Berlin: Day Zero

by Gregory Lee

From the author of the Amazon number one bestselling historical thriller The Nero Decree. Berlin, 1947. The first stirrings of the Cold War begin as the liberating armies of the West and the Soviet Union lock horns over territory and resources amid the ashes of the Third Reich. Into this edgy world of ruined buildings and shattered lives arrives Mitchell Delaney, an American newspaper reporter with an agenda that has nothing to do with ideology. To reclaim the love he lost at the outbreak of war and find the truth behind a series of murders, he must negotiate the checkpoints and twitchy military presence of a city in the collective throes of paranoia - not to mention a sinister menace from the past that creeps ever closer. A taut, tense thriller from Gregory Lee, the bestselling author of The Nero Decree, Day Zero is a very human tale of survival and resourcefulness in the shadow of a fast-closing Iron Curtain. It's also a chilling portrait of a seminal moment in time, the repercussions of which we still feel today.

334 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 15, 2015

About the author

Gregory Lee is a pen name: I'm Greg Williams, an award-winning journalist, author, and screenwriter who is currently deputy editor of Wired. Now based in London, I spent a decade working in publishing in New York City. My work has appeared in numerous publications, including The Guardian, Observer, Arena, The Face, Details, and Newsweek. I'm also the co-founder of the digital story-telling platform MyLondonStory. Berlin: Day Zero is my sixth novel. I'd love to know your thoughts, so please feel free to get in touch.

Reviews

[David Lowther · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first half of Berlin: Day Zero is terrific. We meet a fascinating American war correspondent, Mitchell Delaney, and we are introduced to early post-war Berlin where the creeping menace of the cold war grows by the day.
The second half is predictable with a plethora of crosses, double crosses, triple crosses and so on with a frequently re-heated old chestnut at the climax.
I thought Berlin: Day Zero was marginally better that the author's The Nero Decree which also promised much but fell away towards the end. One day, soon I hope, he'll get it right and we'll be treated to a classic.

David Lowther. Author of The Blue Pencil, Liberating Belsen and Two Families at War, all published by Sacristy Press.

[Stephen Jerrett · Rating 3 out of 5]

Standard thriller set at the end and after the second world war. Holiday read but nothing to recommend it any higher than that.
It does give a flavour for Berlin which was a bleak and desperate place for the civilian population.
They had the oppressive presence of the Russian troops but also had an element of guilt that this was all their fault.

[Ruth Saville · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was ok... It seemed badly formed and I didn't develop a relationship with any of the characters really. An interesting idea set during a fascinating time in history, it just didn't deliver.

[Joe Stamber · Rating 3 out of 5]

In my review of Gregory Lee's other novel The Nero Decree I wrote that I wavered between a 3 and 4 star rating, and I felt the same about this one. It has an authentic feel of Berlin following the end of the Second World War without overdoing the detail. Reporter turned amateur detective Mitchell Delaney is on the trail of his lost love whilst also trying to get to the bottom of the death of a young woman that he doesn't believe is the suicide it's labelled as. There were some parts of the plot that didn't seem to quite add up, which is the reason I stuck with a 3 star rating. Otherwise, this is a well written and easy read that I enjoyed about as much as Lee's earlier novel.

[J V Woods · Rating 2 out of 5]

Far fetched

If I had something else to read I would have given this book up halfway way through. Far fetched and very boring. It just did not ring true. How did Mitchell live such a charmed life. Unless I missed something there was no reason why Ola? was killed...

[Cecilia Peartree · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this novel although even as I read it I could see there were flaws - it seems a little uncertain of its genre and lurches between murder mystery and spy thriller. However that is more or less inevitable given the historical context.
I feel that it captures Berlin in 1947 in a way that seems authentic, and the central character is also believable and likeably flawed.
When it came to the ending it looked for a while as if it might be a kind of 'Spy who came in from the Cold' scenario, and I wonder whether the author had considered taking it in that direction.

[Ron Bradley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Intriguing

I chose this rating because I like a more intense story line. This was interesting and easy to read. I did not feel fascinated by the book.