against another edition
4.0
Bernie Gunther is Kerr's character-device which allows him to explore the major players, crimes and events of pre-WWII, the war years, and afterwards - a sort of Dante's journey through hell, but he may have over-reached a bit in this novel. A personal mission from Goebbels to investigate the Katyn massacre of Polish Officers is the backdrop here and where, again, Bernie's investigative skills are forefront as he becomes entangled with those plotting to kill Hitler. It's all so skillfully plotted, and wonderfully character-driven, however, this one is a little too far-fetched to be realistic and the ending a little too contrived. Nevertheless, Kerr always does his homework and the Afterward will get you searching wikipedia to confirm once again how well he has done his research.
borisfeldman's review against another edition
4.0
Bernie Gunther visits the Katyn Forrest massacre.
Starting to suffer a little series fatigue, but still engaging and suprising. Might be time for Kerr to launch another character, though.
Starting to suffer a little series fatigue, but still engaging and suprising. Might be time for Kerr to launch another character, though.
michaelnlibrarian's review against another edition
5.0
I am unsure how many of this series I have read - most of them, I guess. Since the different numbered new titles added to the series do not always follow chronologically from the one before, it is easy to lose track.
As is often the case with Bernie Gunther novels, the novel starts in one setting then moves to another - in this case, much of the story takes place in the city of Smolensk, Russia (then part of the Soviet Union). Smolensk fell to the Nazis during WWII and was occupied by them for several years before the Red Army retook the city. This novel describes some of what that must have been like - as often is the case, there is some lesser known history presented along with the story.
This novel also features (as with some of the others) the use of real life historical figures as characters. I'm not so sure about this on some level, but really I guess why not.
A small part of the story involves research in the Smolensk NKVD (ie, KGB) archives - as it happens, the Communist Party archives in Smolensk were removed by the Nazis and a large portion of the materials were moved outside the post-WWII Soviet bloc, to be used for research on the Stalinist purges (and other topics). Presumably there really was a separate NKVD archives - at any rate, an unusual thing for a detective in a war setting to do archival research.
I was sad to learn (almost a year after the fact) that Mr. Kerr died in 2018. He was a remarkable novelist and writing talent.
As is often the case with Bernie Gunther novels, the novel starts in one setting then moves to another - in this case, much of the story takes place in the city of Smolensk, Russia (then part of the Soviet Union). Smolensk fell to the Nazis during WWII and was occupied by them for several years before the Red Army retook the city. This novel describes some of what that must have been like - as often is the case, there is some lesser known history presented along with the story.
This novel also features (as with some of the others) the use of real life historical figures as characters. I'm not so sure about this on some level, but really I guess why not.
A small part of the story involves research in the Smolensk NKVD (ie, KGB) archives - as it happens, the Communist Party archives in Smolensk were removed by the Nazis and a large portion of the materials were moved outside the post-WWII Soviet bloc, to be used for research on the Stalinist purges (and other topics). Presumably there really was a separate NKVD archives - at any rate, an unusual thing for a detective in a war setting to do archival research.
I was sad to learn (almost a year after the fact) that Mr. Kerr died in 2018. He was a remarkable novelist and writing talent.
andrewrobins's review against another edition
5.0
Thought not a big crime fiction fan, I love the Bernie Gunther books. What I like so much is that he's such a flawed hero - he's in the SD, he's seen some horrible stuff on the Russian front, there's a suggestion he was involved in shooting prisoners, and he has been - across the books in the series - closely associated with the worst of the worst of the Nazi leadership (Heydrich, Goebbels).
Despite all that, he's a committed Nazi hater, who misses the freedom and excess of Weimar era Berlin - an old fashioned cop working in a regime he detests.
The way real life characters feature in, or drift in and out of, the books adds a brilliant element of realism. This is a required counterpoint to the way the books occasionally tend to drift over into somewhat cheesy detective territory - in particular corny, oversmart dialogue (see the meeting of Gunther and Ines in this book for an example of this), but that's a minor criticism.
The other books in the series feature in a range of locations before, during and after the second world war. This one is set entirely during the war, in Smolensk, where the Germans are unearthing the murder of 4,000 Polish officers in the Katyn Forest, and sees Bernie get involved with some of the key conspirators to kill Hitler.
I was surprised to see, having finished the book and googled a bit, just how many of the characters were taken from real life. The likes of Von Kluge, Von Gersdorff and Von Tresckow were obvious names I knew of, but a lot of the more minor characters also turned out to have been real people.
The way Kerr seamlessly weaves the fictional with the real is testament to what an excellent writer he is.
Despite all that, he's a committed Nazi hater, who misses the freedom and excess of Weimar era Berlin - an old fashioned cop working in a regime he detests.
The way real life characters feature in, or drift in and out of, the books adds a brilliant element of realism. This is a required counterpoint to the way the books occasionally tend to drift over into somewhat cheesy detective territory - in particular corny, oversmart dialogue (see the meeting of Gunther and Ines in this book for an example of this), but that's a minor criticism.
The other books in the series feature in a range of locations before, during and after the second world war. This one is set entirely during the war, in Smolensk, where the Germans are unearthing the murder of 4,000 Polish officers in the Katyn Forest, and sees Bernie get involved with some of the key conspirators to kill Hitler.
I was surprised to see, having finished the book and googled a bit, just how many of the characters were taken from real life. The likes of Von Kluge, Von Gersdorff and Von Tresckow were obvious names I knew of, but a lot of the more minor characters also turned out to have been real people.
The way Kerr seamlessly weaves the fictional with the real is testament to what an excellent writer he is.