- Paperback: 320 pages
- Publisher: Penguin UK; New edition edition (Oct 1 1992)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0140139958
- ISBN-13: 978-0140139952
- Product Dimensions: 18 x 11.2 x 2 cm
- Shipping Weight: 159 g
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #685,286 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
In the wreckage of postwar Berlin, PI Bernie Gunther--in his third appearance--accepts coal for payment and reluctantly takes on a case for Russian Col. Palkovich Poroshin, one of the despised "Ivans." Asked to prove black marketeer Emil Becker innocent of the death of U.S. Counterintelligence Corps Capt. Edward Linden, Gunther leaves Berlin (and his unfaithful wife) for Vienna, where the incarcerated Becker insists he had been set up while delivering SS files to Linden at the behest of a stranger named Konig. Gunther's search for Konig attracts the attention of the CIC's John Belinksky, who also believes Becker was framed. After saving Gunther from some drunken Russians, Belinsky asks Gunther to infiltrate the ranks of a super-secret group of ex-Nazis whose leader may be former Gestapo head Heinrich Muller. Obviously, the Nazi-hunting CIC wants Muller badly, but Belinsky drops a bombshell that brings into question his own role in the investigation. Unleashing a series of stunning revelations, Kerr ( The Pale Criminal ) discloses the reasons for the Russians' interest in Linden and for the many deaths involved in Gunther's case. Rooted in historical details, driven by a powerful narrative, this atmospheric novel traces a frightening course amid a multiplicity of ironies.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Library Journal
This is Kerr's third Bernie Gunther mystery in as many years. As in the others, Gunther must solve his case against a backdrop of war-ravaged Germany. Kerr's plot is formulaic, but his main character--with his SS background and rabid hate for the Soviet occupying forces--rises above stereotypical detectives. Kerr adds to his character with a light touch of subtle, wry humor; yet he relies on contrivances to piece together the puzzle. Still, Kerr has a good premise for a detective series and a lot of promise as a writer. Despite its faults, Requiem is worth a read. Bernie Gunther might be the next Doc Adams.
- Martin J. Hudacs, Solanco H.S., Quarryville, Pa.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
- Martin J. Hudacs, Solanco H.S., Quarryville, Pa.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
3.6 out of 5 stars (16 customer reviews)
10 of 12 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
A detective/spy story, July 27 2007
By Richard C. Sovish "scepticus" - Published on Amazon.com
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
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, Jun 25 2007
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., Aug 9 2011
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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