Another solid offering in the Bernie Gunther series. There's no doubt that Gunther is a complicated "hero," and that comes out more in this book than the others I've read. It absolutely makes him interesting, but he is morally ambiguous. I enjoyed the setting of the book, focusing on the lead-up to the 1936 Olympics in Berlin and then jumping to postwar Cuba. Not my favorite Kerr (Man without Breath holds that distinction, I think), but a pretty decent series entry. Tough one for me, I wish you could give 1/2 stars because I'd give this 3.5. Without spoiling it, this book is really in two parts. The first part takes place in the early days of Nazi Germany. This part of the book I clearly give 4, if not 5 stars. Interesting, well written, moves at a great pace. Not a WW2 novel as such, no battles or soldiers or anything like that, but more of a detective novel. Really different, worth a read. The second part (I won't tell where it takes place, etc.) was a dramatic let down. It seems far fetched. It was almost as if the author needed to write another hundred pages so through this in in a hurried state. This I would give a low 3 stars. So I average it out and went with 4. Overall, a nice detective novel.
Do You like book Si Los Muertos No Resucitan (2009)?
Philip Kerr delivers another great story of Bernie Gunther's endless run-ins with the baddies.
—rydman
This Bernie Gunther series is just so good.
—Deidei
