- Paperback: 306 pages
- Publisher: Penguin Books (29 Aug 2006)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0142004022
- ISBN-13: 978-0142004029
- Product Dimensions: 12.9 x 1.6 x 19.7 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,110,369 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An absorbing novel set in Berlin and Vienna post-war,
By
This review is from: A German Requiem (Paperback)
This thriller offers a definite cut above the average mystery with its fascinating setting and masterful writing. "A German Requiem" is set in Berlin in the ruins of World War Two as the black market and prostitution jostle with soldiers and buildings in rubble. The book doesn't give long descriptive passages of the surroundings but weaves the feel of the destroyed city throughout the plot, with the action switching to Vienna as the mystery deepens.
Bernie Gunther, an ex-policeman, ex-SS officer, ex-Russian POW now a private investigator, has been hired to find the true killer of an American soldier. The man in custody didn't kill the soldier although he was involved in war crimes that Bernie has witnessed. Bernie is persuaded to try to find out what really happened and travels to Vienna to unravel the mystery. However there are more and more layers and he finds himself uncovering some significant information about the fates of some of the major war criminals. Bernie's safety, and that of the people who help him, becomes more and more at risk as the complexities of the situation become apparent. Philip Kerr's writing style is excellent, painting vivid pictures without being wordy, with touches of humour in the midst of some very dark storytelling. Kerr's understanding of German nature and of the feelings of the German people in Berlin, in danger from the Russians and not really seeing a future, rang very true. This is an atmospheric novel in the Raymond Chandler mode with a complex plot; characterisation is good for Bernie but not so much for the other people in the story but the reader is carried along with Bernie as he discovers the dark secrets that the new powers in Germany hold and as the Russian hold on Berlin tightens. There are two previous books featuring Bernie but it's unnecessary to have read them to appreciate this novel. It is an excellent story, particularly because of the masterful way in which post-war Germany and Austria are described. Originally published for Curled Up With A Good Book, www.curledup.com. © Helen Hancox 2007
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
3 1/2 Stars -- A Decent Read But One I Wouldn't Recommend You Rush Out To Buy It!,
By
This review is from: A German Requiem (Paperback)
A German Requiem is the third book in Philip Kerr's Berlin Noir trilogy featuring Bernie Gunther, a tough-talking, hard-drinking, chain-smoking, cynical ex-cop, now private detective. A German Requiem, which takes place in the wreckage of post-WW II Berlin and Vienna, has Gunther infiltrating a group of ex-Nazis to resolve a possible murder frame-up of an ex-colleague of his. Kerr excels in describing the atmosphere during this time period and has developed several multidimensional and, for the most part, interesting characters. With a faster-paced plot, I would have given A German Requiem a 4-4 1/2 star rating. However, the plot, while enjoyable, moved at too slow a pace for me to maintain a strong interest in its outcome; and consequently, resulted in my overall rating of 3 1/2 stars. Let me be clear that A German Requiem is a decent read and would likely be very appealing to readers of the first two books in Kerr's Berlin Noir trilogy as well as to fans of Raymond Chandler, Sam Spade or Philip Marlowe mysteries. However, at no time did the book have me on the edge of my seat to find out what happens next. If you decide to read A German Requiem I'd suggest you borrow it from the library rather than buying it.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
3.6 out of 5 stars (14 customer reviews) 10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A detective/spy story,
By Richard C. Sovish "scepticus" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: A German Requiem (Paperback)
An enjoyable book but with flaws. It is a mixed detective story and a weak spy story intermixed. Kerr is a very good writer and I enjoyed his 'Berlin Noir'. The depressed and hopeless atmosphere is competently portrayed although it doesn't approach the novels of Alan Furst in that regard. The degrading times with the omnipresent trading of sex for food, cigarettes or anything of value is well represented. I know since I was there as a GI in 1944-1946. I find some of the incidents related to the U.S. Army hard to believe. Here's a private detective who has some shady credentials who becomes trusted by Army personnel. The lack of communication between the various services rings true. The person he is trying to clear of charges is a major black marketeer who gets little sympathy from anyone, innocent or not. So what else is new? And the Belinsky role is never adequately explained. At the end, I enjoyed the characterization of Bernie and the other people encountered, male and female, more than the story itself wherein there were too many unbelievable coincidences, a typical problem with both genres. I found the American involvement in the covering of high Nazi criminal types in the belief that they were needed to govern Germany particularly disgusting in view of its support by what has come up in government records since the war, and the hubris surrounding our present Iraq debacle. Nevertheless, a thoroughly enjoyable novel which I heartily recommend.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An absorbing novel set in Berlin and Vienna post-war,
By Helen Hancox "Auntie Helen" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: A German Requiem (Paperback)
This thriller offers a definite cut above the average mystery with its fascinating setting and masterful writing. "A German Requiem" is set in Berlin in the ruins of World War Two as the black market and prostitution jostle with soldiers and buildings in rubble. The book doesn't give long descriptive passages of the surroundings but weaves the feel of the destroyed city throughout the plot, with the action switching to Vienna as the mystery deepens.
Bernie Gunther, an ex-policeman, ex-SS officer, ex-Russian POW now a private investigator, has been hired to find the true killer of an American soldier. The man in custody didn't kill the soldier although he was involved in war crimes that Bernie has witnessed. Bernie is persuaded to try to find out what really happened and travels to Vienna to unravel the mystery. However there are more and more layers and he finds himself uncovering some significant information about the fates of some of the major war criminals. Bernie's safety, and that of the people who help him, becomes more and more at risk as the complexities of the situation become apparent. Philip Kerr's writing style is excellent, painting vivid pictures without being wordy, with touches of humour in the midst of some very dark storytelling. Kerr's understanding of German nature and of the feelings of the German people in Berlin, in danger from the Russians and not really seeing a future, rang very true. This is an atmospheric novel in the Raymond Chandler mode with a complex plot; characterisation is good for Bernie but not so much for the other people in the story but the reader is carried along with Bernie as he discovers the dark secrets that the new powers in Germany hold and as the Russian hold on Berlin tightens. There are two previous books featuring Bernie but it's unnecessary to have read them to appreciate this novel. It is an excellent story, particularly because of the masterful way in which post-war Germany and Austria are described. Originally published for Curled Up With A Good Book, [...]. © Helen Hancox 2007 1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Not the best in the series.,
By manly-but-bookish - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: A German Requiem (Paperback)
In this his third book featuring Bernie Gunther, the ex-Police Officer, now private investigator, Philip Kerr picks up a few years after the conclusion of The Pale Criminal. World War II has ended and Germany is now the occupied country. Germans are having to deal with the different zones controled by The United States, England, the Soviet Union, and France. On top of that, a new kind of war is simmering, the Cold War. And the Soviets have begun the process of isolating the eastern zone under their control.
Amidst this new climate, Bernie Gunther has been hired to try to find the true killer of an American soldier. The story is a typical crime mystery and as I said when I reviewed its predecessor, Gunther is not the most endearing protagonist in the genre. But Kerr's way of describing that part of the world during such a dark period in history keeps me continually intrigued with this series. |
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