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cdeane61's review against another edition
4.0
Jeffery Deaver never fails to deliver.
If you need your fix of Nazi thrillers, this is a good choice. Interesting story line, set in pre-war Nazi Germany. An American mobster (hit man), some truly interesting German characters (con man, police detective, and a spattering of your big name Nazi bad guys). Combine this with an well executed plot, involving the Olympics, a planned hit, and a murder investigation, and throw in some truly did-not-see-that-coming plot twists, and you have an excellent and entertaining read.
If you need your fix of Nazi thrillers, this is a good choice. Interesting story line, set in pre-war Nazi Germany. An American mobster (hit man), some truly interesting German characters (con man, police detective, and a spattering of your big name Nazi bad guys). Combine this with an well executed plot, involving the Olympics, a planned hit, and a murder investigation, and throw in some truly did-not-see-that-coming plot twists, and you have an excellent and entertaining read.
coops456's review against another edition
5.0
Another gripping thriller from Deaver, but this time with a historical setting. Berlin 1936 - a city full of Olympic fever and Nazi fervour. New York hitman Paul Schumann is given the opportunity to clear his slate by carrying out one last job - to kill a high-ranking colonel and thus delay or prevent German rearmament.
Deaver is the king of unexpected plot twists, and Garden of Beasts is no exception. But he also shades the story beautifully to illustrate the moral dilemmas and choices that good people must make in bad situations, as well as showing the everyday face of evil. Completely unputdownable!
Deaver is the king of unexpected plot twists, and Garden of Beasts is no exception. But he also shades the story beautifully to illustrate the moral dilemmas and choices that good people must make in bad situations, as well as showing the everyday face of evil. Completely unputdownable!
joma485's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
bookhawk's review
3.0
The Garden of Beasts is a decent historical fiction thriller. The book starts a bit slowly but gets more compelling only to have a somewhat disappointing ending. Deaver’s Lincoln Rhyme series is better but this book is still worth a read especially if World War II history interests the potential reader.
trisha76's review against another edition
Inhoud: 1936. Het is de zomer van de Olympische Spelen in Berlijn, waar niemand weet wie te vertrouwen is en wie niet. Veel mensen, zoals ex-onderwijzeres Käthe Richter en zwarthandelaar Otto Webber, worstelen om zich staande te houden in het steeds grimmiger wordende Duitsland.
In New York wordt hitman Paul Schumann, een Amerikaan van Duitse afkomst, voor een bijzondere keuze gesteld: óf hij gaat linea recta naar de gevangenis, óf hij vertrekt naar Duistland om daar de nazi Reinhard Ernst te doden, de grote man achter de herbewapening van Duitsland. Paul kiest voor het laatste...
Maar nog voordat hij voet op Duitse bodem kan zetten, slaagt een spion er in een waarschuwing naar de nazi's te sturen. Paul krijgt onverwachts hulp van Käthe en Otto en doet wat hij kan om zijn missie tot een goed einde te brengen. Hij wordt daarbij op de hielen gezeten door de vasthoudende en eigenzinnige politie-inspecteur Willi Kohl.
Er volgen hectische dagen waarin het Paul bijna onmogelijk gemaakt wordt om jacht te maken op Ernst, en waarin hijzelf alles op alles moet zetten om Willi Kohl een stap voor te blijven...
Waardering:
Omdat ik, toen ik het boek las, nog geen beoordelingen en mening gaf over boeken is het voor mij niet mogelijk om nu een juiste waardering aan het boek te geven. Ik hoop in de aankomende jaren tijd te vinden om de serie weer op te pakken om opnieuw te lezen, zodat ik ook dit boek een waardering kan geven.
Overige boekinformatie:
Uitgeverij: Van Holkema & Warendorf
ISBN: 90.269.8438.3
456 pagina’s; paperback
In New York wordt hitman Paul Schumann, een Amerikaan van Duitse afkomst, voor een bijzondere keuze gesteld: óf hij gaat linea recta naar de gevangenis, óf hij vertrekt naar Duistland om daar de nazi Reinhard Ernst te doden, de grote man achter de herbewapening van Duitsland. Paul kiest voor het laatste...
Maar nog voordat hij voet op Duitse bodem kan zetten, slaagt een spion er in een waarschuwing naar de nazi's te sturen. Paul krijgt onverwachts hulp van Käthe en Otto en doet wat hij kan om zijn missie tot een goed einde te brengen. Hij wordt daarbij op de hielen gezeten door de vasthoudende en eigenzinnige politie-inspecteur Willi Kohl.
Er volgen hectische dagen waarin het Paul bijna onmogelijk gemaakt wordt om jacht te maken op Ernst, en waarin hijzelf alles op alles moet zetten om Willi Kohl een stap voor te blijven...
Waardering:
Omdat ik, toen ik het boek las, nog geen beoordelingen en mening gaf over boeken is het voor mij niet mogelijk om nu een juiste waardering aan het boek te geven. Ik hoop in de aankomende jaren tijd te vinden om de serie weer op te pakken om opnieuw te lezen, zodat ik ook dit boek een waardering kan geven.
Overige boekinformatie:
Uitgeverij: Van Holkema & Warendorf
ISBN: 90.269.8438.3
456 pagina’s; paperback
weaselweader's review against another edition
4.0
A high speed thriller set in pre-war 1936 Berlin
Paul Schumann, a notorious hit man for the New York Mafia, has finally been nabbed. But the feds have offered him a choice - accept a dangerous undercover government assignment in pre-war Germany or never see the outside of a prison again! The job is to assassinate Reinhard Ernst, the Nazi genius responsible for Hitler's re-armament program who is systematically defying the terms of Germany's WW I surrender, engineering a key component of Hitler's incendiary rise to power and providing him with the matches to light the fuse to WW II.
But when the operation fails, Schumann finds himself in the sights of Willi Kohl, Berlin's best homicide detective; a police operative who Schumann is dismayed to discover is far smarter and far more efficient than any of his North American opposite numbers.
Garden of Beasts is a fascinating historical thriller that is part psychological and part suspense with significant servings of provocative discussion about the meaning of good and evil. The historical context of the story is impeccably detailed and absolutely fascinating - the sights, sounds and geography of pre-war Berlin; brownshirts; the social milieu and attitudes of everyday German folks living with the combination of hope, fear, patriotism, terror and awe that Hitler must have inspired as he consolidated his dictatorial grip on the Germans; Jesse Owens humbling performance in the 1936 Olympics; and much more.
Is Paul Schumann a hero, an anti-hero or just plain villain? Deaver kindly leaves it to his readers to make their own decision. I'm sure you'll enjoy the trip as well as the ultimate destination.
While I may be reading much more into it than Deaver intended, I thought I'd give him kudos for what I think is an exceptionally clever title. Garden of Beasts could be said to be a loose translation of "Tiergarten" which is generally much more simply translated as "zoo". Much of the action in Garden of Beasts took place around Berlin's Tiergarten. For my money, I believe that Deaver was using the English translation to characterize the behaviour of his cast under the stress of war. See if you don't agree after you've read it.
Highly recommended.
Paul Weiss
Paul Schumann, a notorious hit man for the New York Mafia, has finally been nabbed. But the feds have offered him a choice - accept a dangerous undercover government assignment in pre-war Germany or never see the outside of a prison again! The job is to assassinate Reinhard Ernst, the Nazi genius responsible for Hitler's re-armament program who is systematically defying the terms of Germany's WW I surrender, engineering a key component of Hitler's incendiary rise to power and providing him with the matches to light the fuse to WW II.
But when the operation fails, Schumann finds himself in the sights of Willi Kohl, Berlin's best homicide detective; a police operative who Schumann is dismayed to discover is far smarter and far more efficient than any of his North American opposite numbers.
Garden of Beasts is a fascinating historical thriller that is part psychological and part suspense with significant servings of provocative discussion about the meaning of good and evil. The historical context of the story is impeccably detailed and absolutely fascinating - the sights, sounds and geography of pre-war Berlin; brownshirts; the social milieu and attitudes of everyday German folks living with the combination of hope, fear, patriotism, terror and awe that Hitler must have inspired as he consolidated his dictatorial grip on the Germans; Jesse Owens humbling performance in the 1936 Olympics; and much more.
Is Paul Schumann a hero, an anti-hero or just plain villain? Deaver kindly leaves it to his readers to make their own decision. I'm sure you'll enjoy the trip as well as the ultimate destination.
While I may be reading much more into it than Deaver intended, I thought I'd give him kudos for what I think is an exceptionally clever title. Garden of Beasts could be said to be a loose translation of "Tiergarten" which is generally much more simply translated as "zoo". Much of the action in Garden of Beasts took place around Berlin's Tiergarten. For my money, I believe that Deaver was using the English translation to characterize the behaviour of his cast under the stress of war. See if you don't agree after you've read it.
Highly recommended.
Paul Weiss
violetfloof's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5