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Rudolf Heinz #1
21:37
Rudolf Heinz’s life is far from perfect. His son avoids him, he’s a terrible guitar player, and he lives in constant pain. But there is one thing Rudolf Heinz is really good at – he’s the best profiler in Poland when it comes to serial killers.
When the police find the dead bodies of two young men, their heads covered in plastic bags marked with the numbers 21 and 37, Heinz faces his most challenging case. Taking on a killer who likes to play games, the investigation is complicated when he discovers the victims are priests, and the local police close ranks against him. As he analyzes each lead, Heinz’s search for the killer pushes him deep into his own past, unaware that he will soon have to save his own life. And he’s running out of time…
When the police find the dead bodies of two young men, their heads covered in plastic bags marked with the numbers 21 and 37, Heinz faces his most challenging case. Taking on a killer who likes to play games, the investigation is complicated when he discovers the victims are priests, and the local police close ranks against him. As he analyzes each lead, Heinz’s search for the killer pushes him deep into his own past, unaware that he will soon have to save his own life. And he’s running out of time…
202 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 2008
5 people are currently reading
224 people want to read
About the author
Mariusz Czubaj
23 books21 followersMariusz Czubaj is a cultural anthropologist and a bestselling author in Poland. His first crime novel featuring profiler Rudolf Heinz, 21:37 (2008), won the High Calibre Award for the best Polish crime novel in 2009. He has co-authored two crime novels with Marek Krajewski: The Avenue of Suicides (2008)and Graveyard Roses (2009). In 2011 he published the second book on Rudolf Heinz, Lullaby for a Murderer, and the third, Before I Kill Again, was released in 2012.
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May 18, 2021
Kryminał niepełny
Dziwnie mi. Po lekturze książki Mariusza Czubaja czytelniczo dziwnie mi. Ale to nie refleksja po lekturze, nie zachwyt ani też obrzydzenie. Książka ta wydała mi się niesamowicie obojętna, nie wywoławszy we mnie żadnych, ale to absolutnie żadnych czytelniczych emocji. A mimo to, była ciekawa. Dobra. Napisana tak, że wielu autorom kryminałów dałbym Czubaja za przykład. Co więc nie zagrało?
Bohaterowie w tej książce to bardzo dobre i przemyślane postacie. Poczynając od głównego bohatera, profilera, policjanta z jakimiś-tam-life-issues, kończąc na drugoplanowych złych glinach, aż po poszczególnych bohaterów epizodycznych lub antagonistów. Każdy ma cechy właściwe swojemu gatunkowi, zły policjant przebiegły, dobry policjant stanowczy. Księża podstępni, chciwi. Klerycy przestraszeni. Słowem – katalog dusz polskich. Dobrze, ciekawie. Chcemy ich czytać.
Intryga w książce dostała wysoką poprzeczkę, za sprawą nie-do-końca przemyślanej okładki. W mojej wersji szminka w koloratce, taki trochę styl kryminałów Chmielewskiej wydawanych swego czasu. Było dobrze, było ciekawie. Pajęczyna wzajemnych zależności nie ma luźnych nitek. Sieć naczyń połączonych bezbłędna. Choć w kulminacji oczekiwałem mocniejszego tupnięcia butem. Nie dostałem go.
Odpowiadając na pytanie co nie zagrało powiem tak. Narracja. W połączeniu ze zbyt łagodnym uderzeniem na koniec fabuły, uważam że ta książka nie jest opowiedziana dobrze, jest zreferowana. Jak sprawozdanie ze sprawy, referat, raport. Nie chwyciła mnie narracja Mariusza Czubaja, mimo że sama powieść jako historia jest dobra. Mam świadomość tego, że może to zabrzmieć jakbym przeczył sam sobie, ale dosłownie nie chwycił mi sposób opowiedzenia tej historii. Za wolno, za długo, za spokojnie. Liniowo się rozwija fabuła, nieśpiesznie – zwykle piszę, że to zaleta, ale w tym wypadku linia wzrostu napięcia jest… zbyt płaska.
Nie kupił mnie Mariusz Czubaj tą narracją, oj nie kupił. Szkoda, bo sam główny bohater jest interesujący i pewnie bym chciał poznać jego dalsze losy, nowe sprawy. Gdyby tylko pognał trochę szybciej z emocjami w książce. A może następne tomy są bardziej dynamiczne?
Uczciwe 6/10
18.05.2021
Dziwnie mi. Po lekturze książki Mariusza Czubaja czytelniczo dziwnie mi. Ale to nie refleksja po lekturze, nie zachwyt ani też obrzydzenie. Książka ta wydała mi się niesamowicie obojętna, nie wywoławszy we mnie żadnych, ale to absolutnie żadnych czytelniczych emocji. A mimo to, była ciekawa. Dobra. Napisana tak, że wielu autorom kryminałów dałbym Czubaja za przykład. Co więc nie zagrało?
Bohaterowie w tej książce to bardzo dobre i przemyślane postacie. Poczynając od głównego bohatera, profilera, policjanta z jakimiś-tam-life-issues, kończąc na drugoplanowych złych glinach, aż po poszczególnych bohaterów epizodycznych lub antagonistów. Każdy ma cechy właściwe swojemu gatunkowi, zły policjant przebiegły, dobry policjant stanowczy. Księża podstępni, chciwi. Klerycy przestraszeni. Słowem – katalog dusz polskich. Dobrze, ciekawie. Chcemy ich czytać.
Intryga w książce dostała wysoką poprzeczkę, za sprawą nie-do-końca przemyślanej okładki. W mojej wersji szminka w koloratce, taki trochę styl kryminałów Chmielewskiej wydawanych swego czasu. Było dobrze, było ciekawie. Pajęczyna wzajemnych zależności nie ma luźnych nitek. Sieć naczyń połączonych bezbłędna. Choć w kulminacji oczekiwałem mocniejszego tupnięcia butem. Nie dostałem go.
Odpowiadając na pytanie co nie zagrało powiem tak. Narracja. W połączeniu ze zbyt łagodnym uderzeniem na koniec fabuły, uważam że ta książka nie jest opowiedziana dobrze, jest zreferowana. Jak sprawozdanie ze sprawy, referat, raport. Nie chwyciła mnie narracja Mariusza Czubaja, mimo że sama powieść jako historia jest dobra. Mam świadomość tego, że może to zabrzmieć jakbym przeczył sam sobie, ale dosłownie nie chwycił mi sposób opowiedzenia tej historii. Za wolno, za długo, za spokojnie. Liniowo się rozwija fabuła, nieśpiesznie – zwykle piszę, że to zaleta, ale w tym wypadku linia wzrostu napięcia jest… zbyt płaska.
Nie kupił mnie Mariusz Czubaj tą narracją, oj nie kupił. Szkoda, bo sam główny bohater jest interesujący i pewnie bym chciał poznać jego dalsze losy, nowe sprawy. Gdyby tylko pognał trochę szybciej z emocjami w książce. A może następne tomy są bardziej dynamiczne?
Uczciwe 6/10
18.05.2021
December 20, 2015
Reasonably involving, worthwhile for the distinctively Polish elements, as tourism-by-mystery-novel; but local (and religious) colour apart, this contained a few too many cliches; the translation was the poorest I've read in a while; and - as with the other ebook I read from Stork Press, another Polish mystery, Polychrome - there were abundant formatting errors. Presumably the cheap price didn't include much editing, or human hours to correct the format after machine conversion. (I was at least rarely bored during 21:37 although I read it whilst very tired; Polychrome, for some reason I couldn't fathom, was a right slog.)
21:37 is a series opener, although as there's no sign of sequels appearing in English, it may as well be read as a standalone. Our sleuth is a brilliant, maverick profiler [groan] from Silesia, named Rudolf Heinz - 'spelt like the ketchup', as he says way too many times. He has the typical grumpy loner schtick, which I can't say I mind much, given that it's when I'm not feeling too great myself that I tend to read crime novels. A few moments were hackneyed to the extent I almost laughed; those were outweighed by the fellow-feeling of reading about someone who was in pain and sleeping badly, although able to do some more interesting things. Heinz suffers from nightmares and old injuries after, several years earlier, unwisely interviewing a serial killer suspect alone. (The culprit attempts to torment him from secure hospital, Lecter/Starling style, and the business still hasn't put him off conducting lone interviews...). Though unlike a lot of these typical fictional detectives, he at least has hobbies outside work, at which he's believably good but not brilliant: occasional karate although he's now out of shape, and playing classic rock in a pub band with some other middle aged blokes.
The crime at the centre of the book is the murder of two young trainee priests, discovered dead at a Warsaw cruising ground with plastic bags on their heads, painted with pink triangles and the numbers 21 and 37. In the background, Heinz also works on the investigation into non-sexual stabbings of women at a country park near his home town of Katowice. As in the other three Polish crime novels I've read over the past year, religion, the Catholic church in particular, is a pervasive force in contemporary society to an extent which seems extraordinary from Britain (though perhaps not in Ireland). Among the significances of 21:37 is that it was the time of death of Pope John Paul II: "Every idiot knows that. And every idiot understands it's no joke," as one character says; having heard Polish people who weren't even particularly religious attach semi-mystical significance to dates associated with the pope, I've no difficulty believing that statement.
In the social comment tradition of Scandinavian crime fiction, the novel is an indictment of church corruption in general and homophobia in particular. However, it does not, to the liberal British reader, seem to have a particular reforming stance: e.g. that Catholic clergy should be allowed to have relationships, including gay ones - it simply considers that the church hides hypocrisy and murk under its surface. And society at large (just as in those other recent Polish crime novels) is shown with a level of prejudice against all outgroups that sounds like Britain in the 1970s or 80s, complete with police officers who like giving interviewees a kicking for no good reason, Sweeney style - yet this is against the backdrop of the 2000s building boom, ironic Communist retro fashions and an increasingly flashy culture. Heinz is a bit nicer than most of the others, and gives colleagues the odd lecture on empathy for victims, but he has a nasty habit of his own: landing witnesses in it by letting their friends find out what they secretly told the police. The slurs that appear in close third-person narrative may or may not have had the impact in the original that they have over here - some of Heinz's relative sensitivity on others' behalf may come from embarrassment over his name, which he conceals from a potential witness who's just ranted about 'poofs, Jews and Germans' - but outside the speech of characters we know are ruffians of one sort or another, it's hard to tell if word choices are accurately representative given the quality of the translation.
A quick search confirmed that the translator isn't a native English speaker: we get a lot of idiomatic errors that reflect that. Their frequency is irritating, but they're sometimes interesting for what they tell us about languages and usage. Skinhead youths are 'baldies'; a plain clothes police officer hopes to be issued with a replacement 'company car', an overweight man is called 'the porky' as a noun, and a scene in which a guy passes out in a pub toilet includes 'the logo of the sink producer' fading from his eyes; also 'sacro-pop' isn't really 'a thing' in English, but if sentences were better phrased, it could have worked contextualised as a local term. Sometimes the translation just misses a trick: a colleague's nickname would have scanned better as Jolka the Goth (cf Alaric). And then there are the occasions when unusual English words, no doubt discovered via translation dictionaries, show up; they didn't look at home here, but I liked hearing of the similarity of an oligarch's house to a 'latifundium' or a dogsbody and henchman being called a 'halberdier'.
Overall, 21:37 wasn't too bad as routine crime novels go - although Stork need to sort out their formatting and especially translation editing - but if you were to choose one from the small selection of occasionally hyped Polish crime fiction available in English (having read something of all authors except the reportedly gory 1930s-set Marek Krajewski books), I'd recommend a Zygmunt Miłoszewski instead of this.
21:37 is a series opener, although as there's no sign of sequels appearing in English, it may as well be read as a standalone. Our sleuth is a brilliant, maverick profiler [groan] from Silesia, named Rudolf Heinz - 'spelt like the ketchup', as he says way too many times. He has the typical grumpy loner schtick, which I can't say I mind much, given that it's when I'm not feeling too great myself that I tend to read crime novels. A few moments were hackneyed to the extent I almost laughed; those were outweighed by the fellow-feeling of reading about someone who was in pain and sleeping badly, although able to do some more interesting things. Heinz suffers from nightmares and old injuries after, several years earlier, unwisely interviewing a serial killer suspect alone. (The culprit attempts to torment him from secure hospital, Lecter/Starling style, and the business still hasn't put him off conducting lone interviews...). Though unlike a lot of these typical fictional detectives, he at least has hobbies outside work, at which he's believably good but not brilliant: occasional karate although he's now out of shape, and playing classic rock in a pub band with some other middle aged blokes.
The crime at the centre of the book is the murder of two young trainee priests, discovered dead at a Warsaw cruising ground with plastic bags on their heads, painted with pink triangles and the numbers 21 and 37. In the background, Heinz also works on the investigation into non-sexual stabbings of women at a country park near his home town of Katowice. As in the other three Polish crime novels I've read over the past year, religion, the Catholic church in particular, is a pervasive force in contemporary society to an extent which seems extraordinary from Britain (though perhaps not in Ireland). Among the significances of 21:37 is that it was the time of death of Pope John Paul II: "Every idiot knows that. And every idiot understands it's no joke," as one character says; having heard Polish people who weren't even particularly religious attach semi-mystical significance to dates associated with the pope, I've no difficulty believing that statement.
In the social comment tradition of Scandinavian crime fiction, the novel is an indictment of church corruption in general and homophobia in particular. However, it does not, to the liberal British reader, seem to have a particular reforming stance: e.g. that Catholic clergy should be allowed to have relationships, including gay ones - it simply considers that the church hides hypocrisy and murk under its surface. And society at large (just as in those other recent Polish crime novels) is shown with a level of prejudice against all outgroups that sounds like Britain in the 1970s or 80s, complete with police officers who like giving interviewees a kicking for no good reason, Sweeney style - yet this is against the backdrop of the 2000s building boom, ironic Communist retro fashions and an increasingly flashy culture. Heinz is a bit nicer than most of the others, and gives colleagues the odd lecture on empathy for victims, but he has a nasty habit of his own: landing witnesses in it by letting their friends find out what they secretly told the police. The slurs that appear in close third-person narrative may or may not have had the impact in the original that they have over here - some of Heinz's relative sensitivity on others' behalf may come from embarrassment over his name, which he conceals from a potential witness who's just ranted about 'poofs, Jews and Germans' - but outside the speech of characters we know are ruffians of one sort or another, it's hard to tell if word choices are accurately representative given the quality of the translation.
A quick search confirmed that the translator isn't a native English speaker: we get a lot of idiomatic errors that reflect that. Their frequency is irritating, but they're sometimes interesting for what they tell us about languages and usage. Skinhead youths are 'baldies'; a plain clothes police officer hopes to be issued with a replacement 'company car', an overweight man is called 'the porky' as a noun, and a scene in which a guy passes out in a pub toilet includes 'the logo of the sink producer' fading from his eyes; also 'sacro-pop' isn't really 'a thing' in English, but if sentences were better phrased, it could have worked contextualised as a local term. Sometimes the translation just misses a trick: a colleague's nickname would have scanned better as Jolka the Goth (cf Alaric). And then there are the occasions when unusual English words, no doubt discovered via translation dictionaries, show up; they didn't look at home here, but I liked hearing of the similarity of an oligarch's house to a 'latifundium' or a dogsbody and henchman being called a 'halberdier'.
Overall, 21:37 wasn't too bad as routine crime novels go - although Stork need to sort out their formatting and especially translation editing - but if you were to choose one from the small selection of occasionally hyped Polish crime fiction available in English (having read something of all authors except the reportedly gory 1930s-set Marek Krajewski books), I'd recommend a Zygmunt Miłoszewski instead of this.
November 22, 2022
jedyne, co wyniosłam z tej książki to to, że nazwisko głównego bohatera się pisze jak KETCHUP ROZUMIESZ HEINZ JAK KETCHUP JAK TEN KETCHUP HEINZ SIĘ HEINZ PISZE ROZUMIESZ CZY NIE
taka trochę samcza lektura z takim sigmą bohaterem, wiecie, samotnik, outsider i w ogóle
jak ktoś nie lubi homofobicznego języka to trochę trigger warning. no i nie wiem w sumie na ile to jest po prostu period typical, a na ile to poglądy autora i używane przez niego słownictwo
jednakże nie mi w to wnikać, bo absolutnie mi się nie chce
takie to nudne
a miało potencjał, naprawdę. w dobrych rękach to mógłby być świetny kryminał
a tak to nie wiem właściwie, co przeczytałam. czuję się, jakbym wracała do domu z długiej wyprawy na grzyby: nic nie zyskałam, wynudziłam się, jestem zmęczona i nie wiem, czy nie złapałam kleszcza
nie mam pojęcia, co miało oznaczać to porównanie, daję pole do interpretacji
no i kurde. plus za historię BO TO MOGŁA BYĆ NAPRAWDĘ DOBRA KSIĄŻKA. Z FAJNĄ INTRYGĄ. I W OGÓLE.
przynajmniej obowiązek boży spełniony amen
taka trochę samcza lektura z takim sigmą bohaterem, wiecie, samotnik, outsider i w ogóle
jak ktoś nie lubi homofobicznego języka to trochę trigger warning. no i nie wiem w sumie na ile to jest po prostu period typical, a na ile to poglądy autora i używane przez niego słownictwo
jednakże nie mi w to wnikać, bo absolutnie mi się nie chce
takie to nudne
a miało potencjał, naprawdę. w dobrych rękach to mógłby być świetny kryminał
a tak to nie wiem właściwie, co przeczytałam. czuję się, jakbym wracała do domu z długiej wyprawy na grzyby: nic nie zyskałam, wynudziłam się, jestem zmęczona i nie wiem, czy nie złapałam kleszcza
nie mam pojęcia, co miało oznaczać to porównanie, daję pole do interpretacji
no i kurde. plus za historię BO TO MOGŁA BYĆ NAPRAWDĘ DOBRA KSIĄŻKA. Z FAJNĄ INTRYGĄ. I W OGÓLE.
przynajmniej obowiązek boży spełniony amen
June 26, 2013
I hate star ratings, but this one's like a 3.8 rounded to a 4.
21:37 is the first of the Rudolf Heinz series, and the only one published so far in English. Although I wasn't so fond of how the book ended, I was beyond happy with the rest of 21:37. It kept me entertained, glued and -- the best sign of a good mystery for me -- I was constantly trying to guess who might be the killer and never figured it out.
Moving between Katowice and Warsaw, the main character in this novel is Rudolf Heinz, "Hippie" to his band friends, a profiler, and at 44, is "the best in the country." He's viewed as a "weirdo" among police regulars, a "specialist in out-of-this world, imagined theories," but he's good at what he does. His family life is less than spectacular, and he's got darkness in his personal past, a case that "ruined his career and his health." He's happiest when playing classic rock music with his band. But playing with the band at their latest gig has just been cancelled as the novel opens -- he's needed elsewhere. Two young students from a theological school in Warsaw, in their 20s, have been discovered near the Olympic Center in Warsaw. Both had plastic bags over their heads on which pink-lipstick triangles had been drawn at their mouths. A special team has been created to look into this crime, and Heinz's help has been requested, because of his expertise in cases "with religious subtext." Although he doesn't want to go, because he's currently working on an important case, he has little choice. When he arrives and is being briefed on the case, he learns something that makes him realize why he has been called in -- each of the young seminarists was gay, and each had numbers written on their bodies: 21 and 37. As one of the special team members informs him, when "our" pope died, the time was 21:37, a detail they'd kept quiet, and one that set off alarm bells among the Ministry. Considering the staging, Heinz realizes that he's got a major challenge ahead of him.
21:37 is dark, and some of the issues are perhaps even a little controversial, especially those involving homosexuality and the Catholic church. I really, really like this author's writing style -- it's realistic, relatable due to many cultural references he uses throughout the book, and edgy on the verge of downright gritty. Nothing cutesy about this writer or his subject matter at all. While much of this novel is naturally taken up with trying to flesh out the main protagonist Heinz, there is a good story here as well as an intelligent, excellent mystery at its core. The characters (for the most part) had a lot of credibility, especially Heinz. He's tough on the outside, but his past experiences and the fact that people view him as an outsider and a weirdo have left him with a sort of vulnerability that helps define who he is. There's also a very well-evoked sense of place in this novel so you end up with a lot of local feel in terms of location and people. The translation wasn't an issue, either -- nothing here to interrupt the reading flow, no awkwardness in wording. What wasn't so perfect was its ending -- I had to go back and reread several last chapters before I understood what was going on here, and I didn't find it that impressive but rather aloof, making it confusing and a bit off-putting. On the other hand, I read this book in one intense sitting, unable to stop turning pages.
I hope Stork continues to publish more of Czubaj's works. If 21:37 is any hint of what his other books are like, I'll be buying them all. Definitely recommended to readers of darker crime fiction.
21:37 is the first of the Rudolf Heinz series, and the only one published so far in English. Although I wasn't so fond of how the book ended, I was beyond happy with the rest of 21:37. It kept me entertained, glued and -- the best sign of a good mystery for me -- I was constantly trying to guess who might be the killer and never figured it out.
Moving between Katowice and Warsaw, the main character in this novel is Rudolf Heinz, "Hippie" to his band friends, a profiler, and at 44, is "the best in the country." He's viewed as a "weirdo" among police regulars, a "specialist in out-of-this world, imagined theories," but he's good at what he does. His family life is less than spectacular, and he's got darkness in his personal past, a case that "ruined his career and his health." He's happiest when playing classic rock music with his band. But playing with the band at their latest gig has just been cancelled as the novel opens -- he's needed elsewhere. Two young students from a theological school in Warsaw, in their 20s, have been discovered near the Olympic Center in Warsaw. Both had plastic bags over their heads on which pink-lipstick triangles had been drawn at their mouths. A special team has been created to look into this crime, and Heinz's help has been requested, because of his expertise in cases "with religious subtext." Although he doesn't want to go, because he's currently working on an important case, he has little choice. When he arrives and is being briefed on the case, he learns something that makes him realize why he has been called in -- each of the young seminarists was gay, and each had numbers written on their bodies: 21 and 37. As one of the special team members informs him, when "our" pope died, the time was 21:37, a detail they'd kept quiet, and one that set off alarm bells among the Ministry. Considering the staging, Heinz realizes that he's got a major challenge ahead of him.
21:37 is dark, and some of the issues are perhaps even a little controversial, especially those involving homosexuality and the Catholic church. I really, really like this author's writing style -- it's realistic, relatable due to many cultural references he uses throughout the book, and edgy on the verge of downright gritty. Nothing cutesy about this writer or his subject matter at all. While much of this novel is naturally taken up with trying to flesh out the main protagonist Heinz, there is a good story here as well as an intelligent, excellent mystery at its core. The characters (for the most part) had a lot of credibility, especially Heinz. He's tough on the outside, but his past experiences and the fact that people view him as an outsider and a weirdo have left him with a sort of vulnerability that helps define who he is. There's also a very well-evoked sense of place in this novel so you end up with a lot of local feel in terms of location and people. The translation wasn't an issue, either -- nothing here to interrupt the reading flow, no awkwardness in wording. What wasn't so perfect was its ending -- I had to go back and reread several last chapters before I understood what was going on here, and I didn't find it that impressive but rather aloof, making it confusing and a bit off-putting. On the other hand, I read this book in one intense sitting, unable to stop turning pages.
I hope Stork continues to publish more of Czubaj's works. If 21:37 is any hint of what his other books are like, I'll be buying them all. Definitely recommended to readers of darker crime fiction.
August 28, 2019
co za gowno
January 27, 2022
I really enjoyed the book. It has a good detective atmosphere and the plot is situated in Katowice, which I visited many times. I liked that there was more than one mystery. A slight disadvantage is that the author goes through the main details of the crime several times, maybe that is a bit too repetitive, trying to make sense of the meaning over and over again. However, this is good for an audiobook version, if I missed a few details doing other things while listening, I easily understood them in the next repetition.
I must certainly read more books by the author.
I must certainly read more books by the author.
February 3, 2022
An interesting detective story, featuring some places I know in real life and providing interesting insight (assuming it is true, which I believe) into the workings of seminaries teaching future priests. The main character is also quite interesting, though, for a profiler, he does remarkable little profiling. The plot seems unnecessarily padded with secondary story arcs that don't add much to the story and detract from the primary plotline. The ending was quite good, though, and I will definitely pick up another volume.
July 16, 2023
Daję jej 3⭐, ale tylko za pomysł na fabułę, bo za nic więcej nie da się dać XDDD styl pisania słaby, nawet ja w podstawówce ciekawiej pisałam, ilości homofobii nie da się określi bo dawno wybiła poza skalę, ta druga sprawa wplątana w fabułę trochę z nikąd, niby ciekawa ale nie, jako że słuchałam audiobooka (i na szczęście nie wydałam ani grosza na to coś) to myliły mi się punkty widzenia Ketchupu a morderców, ale to akurat nie jest wina książki (coś nowego), po 85% lektury trochę się wyłączyłam więc mało ogarniam z zakończenia, chyba jakiś zwrot akcji był więc mały + za to, ale szanuję swój czas i nie za bardzo chce mi się znowu słuchać o co chodziło, jedyna rzecz warta uwagi to fabuła, bo nie spotkałam się nigdzie z morderstwem pośród seminarzystów, opinia trochę mało profesjonalna, ale jakby ktoś to przeczytał to by zrozumiał dlaczego (nie zachęcam, chyba że ktoś chciałby stracić kilka godzin swojego życia), widziałam że są inne części z głównym bohaterem, dzierżącym nazwisko po marce ketchupu, ale na pewno po nie nie sięgnę
taki spojler: nie chodziło o 21:37
taki spojler: nie chodziło o 21:37
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 28, 2018
O wiele bardziej toporne jak później napisana przygoda Hłaski, sporo ciekawych wątków urwanych uderzeniem w grdykę, czy splot słoneczny, jak ten syna profilera. Z chęcią mimo wszystko sięgnę po kolejny.
Want to read
January 15, 2023po zobaczeniu tytułu stwierdziłam, że muszę ją przeczytać
June 21, 2025
Książka nawet ciekawa, tytuł także. Autor trochę za bardzo skacze między wątkami, a nawet osobami w tym samym wątku. Mimo to czyta się nawet dobrze. 6/10
April 30, 2025
Dla fanów Śląska i Warszawy pozycja z dodatkowymi emocjami. Fabuła ciekawa, choć często zbyt szybko się upraszcza i przeskakuje.
Jeśli czytałeś/aś Behawiorystę Mroza - można odczuwać podobieństwo.
Jeśli czytałeś/aś Behawiorystę Mroza - można odczuwać podobieństwo.
March 29, 2023
Skończyłam tę książkę tylko dlatego, że chciałam dowiedzieć się jakie było zakończenie. Odkładałam ją z myślą, że do niej nie wrócę, jednak i tak czytałam dalej po krótkiej przerwie. Wydaje mi się, że zamiast skupić się na śledztwie, to więcej akcji działo się wokół spożywania alkoholu, siedzenia w knajpach i innych zajęciach bohaterów. Zakończenie może i nie zawiodło, ale żeby do niego dotrwać to sporo się omęczyłam. Jest to pierwsza książka tego autora, którą przeczytałam, ale myślę że kiedyś dam mu jeszcze szansę czytając inną książkę.
July 27, 2009
Książkę dało się przeczytać, ale dla mnie jest tylko aspirującym czytadłem. Czegoś brakuje tej książce. Zobaczymy, czym okażą się być Aleja samobójców i Róże cmentarne, napisane do spółki z Markiem Krajewskim (autorem serii o Eberhardzie Mocku), które zbierają niespecjalne recenzje.
January 7, 2018
21:37 has topped a lot of charts back in its native country of Poland. I had added to my TBR stack but had never got around to reading it. So I felt that at the beginning of the new year might be the time to give it a go. Profiling is a subject I have a great interest in I finds it fascinating how with clues from a crime scene someone can get a glimpse into the mind of the person who committed a crime. In this instant, the murder of two men would this be a complex game of cat and mouse. And could this book live up to its hype?
This for me was one of the hardest books to make my way through that I have read in a while. And not because of the subject matter. Firstly I think this is in part down to the translations. To me, it felt very stilted and the stances all felt clipped. I really struggled to find a rhythm in my reading. As those of you who have read my other post know, I have read a few books by polish authors now and they all had a great flow throughout. so I can only put this down to the translation of this book rather than the way polish writers work. Maybe it would have been better in its native tongue but my polish isn't that good yet.
The author does tackle some very big problems faced not only in Poland but in the world generally. homophobia and racism all take canter stage in the story but in a lot of ways, I thought they did not play out to there full potential. I would have thought in the using of these as plot point you would be inclined to be making a bigger statement about the way your country sees these. Although I guess maybe that's the point I was simply trying to force my own views and beliefs on to a character who doesn't come from my country. I suppose I was looking for a little more compassion and sympathy at times but our hero Heinz never quiet pulled himself up to those highs. And the other police officers don't really seem to care that much about the case. Maybe due to the nature of the case this is a common problem within real police forces and thus would add some level to the book but I'm just not to sure about that.
The plot it's self-was one I did find some traction with for most of the book. At least in the twists and turns it took. This was a hate crime committed against two men. While clues are given the would appear to be not that obvious to me. Pink triangles and the numbers 21:37. From these Heinz get a link not only to the Nazi past but also to that of the Catholic church. This is an institution that is very closed doored to police presence and anything that might lead to a scandal. Some of this interaction where amusing and also at time annoying as the church is less than helpful. All of this makes Heinz's ability to push the cases forward all the more difficult. There where some elements I did enjoy the references to films and music some of which I knew and others not so much, made for some interesting conservations between a couple of the charters. And the author did manage to get in some local color to flesh out the surroundings and few of the situations these people found themselves in.
Heinz is a character I found very difficult to connect with. He is ill-tempered and has a very difficult relationship with his son. He seemed far too prone to emotional outburst of anger for someone in his position. I guess in some parts this is down to the constant pain he is in due to events of his past. Which justifies some of his chosen actions but not all. Adding these together makes him not the most pleasant man to spend any time with, and mean he alienates pretty much every one of his colleagues and those he comes into contact with. I will give you that every detective or profiler in fiction needs there own style. For Heinz it's being the lone wolf he wants to be the one that solves the case. Although this is how he see's himself he attempts does this at arm's length which doesn't always work. And this I suppose is my problem with him there needs to be some element that makes him venerable to make up for all this and throughout the course of the book I just could not find much to justify this. Which is not to say that the course of his pain is not horrific just that sometimes there need to be cracks in all that defensive amour.
I really wanted to like this novel but in so doing maybe I set the bar too high. I cant expect to read a great book every go. By the time I reached the end I was left feeling that this book was just ok. It could have been so more if certain elements had been expanded upon. For me, it didn't really bring anything that would hold it up with some of my favorites. As it would appear that no more of his books have been translated so far I won't get a chance to see if thing improves in the late installments. Which I feel is a shame as usually try and give an author a couple of books before making a final judgment.
October 13, 2022
Pierwszy raz zetknęłam się z kryminałem, którego akcja dzieje się praktycznie na moim podwórku, a ściślej rzecz biorąc - obok podwórka, bo właściwie zaraz za płotem. Główny bohater bowiem, w rolę którego wciela się znany i introwertyczny profiler ze Śląska, Rudolf Heinz, mieszka w słynnych "kukurydzianych" blokach osiedla potocznie zwanego Tauzenem (os. Tysiąclecia), na które wychodzą okna mojego mieszkania. Prowadzone przez Heinza śledztwo zabójstwa dwóch młodych seminarzystów prowadzone jest w granicach miejsc, ulic i zakamarków bardzo dobrze mi znanych i równie często przeze mnie odwiedzanych, więc czytało mi się to dość ciekawie. Jednak jeśli chodzi o osobę grającą tutaj pierwsza skrzypce, czyli o wspomnianego wyżej śląskiego profilera, to jakoś z początku nie przypadliśmy sobie do gustu, bo to człek raczej nad wyraz oschły i antypatyczny, "gitarzysta i posiadacz brązowego pasa karate, skończył czterdzieści cztery lata, nie miał nic do stracenia i coraz mniej do zyskania", ale z czasem, szczególnie po sprawie z Inkwizytorem, zaczęłam rozumieć jego braki w charakterze i trudności z nawiązaniem z ludźmi cieplejszych relacji.
Mam wrażenie, że autor od samego początku wodził mnie za nos - do samego końca nie potrafiłam wyczaić, kto stoi za tymi zabójstwami. Cała intryga choć zgrabnie, spójnie i logicznie zbudowana, troszeczkę jednak rozczarowuje finalnie. Brak jej tutaj jakiegoś polotu, zaskakujących zwrotów czy przełomowych momentów. Na szczęście całkiem niezłe dialogi i szczypta wisielczego humoru po części rekompensują te braki.
Koniec końców, mimo powyższych zastrzeżeń, jeszcze wrócę do Heinza. I to już niebawem....
Mam wrażenie, że autor od samego początku wodził mnie za nos - do samego końca nie potrafiłam wyczaić, kto stoi za tymi zabójstwami. Cała intryga choć zgrabnie, spójnie i logicznie zbudowana, troszeczkę jednak rozczarowuje finalnie. Brak jej tutaj jakiegoś polotu, zaskakujących zwrotów czy przełomowych momentów. Na szczęście całkiem niezłe dialogi i szczypta wisielczego humoru po części rekompensują te braki.
Koniec końców, mimo powyższych zastrzeżeń, jeszcze wrócę do Heinza. I to już niebawem....
January 10, 2018
Wyzwanie na rok 2018 rozpoczynam cyklem przygód niezwykłego profilera Rudolfa Heinza.
Niezły kryminał i znakomicie uknuta intryga
Polubiłam Heinza.Ma swoje przywary i problemy ale jak sam o sobie mówi jest podstarzałym hippisem i słucha dobrej muzyki.
Dla mnie duzym plusem tej opowieści jest fakt że znaczna jej część dzieje się w moim mieście Katowicach
Dzięki temu bardzo plastycznie widzę gdzie porusza się nasz bohater i gdzie dzieją się niektóre "przygody"
Do tego połączenie ciekawego tematu kościoła i homoseksualizmu sprawia że mogę z czytym sumieniem polecić tą książkę innym czytelnikom
Niezły kryminał i znakomicie uknuta intryga
Polubiłam Heinza.Ma swoje przywary i problemy ale jak sam o sobie mówi jest podstarzałym hippisem i słucha dobrej muzyki.
Dla mnie duzym plusem tej opowieści jest fakt że znaczna jej część dzieje się w moim mieście Katowicach
Dzięki temu bardzo plastycznie widzę gdzie porusza się nasz bohater i gdzie dzieją się niektóre "przygody"
Do tego połączenie ciekawego tematu kościoła i homoseksualizmu sprawia że mogę z czytym sumieniem polecić tą książkę innym czytelnikom
February 12, 2024
Непоганий польський трилер про поліцію, церкву, великі гроші і всякі темні сторони. Головний герой в нас профайлер з непевною біографією, і його завжди тягнуть у якісь надто заморочливі справи. Що може бути, ніж криваве вбивство семінаристів, де всі включно з ректором і олігархами відмовчуються? Звичайно, профайлер все розкриє, отримавши копняків у тому числі й від колег, і навіть трохи до спорту повернеться. Для мене трохи кривавіше, ніж очікувала, але читається захопливо.
May 1, 2023
Zamysł fabuły bardzo interesujący i porywający. Język książki również klimatyczny. Niestety bohaterowie mnie nie przyciągnęli. Nagle pojawiło się bardzo dużo wątków, które nie zostały do końca jasno rozwinięte i dobrze poprowadzone. Wyjaśnienie sprawy morderstwa, którą śledziliśmy razem z głównym bohaterem też nie skradło mi serca. Brakowało mi zaskoczenia po monotonnej lekturze.
June 30, 2020
I believe all those Polish accents, such as the titular "21:37" itself, may present a certain value to a foreign reader and make it a worthwhile read. Apart from that, the book contains a few too many cringy macho fantasies and crime fiction clichés to be truly enjoyable.
May 13, 2021
Посередньо. Здивувала згадка «Аліеніста», якого я саме планувала до прочитання, томущо для мене вона здалася занадто претензіаційною для 21:37. Викладення роботи алієніста в цьому творі мене геть не вразила.
July 3, 2018
Bardzo dobry kawałek kryminału. Podoba mi się przywiązanie autora do szczegółów, które tworzą cały klimat powieści. Intryga niebanalna, postaci zarysowane bardzo wyraziście. Zdecydowanie polecam!
August 23, 2018
Znakomity kryminał - Heinz czasami niedomaga ( pewnie ze względu na wiek, hihi) - ale całość daje radę :)
July 8, 2019
Do Miłoszewskiego daleko. Wychodzi na to że wolę jak autor gra na saksofonie ze Świetlickim niż pisze książki.
November 25, 2023
Jak ten kethup (y)
March 4, 2024
Czytało mi się to szybko i bardzo fajnie. Ciekawa opowieść kryminalna z klerykami jako wątek główny. I pomysł na tytuł - wspaniałe
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