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Last Bullet Calls It
In this award-winning mystery by one of Israel's best-loved authors, a plot of vengeance reveals deeper truths about the complexity of being human.
Coupon-clipping police superintendent Jonah Merlin thinks he has an open-and-shut case on his hands after the body of a beautiful woman is found discarded in a run-down building in Tel Aviv. All evidence points to two suspects, but finding them will require unorthodox methods to decode the cryptic words sprayed at every crime scene.
As the body count rises, graffiti expert Rai Zitrin and precocious 17-year-old Zoe Navon agree to help Merlin uncover the connection between the killing spree and the words of Polish writer Bruno Schulz, who was murdered by Nazis 70 years ago.
Why would a serial killer quote the famous author's poetic words of unrequited love? The search leads this unlikely trio on a race against the clock to solve the case before the killer has the last laugh...and the last bullet.
Coupon-clipping police superintendent Jonah Merlin thinks he has an open-and-shut case on his hands after the body of a beautiful woman is found discarded in a run-down building in Tel Aviv. All evidence points to two suspects, but finding them will require unorthodox methods to decode the cryptic words sprayed at every crime scene.
As the body count rises, graffiti expert Rai Zitrin and precocious 17-year-old Zoe Navon agree to help Merlin uncover the connection between the killing spree and the words of Polish writer Bruno Schulz, who was murdered by Nazis 70 years ago.
Why would a serial killer quote the famous author's poetic words of unrequited love? The search leads this unlikely trio on a race against the clock to solve the case before the killer has the last laugh...and the last bullet.
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First published April 18, 2017
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About the author
Amir Gutfreund
14 books45 followersHebrew name: אמיר גוטפרוינד
Award winning author Amir Gutfreund was born in Haifa, Israel in 1963. He earned a MA in applied-mathematics at the Israeli Technological Institute (ITI) and served as an officer in the Israeli Air Force for 20 years, retiring with the rank of Lt. Colonel.
His first novel, Our Holocaust, is based on his memories as a son of Holocaust survivors, and has been translated from Hebrew into many languages including English. "The World a Moment Later" was published in 2005 and has also been translated. Gutfreund won the 2002 Buchman prize from the Yad Vashem Institute as well as the Sami Rohr Choice Award from the Jewish Book Council in 2007. He was also awarded the prestigious Sapir Prize (the Israeli equivalent of the Man Booker Prize) in 2003.
Married with three children, Gutfreund lives in a small village in the Galilee, at the north part of Israel.
Award winning author Amir Gutfreund was born in Haifa, Israel in 1963. He earned a MA in applied-mathematics at the Israeli Technological Institute (ITI) and served as an officer in the Israeli Air Force for 20 years, retiring with the rank of Lt. Colonel.
His first novel, Our Holocaust, is based on his memories as a son of Holocaust survivors, and has been translated from Hebrew into many languages including English. "The World a Moment Later" was published in 2005 and has also been translated. Gutfreund won the 2002 Buchman prize from the Yad Vashem Institute as well as the Sami Rohr Choice Award from the Jewish Book Council in 2007. He was also awarded the prestigious Sapir Prize (the Israeli equivalent of the Man Booker Prize) in 2003.
Married with three children, Gutfreund lives in a small village in the Galilee, at the north part of Israel.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
January 27, 2017
On a quest to read internationally. Not sure I've ever read a book from Israel before. Pretty good. A fairly standard cops (with assistance of quirky idiosyncratic civilians) on the tail of a killer story, much elevated not only by an interesting foreign locale/mentality, but also by the well rendered backstories for characters and victims both. In this case the latter is essential since this is a strictly character driven revenge story, decades in waiting and served up with a literary garnish. Quick entertaining read, great for thriller fans. Thanks Netgalley.
July 17, 2021
I read this as part of the#invisiblecitiesproject where we're reading translated fiction from three countries a month.
I'm not a crime fiction reader generally but this novel hit the spot for me after some pretty heavy literature ..set in contemporary Tel Aviv a serial killer, with a penchant for Bruno Schultz quotes, is on the loose but the detective is only one of an assembly of characters whose voices we also hear - the perpetrator , the victims , two streetwise kids roped in to help with the investigation - so we get a lot of chopping and changing in time and person . I had a sense of dislocation , trauma and denial in many of the characters and also a sense that this was a city full of secrets , of chaos just below the glitz and that the dark history of the Holocaust still whispers through every action .
I'm not a crime fiction reader generally but this novel hit the spot for me after some pretty heavy literature ..set in contemporary Tel Aviv a serial killer, with a penchant for Bruno Schultz quotes, is on the loose but the detective is only one of an assembly of characters whose voices we also hear - the perpetrator , the victims , two streetwise kids roped in to help with the investigation - so we get a lot of chopping and changing in time and person . I had a sense of dislocation , trauma and denial in many of the characters and also a sense that this was a city full of secrets , of chaos just below the glitz and that the dark history of the Holocaust still whispers through every action .
May 19, 2017
If this book had not been so burdened down with characters whose names I could never remember I would have given this read a four star rating. The story was difficult at times to follow for that reason. I received this intriguing book through a Goodreads Giveaway and no doubt Mr. Gutfreund is an accomplished author and the translation was good. I.would definitely try another one of his books in the future.
May 27, 2017
This books follows a string of murders and a police department's effort to find the killer. The reader is introduced to the killer and the motive far before the police are able to solve the case which I enjoyed. The number of characters in this story can be confusing at times and the story jumps around between multiple viewpoints. The book is best read in a short time frame so you do not lose track of the characters.
Disclaimer: I recieved this book through Goodreads Giveaways.
Disclaimer: I recieved this book through Goodreads Giveaways.
June 25, 2017
I won this an odd but interesting book in a Goodreads giveaway. I liked the characters and the story was intriguing but there were things that I just found confusing. I suspect I would have liked it better if I knew more about the region, the people, and may be the history as these may have given me a frame of reference.
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July 8, 2022not as good as I was expecting- too many characters and somewhat disjointed
February 4, 2017
4 and 1 / 2 stars
This book is beautifully translated. The words just flow along.
Superintendent Jonah Merlin is called to the scene of the murder of a young woman. Her clothes indicate that she is wealthy, but she was found in an abandoned warehouse in the poorer part of town. Two superintendents, Merlin and Eli Levy, show up at the scene, but Merlin loses the toss so to speak.
There is interesting graffiti at the scene, so Merlin sets about trying to get more information about it as it seems like a quote from something. He also tries to identify the young woman. There was a great deal of DNA left on the body, so he also hopes to get something from that.
A second murder is committed, a man this time, with the same type of writing on the wall. A young girl who spent most of the night with the victim approaches Merlin and identifies the original author of the quotes.
This book is interspersed with extensive background information on several people. The in-depth telling of their stories gives the reader a deep and extensive understanding of the circumstances of the murders.
And a third murder is committed, an elderly lady this time. Another quote is written on the wall. Zoe, the young lady who identified the source of the quotes, and Rai, the graffiti specialist, get more involved in the case.
This book is not your run of the mill detective story. There is so much background information given, that there is not enough space to describe much detecting. We don’t get to know Merlin’s team very well at all. Although, we do get to know Merlin quite well. We know much more about Zoe and Rai. The characters in this book tell their own stories, in the first person. It is a rather unusual point of view, so many people, so many stories.
The clues come slowly, but I wonder what happened to the DNA evidence spoken about in the first murder. In the end, we find out who murdered whom.
Attitudes about men sure take a beating in this novel.
There are a few bombshells dropped in the end as well. All in all this is a very good book. It is well written and unusually plotted, but certainly readable. I look forward to reading more of Amir Gutfreund’s novels.
I want to send a thank you to Netgalley and Amazon Crossing for forwarding a copy of this interesting and wonderful book to me to read.
This book is beautifully translated. The words just flow along.
Superintendent Jonah Merlin is called to the scene of the murder of a young woman. Her clothes indicate that she is wealthy, but she was found in an abandoned warehouse in the poorer part of town. Two superintendents, Merlin and Eli Levy, show up at the scene, but Merlin loses the toss so to speak.
There is interesting graffiti at the scene, so Merlin sets about trying to get more information about it as it seems like a quote from something. He also tries to identify the young woman. There was a great deal of DNA left on the body, so he also hopes to get something from that.
A second murder is committed, a man this time, with the same type of writing on the wall. A young girl who spent most of the night with the victim approaches Merlin and identifies the original author of the quotes.
This book is interspersed with extensive background information on several people. The in-depth telling of their stories gives the reader a deep and extensive understanding of the circumstances of the murders.
And a third murder is committed, an elderly lady this time. Another quote is written on the wall. Zoe, the young lady who identified the source of the quotes, and Rai, the graffiti specialist, get more involved in the case.
This book is not your run of the mill detective story. There is so much background information given, that there is not enough space to describe much detecting. We don’t get to know Merlin’s team very well at all. Although, we do get to know Merlin quite well. We know much more about Zoe and Rai. The characters in this book tell their own stories, in the first person. It is a rather unusual point of view, so many people, so many stories.
The clues come slowly, but I wonder what happened to the DNA evidence spoken about in the first murder. In the end, we find out who murdered whom.
Attitudes about men sure take a beating in this novel.
There are a few bombshells dropped in the end as well. All in all this is a very good book. It is well written and unusually plotted, but certainly readable. I look forward to reading more of Amir Gutfreund’s novels.
I want to send a thank you to Netgalley and Amazon Crossing for forwarding a copy of this interesting and wonderful book to me to read.
April 30, 2017
3.5 stars
Police superintendent Jonah Merlin keeps coming across cryptic messages left at crime scenes. With the help of graffiti expert, Rai, and seventeen year old Zoe, Jonah seeks to track down the serial killer that has the city of Tel Aviv on edge.
This isn't the typical whodunit type case because the reader learns who is behind the killings long before the police figure it out. What makes the book interesting is you learn along the way the motive behind everything. That isn't the easiest method of storytelling but the book held my interest so kudos to the author!
My only criticism of the book was I felt there were too many characters. I had a hard time keeping track of everyone even when I was near the end of the book.
I received a free digital copy of this book and that is my fair and honest review.
Police superintendent Jonah Merlin keeps coming across cryptic messages left at crime scenes. With the help of graffiti expert, Rai, and seventeen year old Zoe, Jonah seeks to track down the serial killer that has the city of Tel Aviv on edge.
This isn't the typical whodunit type case because the reader learns who is behind the killings long before the police figure it out. What makes the book interesting is you learn along the way the motive behind everything. That isn't the easiest method of storytelling but the book held my interest so kudos to the author!
My only criticism of the book was I felt there were too many characters. I had a hard time keeping track of everyone even when I was near the end of the book.
I received a free digital copy of this book and that is my fair and honest review.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews