A review by sarahmaeborah
Detective Story by Imre Kertész

challenging dark medium-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No

3.5

This book is written from the viewpoint a low-ranking secret police officer in an unnamed south American dictatorship as he awaits punishment for his capture and torture of a wealthy father and son who got caught up in the resistance. We see the fruitlessness of the son's actions which although well intentioned and beautifully thought through result in nothing more than the suffering of his family. However the true horror of this book is the banality of the officer's evil actions - he is simply following orders and doesn't have any political thoughts. As explained in the intro, he is a man "living outside morality."