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"From New York Times-bestselling author Philip Kerr, the much-anticipated return of Bernie Gunther in a series hailed by Malcolm Forbes as "the best crime novels around today." A beautiful actress, a rising star of the giant German film company UFA, now controlled by the Propaganda Ministry. The very clever, very dangerous Propaganda Minister-close confidant of Hitler, an ambitious schemer and flagrant libertine. And Bernie Gunther, former Berlin homicide bull, now forced to do favors for Joseph Goebbels at the Propaganda Minister's command. This time, the favor is personal. And this time, nothing is what it seems. Set down amid the killing fields of Ustashe-controlled Croatia, Bernie finds himself in a world of mindless brutality where everyone has a hidden agenda. Perfect territory for a true cynic whose instinct is to trust no one"-- "The tenth installment of the Bernie Gunther series by the author of PRAGUE FATALE and A MAN WITHOUT BREATH"--… (more)
User reviews
The portrayal of the Ustase (it's handy to have access to Wikipedia while reading) is explicit and sickening. [ For those unfamiliar with the group, it was an odd combination of ultranationalism, Catholicism and fascism employing terror that enjoyed killing Jews, Serbs, and Roma. Very Roman Catholic, they condemned orthodox Christianity, the main religion of the Serbs, but did not oppose Islam which they considered nationalist and true Croatian where it was celebrated mostly in Bosnia and Herzegovinia. The religious aspect was downplayed in favor of nationalist Croatia.] It's rather amazing to me that Tito managed to hold Yugoslavia together as long as he did given the truly horrific slaughters that occurred between the Serbs and Croats, encouraged by the Nazis.
This is the 10th novel in the series of 11.
I've read a lot of Kerr's Bernie Gunther series. This one was OK but not as good as the original three volumes of Berlin Noir. The plot in this one was too unbelievable and the coincidences just too convenient. Still good compared to many others, just not up to his best. Perhaps the lackluster reading by John Lee, whom I usually like, had something to do with it.
It's set in 1942 and Bernie is once again interacting with the higher echelons of the Nazis, Josef Goebbels in particular. There's some particularly gruesome scenes of the ethnic cleansing in the Balkans -- the author seems
There's an ironic twist in the epilogue at the end of the book when Bernie encounters one of the minor characters from 1942 in 1956. One is left wondering whether Bernie will accept the job offer.
Recommended.
Of course, Gunther falls for Dalia and the become lovers which further complicates the plot as Dalia leaves Berlin for Zurich to be with ther husband. There are many plot twists and many Nazis figure prominently in the story. Good book
Bernie is in top form, trying to remain above the fray of atrocities that
The 10th Bernie Gunther adventure opens in 1942 in Berlin where the former policeman has recently returned from the Eastern Front severely shaken by brutality that he has witnessed (see Field Gray, Prague Fatale & A Man Without Breath). Gunther’s steadfast avoidance of the political has given him a reputation for independence which is hard to come by and he soon is engaged in several seemingly unrelated cases including one by the Nazi propaganda chief himself, Joseph Goebbels. Our war-weary hero is smart enough to doubt the assurances of the Minister of Truth and Propaganda that “the job will not be without its pleasures” but it ends up involving horrors that even his jaded mind couldn’t imagine. Sent to Croatia (then part of Yugoslavia) to deliver a letter to an actress’s long-lost father, Gunther finds himself in the middle of a killing field of ethnic cleansing on such a scale that even the SS officers assigned to the region had pulled out. He manages to keep his mouth shut just long enough to do his job and get back to Berlin where he is immediately sent to Switzerland. In Zurich he has an unpleasant encounter with Allen Dulles (one of several real people cameos found in the book) and some of his OSS agents, whom Gunther describes as “thugs – Gestapo types with better haircuts and nicer breath.”
I really like Bernie Gunther’s character. He provides a refreshing counterpoint to the super-intelligent detective who sees what normal humans can’t and solves cases using only his superior intellect. Bernie is an everyday Fritz who is more likely to solve a case by sheer luck than to dazzle the reader with his brilliance. As is the case with all good gumshoes, he does on occasion manage to come up with poignant insights into the human condition, insights which, considering the setting, are often more melancholy than most other detectives’. Sometimes he delves into the ironic, such as when he is considering how much more realistic his life is compared to fictional detectives. Kerr also is not above throwing a little homage into his dialogue, especially with this line, late in the book; “She’s going to forget all about you, Gunther. Maybe not today, and maybe not tomorrow, as time goes by…”
I am also very impressed with the way that Kerr can describe wartime Berlin in such a way that I can almost see it. What I found less than impressive in “The Lady from Zagreb” is how the story tended to wander. It reached a point where I no longer cared whether the different cases ultimately linked together or not. In the end, Kerr was able to surprise me and I have to give him credit for that so I will more than likely continue to read of Bernie Gunther’s adventures.
*Quotations are cited from an advanced reading copy and may not be the same as appears in the final published edition. The review book was based on an advanced reading copy obtained at no cost from the publisher in exchange for an unbiased review. While this does take any ‘not worth what I paid for it’ statements out of my review, it otherwise has no impact on the content of my review.
Hmm, sorry to say not at all one his best. If you're going to read it anyway, then, spoils ... .
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