A review by urlphantomhive
Until the Debt is Paid by Alexander Hartung

3.0

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I chose this book solely because the setting is Berlin, one of my favourite cities (and I really like to read about it as well). Not too much Berlin in this book though...

When Jan wakes up with a hangover, he doesn't expect the police to storm into his room. He - a police officer himself - can't remember what he's done the last 36 hours, and they arrest him for the murder of a respected judge. With his memory gone, it's hard to proof he's innocent...

An enjoyable read. I almost always like German crime novels, and this is no exception. There's a lot of running around so if that's something you like, you'll probably like this too. One thing that made the whole plot a bit more realistically is that the main character is a cop (as opposed to all people who've no experience whatsoever fighting crime/policing but know how not to get caught). His friends however are made of cardboard stitched together with a lot of clichés. I mean, the techguy/hacker who doesn't leave his house and doesn't seem to know how to use a bath/shower? I've read that too many times before.

The translation, for as far as I can tell (I've only read the English version), seems quite good, and is very readable. The story was okay too, though the thought keeps nagging at me that I've read a book with a very similar story before. I just can't remember which book.

Original Title: Bis alle Schuld beglichen

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!