What do you think?
Rate this book
The Whistler: A Murderer's Tale
The Power of Music Can Touch Your Heart and Save Your Life...A pitiless murderer at the Auschwitz concentration camp...A genius, half-Jewish violinist...The dark secret that binds them...And their shocking final meeting...'A beautiful woman, a love story, a horrific set of villains, acts of incredible caring and bravery, and a man that refuses to cave in... The ending won't be what you think it will be... It's better... Far better...' Lloyd Tackitt, bestselling author of the EDEN series.
215 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 3, 2013
54 people are currently reading
157 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
February 9, 2024
Entertaining relationship listening 🎶🎵
This kindle e-book novella is from my Kindle Unlimited account
A standalone book by Ben Stevens.
A story of two individuals path from WWII to 1999. One is a violin player who becomes world famous. The other is send the concentration camps.
I would recommend this novel and author to readers of historical novels. 2024 🤗😡😎😯
This kindle e-book novella is from my Kindle Unlimited account
A standalone book by Ben Stevens.
A story of two individuals path from WWII to 1999. One is a violin player who becomes world famous. The other is send the concentration camps.
I would recommend this novel and author to readers of historical novels. 2024 🤗😡😎😯
September 15, 2014
i became totally absorbed in this novel after reading just the first few pages. Yes, this is yet another WWII-based story about the Nazi/Hitler Regime. However, it is describe through the life's story of just a few individuals whose lives touched each other's. Kurt Schmidt (later know as "The Whistler", is a criminal in his early youth, and later becomes a guard at Auschwitz responsible for killing thousands of Jews and never giving a moments thought to his evil. It's also the story of Erich Heinemann, who has an extreme talent for playing the violin, who later is send to Auschwitz, and for reasons unknown to him becomes survivor. Schmidt and Heinemann's path first crosses in Berlin when they were both relatively young Schmidt enters a building just to find something to steal, and Heinemann is playing his violin with a well know orchestra. Schmidt is so overwhelmed with the music he hears being performed and with the young student performing it that it sticks with him for the rest of his life.
Other players in this novel include Professor Enrich Rath who teaches Music Theory, etc., at Humboldt University and Marie Von Hahn a companion student at Humboldt who Erich falls in love with. We also meet Frau Stielke - owner of the music academy Erich attended after it is discovered his has a natural talent for the violin. Commissioner Sasse (High official in Hitler's Nazi regime), and his wife Frau Sasse who hears Erich play and does everything she can to ensure he is kept safe and that his half-Jewish heritage does not become a problem.
This story starts out in London in 1999 and then digresses to 1939 and the menacing air of the time. It follows both Schmidt and Heinemann through the next four/five years until the war ends and they meet again (through the efforts of Schmidt) in London in 1995. This one will keep your interest throughout.
Other players in this novel include Professor Enrich Rath who teaches Music Theory, etc., at Humboldt University and Marie Von Hahn a companion student at Humboldt who Erich falls in love with. We also meet Frau Stielke - owner of the music academy Erich attended after it is discovered his has a natural talent for the violin. Commissioner Sasse (High official in Hitler's Nazi regime), and his wife Frau Sasse who hears Erich play and does everything she can to ensure he is kept safe and that his half-Jewish heritage does not become a problem.
This story starts out in London in 1999 and then digresses to 1939 and the menacing air of the time. It follows both Schmidt and Heinemann through the next four/five years until the war ends and they meet again (through the efforts of Schmidt) in London in 1995. This one will keep your interest throughout.
April 26, 2019
Hard to read in a good way...
It is always hard to read of the atrocities of the holocaust but this book has just the right amount of emotion provoking detail to make you feel everything the main character does as he experiences it. Would highly recommend.
It is always hard to read of the atrocities of the holocaust but this book has just the right amount of emotion provoking detail to make you feel everything the main character does as he experiences it. Would highly recommend.
September 24, 2017
Excellent
Highly recommended as a terrific read with a twisted ending. Makes you think even more about moral choices... Really good.
Highly recommended as a terrific read with a twisted ending. Makes you think even more about moral choices... Really good.
December 18, 2024
A brutal tale of a brutal time
The constant tension the author conveys creates in the reader a tension that the individuals living under the Nazi regime suffered. I have not read a book that delivers the fear ordinary people who opposed Hitler felt everyday. The fear, anger, and helplessness, which generated painful guilt in those who chose to survive, is tragic. The novel forces on the reader the question "what would I have done?" The answer is probably, survive.
The constant tension the author conveys creates in the reader a tension that the individuals living under the Nazi regime suffered. I have not read a book that delivers the fear ordinary people who opposed Hitler felt everyday. The fear, anger, and helplessness, which generated painful guilt in those who chose to survive, is tragic. The novel forces on the reader the question "what would I have done?" The answer is probably, survive.
December 20, 2024
The Hell on Earth
I believe that everyone should read this book and be made aware of the atrocities that God’s Chosen, the Jews, suffered at the hands of the Nazi party and Adolf Hitler.
I believe that everyone should read this book and be made aware of the atrocities that God’s Chosen, the Jews, suffered at the hands of the Nazi party and Adolf Hitler.
January 1, 2014
I read this after my second reading if the incredible 'The Book Thief' as it was quoted 'if you loved The Book Thief this is essential reading'. What a load of rubbish. Unlikable and implausible characters and events and poor writing. It is offensive to compare this to Markus Zusak.
July 6, 2014
The Whistler
an engaging book and totally believable. I was sorry the end was poorly designed, but the rest of the book held my attention throughout.
recommended reading; wish I could say it was a true story.
an engaging book and totally believable. I was sorry the end was poorly designed, but the rest of the book held my attention throughout.
recommended reading; wish I could say it was a true story.
November 18, 2015
A Must Read
Ben Stevens did a magnificent job telling the story of a renowned violinist that survived being interned in a German prison camp. Justice was finally had.
Ben Stevens did a magnificent job telling the story of a renowned violinist that survived being interned in a German prison camp. Justice was finally had.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews