- Hardcover: 344 pages
- Publisher: Douglas & McIntyre / Not Applicable; 1 Amer ed edition (Nov 1 2003)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0374138125
- ISBN-13: 978-0374138127
- Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 16 x 2.9 cm
- Shipping Weight: 599 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,658,527 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
German novelist Hettche's first book to be translated into English is a suspenseful, serious crime story set in postwar West Germany. Based on an infamous actual case, this legal thriller tells how Hans Arbogast, a young traveling salesman, spent almost 15 years in prison for the inexplicable death of Marie Gurst, an East German refugee, during a casual, if somewhat mutually violent, sexual romp. In Gaffney's crisp translation, Hettche's story traces the quiet ups and downs of Arbogast's long imprisonment: "After his hopes of imminent release had faded, he found that the world within him shrank. Like a suffocating man desperate for larger lungs and more oxygen, he wished for more memories, more of a past." The political atmosphere is equally stifling in a stern postwar West Germany intolerant of both Arbogast's sexual impropriety and any questioning of its leading forensic pathologists. Only after an East German expert, a crusading Swiss novelist and a tough West German lawyer delve into the mystery of Gurst's death does anybody begin to rethink Arbogast's case. Readers craving action and thrills might find Hettche's novel slightly slow going, but its psychological depth and sociological heft make it a solid achievement.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
German author Hettche makes his English-language debut with this gripping erotic thriller based on a sensational German criminal case. A woman's naked body is discovered in a field, and Hans Arbogast was the last to see her alive--she died while they were making love. Did he kill her? The prosecutor has no doubts about his guilt, and the case he presents is persuasive enough to land Arbogast behind bars, where he remains for 16 years. Eventually others challenge the evidence on Arbogast's behalf and spend years trying to free him. The novel is sharp with courtroom procedure and forensics, but what really gives it its edge are the deftly sketched psychological portraits and Arbogast's sexual obsession, which drives the whole erotic tone of the narrative. Many of the secondary characters are also gripped by this tone, and at least one, forensics expert Katja Lavans, is partially caught up in Arbogast's obsession. This novel challenges readers' preconceptions of guilt and innocence; its untold story is as powerful as its narrated one. Frank Caso
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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She laughed as if she had just discovered something and turned back to look at him. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt
She laughed as if she had just discovered something and turned back to look at him. Read the first page
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Customer Reviews
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Compelling, gorgeously written and erotic,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Arbogast Case (Hardcover)
This thriller is based on a sensational case that made the headlines in post-war Germany. It is an evocative story of a salesman who picks up a hitchhiker and during passionate sex she suddenly dies. It's not clear how, but Arbogast is tried and convicted of murder. One of the most astonishing aspects of the book is how Arbogast becomes changed by his years in prison, how the solitude and quiet close in on him until his cell feels more comfortable than any kind of contact with the outside world. And his memory of the day spent with his hitchhiker expands until it takes over his entire reality. Meanwhile, a writer and lawyer collaborate on getting the case reopened and they pull in a pathologist from East Berlin to re-examine the evidence. The judicial and forensic details are truly fascinating and make for a compelling page-turner. The resolution is stunning and leaves the reader waiting anxiously for the next book from this talented author.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Tense, strange, good.,
By Candace Siegle, Greedy Reader (So Cal) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Arbogast Case (Hardcover)
Hans Arbogast picks up Marie Gurst on a German country road in 1953. He is a traveling salesman, she a refugee from East Germany living in a displaced persons' camp. The two enjoy some rough sex during which Marie inexplicably dies. Did he kill her? Less than ten years after the end of WWII, Germans were sick of perversions but not ready to challenge the report by a leading forensic scientist. Hans goes to prison for life where he remains for sixteen years. A journalist and a novelist become interested in his case and bring an East German forensic scientist to the West to offer another scenario for what might have happened on that warm September afternoon.The Arbogast case was a sensational crime of its time, and Thomas Hettche has written a compelling and creepy novel. If you like action and big climaxes, you won't find them here. This is a very subtle novel of psychological suspense, written with just the right tone and given a sharp, immediate translation by Elizabeth Gaffney. If "The Arbogast Case" is typical of Hettche's writing, his other novels should find eager readers in the U.S.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.5 out of 5 stars (2 customer reviews) 0 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Compelling, gorgeously written and erotic,
By A Customer - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Arbogast Case (Hardcover)
This thriller is based on a sensational case that made the headlines in post-war Germany. It is an evocative story of a salesman who picks up a hitchhiker and during passionate sex she suddenly dies. It's not clear how, but Arbogast is tried and convicted of murder. One of the most astonishing aspects of the book is how Arbogast becomes changed by his years in prison, how the solitude and quiet close in on him until his cell feels more comfortable than any kind of contact with the outside world. And his memory of the day spent with his hitchhiker expands until it takes over his entire reality. Meanwhile, a writer and lawyer collaborate on getting the case reopened and they pull in a pathologist from East Berlin to re-examine the evidence. The judicial and forensic details are truly fascinating and make for a compelling page-turner. The resolution is stunning and leaves the reader waiting anxiously for the next book from this talented author.
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Tense, strange, good.,
By Candace Siegle, Greedy Reader - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Arbogast Case (Hardcover)
Hans Arbogast picks up Marie Gurst on a German country road in 1953. He is a traveling salesman, she a refugee from East Germany living in a displaced person's camp. The two enjoy some rough sex during which Marie inexplicably dies. Did he kill her? Less than ten years after the end of WWII, Germans were sick of perversions but not ready to challenge the report by a leading forensic scientist. Hans goes to prison for life where he remains for sixteen years. A journalist and a novelist become interested in his case and bring an East German forensic scientist to the West to offer another scenario for what might have happened on that warm September afternoon.The Arbogast case was a sensational crime of its time, and Thomas Hettche has written a compelling and creepy novel. If you like action and big climaxes, you won't find them here. This is a very subtle novel of psychological suspense, written with just the right tone and given a sharp, immediate translation by Elizabeth Gaffney. If "The Arbogast Case" is typical of Hettche's writing, his other novels should find eager readers in the U.S. |
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