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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 seventeen-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 seventy 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 seventeen-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 seventy 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.
210 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 1, 2014
About the author
Amir Gutfreund
12 books46 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 - 20 of 20 reviews
February 10, 2021
A series of murders, bring together various colorful characters that would not fit together in other circumstances:
A coupon loving bright detective named Yona Merlin who uses his analytic brain to sift, like a Magician , all the information and produce the direction of the solution.
A sassy sexy teenage girl who has trouble falling asleep except in cars. She manages to charm her way into the investigation and provides important input towards the final solution of the crimes.
An old man in a wheelchair and his giant son who go around killing people.
And in the background, the Polish Jewish writer Bruno Schulz , who was murdered by the Nazi’s on November 19 1942. Quotes from Bruno Schulz books are found in the murder scenes and the book includes many references to his life and death.
I like the Amir Gutfreund’s writing. The prose is full of humor and imagination and touches the small details of life that are one of the main reasons that we are drawn to the magical world of books.
While the prose in this book is excellent, the characters are colorful and there is even a touch of magical realism in the story, the plot is a bit lame, in some cases hard to follow and does not make sense. That is the reason, the book did not get the full 5 stars but is still a great and enjoyable read from an amazing writer that unfortunately died too young.
A coupon loving bright detective named Yona Merlin who uses his analytic brain to sift, like a Magician , all the information and produce the direction of the solution.
A sassy sexy teenage girl who has trouble falling asleep except in cars. She manages to charm her way into the investigation and provides important input towards the final solution of the crimes.
An old man in a wheelchair and his giant son who go around killing people.
And in the background, the Polish Jewish writer Bruno Schulz , who was murdered by the Nazi’s on November 19 1942. Quotes from Bruno Schulz books are found in the murder scenes and the book includes many references to his life and death.
I like the Amir Gutfreund’s writing. The prose is full of humor and imagination and touches the small details of life that are one of the main reasons that we are drawn to the magical world of books.
While the prose in this book is excellent, the characters are colorful and there is even a touch of magical realism in the story, the plot is a bit lame, in some cases hard to follow and does not make sense. That is the reason, the book did not get the full 5 stars but is still a great and enjoyable read from an amazing writer that unfortunately died too young.
June 3, 2016
אני מאוד אוהבת את הכתיבה של אמיר גוטפרוינד אבל בספר הזה הכתיבה לא התעלתה על העובדה שהעלילה קלושה וחלקיה תלושים עד בלתי קשורים מה גם שלא הבנתי את תפקידה של אדלה המהוללת שמופיעה בשם הספר.
במישור העלילתי, למעשה מדובר בשתי עלילות שאמורות להשתלב : האחת סיפור פיענוח תעלומת רצח והשניה סיפור חיו של ברונו שולץ.
שתיהן נקשרות באמצעות מספר אלמנטים: ציטוטים מסיפוריו של ברונו שולץ הופכים לגרפיטי בזירות הרצח. בחורה צעירה בת 17 שאוהבת את סיפוריו של ברונו שולץ ואף לומדת פולנית בכדי לקרוא אותם במקור.
העלילה בקווים כללים, שוטר נקרא לפענח פרשת רצח סידרתי. בכל זירה מופיע ציטוט מכתבי ברונו שולץ. בכדי לפענח את הפרשייה הוא מגייס לעזרתו נערה בת 17 חובבבת כתבי ברונו שולץ ומומחה לגרפיטי.
שתי העלילות לא מספיק טובות בפני עצמן והדמות המעניינת ביותר בספר היא דמותה של זואי נחושתן הבחורה בת לעשירים מורדת במוסכמות ומפתיעה בבגרות שלה. אפילו הבלש ששמו יונה מרילין, גם נביא וגם קוסם, לא מצליח להציל את הספר ובעיניי זה פספוס גדול.
אז נשארת הכתיבה.
במישור העלילתי, למעשה מדובר בשתי עלילות שאמורות להשתלב : האחת סיפור פיענוח תעלומת רצח והשניה סיפור חיו של ברונו שולץ.
שתיהן נקשרות באמצעות מספר אלמנטים: ציטוטים מסיפוריו של ברונו שולץ הופכים לגרפיטי בזירות הרצח. בחורה צעירה בת 17 שאוהבת את סיפוריו של ברונו שולץ ואף לומדת פולנית בכדי לקרוא אותם במקור.
העלילה בקווים כללים, שוטר נקרא לפענח פרשת רצח סידרתי. בכל זירה מופיע ציטוט מכתבי ברונו שולץ. בכדי לפענח את הפרשייה הוא מגייס לעזרתו נערה בת 17 חובבבת כתבי ברונו שולץ ומומחה לגרפיטי.
שתי העלילות לא מספיק טובות בפני עצמן והדמות המעניינת ביותר בספר היא דמותה של זואי נחושתן הבחורה בת לעשירים מורדת במוסכמות ומפתיעה בבגרות שלה. אפילו הבלש ששמו יונה מרילין, גם נביא וגם קוסם, לא מצליח להציל את הספר ובעיניי זה פספוס גדול.
אז נשארת הכתיבה.
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.
April 13, 2019
Jumping between characters and times, this murder mystery wrapped in historical snippets is a flowing, gripping read I'd gulped down in a day.
I found some of the characters deep and believable (YOnah, Zoey), while others are simply rough sketches of people. Some mysticism sprinkled in, some real-world Israel feel and all around the mentions of Bruno Shultz.
I found some of the characters deep and believable (YOnah, Zoey), while others are simply rough sketches of people. Some mysticism sprinkled in, some real-world Israel feel and all around the mentions of Bruno Shultz.
December 15, 2022
I absolutely loved this book. It is not a conventional crime novel even though it involves an investigation into a serial murderer who is out for revenge. The detective is helped by a young girl and a journalist who are all very sympathetic. I ended up reading Bruno Schulz' book The Street of Crocodiles at the same time and that enhanced my enjoyment of both books.
July 14, 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 .
November 3, 2014
He's a wonderful storyteller. Reminded me a little of Meir Shalev as to whimsical wit. Also liked the way he constructed it--as a puzzle--adding information not in chronological order. So that just when I began to wonder what he is referring to and to think of going back to reread earlier parts of the book (assuming that my memory is failing me) he fills in the missing piece. Zoe evoked for me a tamer version of Steig Larson's Lisbeth Salandar but a bit too cocky. All in all a most enjoyable read. I read it in Hebrew and since it's new it probably hasn't yet been translated but no doubt it will be soon.
December 8, 2014
Such a brief book and such amazingly vivid and colorful characters... Another Gutfreund's book that is a pure joy to read
September 15, 2015
חמוד! עושה חשק למצוא את הספרים של ברונו.
December 22, 2021
מספרים הכי כיפיים שקראתי בעברית, רומן בלשי מרתק שדמויותיו אוקיינוס אנושי (רב פקד במשטרה, נזירה יוגית, ונערת תיכון פאנקיסטית לצד ניצול שואה מבוגר)
May 18, 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.
Read
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 23, 2026
מאוד אהבתי את הספר ״אגדת ברונו ואדלה״. בעיקר אהבתי בשל הכתיבה המשובחת של אמיר גוטפרוינד. כתיבה עשירה מלאה בפרטים קטנים שמפיחים רוח בדמויות הספר. העלילה משונה והיא מלווה
בדמויות משונות שכמעט כולן מגיעות משולי החברה. היופי בכתיבה הוא מה שנותן את היכולת לצלוח את העלילה ואוסף הדמויות המסוכסכות בנפשן. הסיפור אמנם הוא סיפור של פיענוח סדרת רציחות אך הסיפור האמתי הוא מה קורה בתוך נפש האדם הבודד, הסובל, הפגוע המחפש צדק לסבלו ולפגיעותו . הרצח איננו חסר פשר. הסיפור קורא לנו להקשיב גם לדמויות שהחברה דוחה .
בדמויות משונות שכמעט כולן מגיעות משולי החברה. היופי בכתיבה הוא מה שנותן את היכולת לצלוח את העלילה ואוסף הדמויות המסוכסכות בנפשן. הסיפור אמנם הוא סיפור של פיענוח סדרת רציחות אך הסיפור האמתי הוא מה קורה בתוך נפש האדם הבודד, הסובל, הפגוע המחפש צדק לסבלו ולפגיעותו . הרצח איננו חסר פשר. הסיפור קורא לנו להקשיב גם לדמויות שהחברה דוחה .
September 5, 2015
איזה ספר מעולה. כתיבה משובחת. נגמר לי מהר מידי. חבל שלקח לי כל כך הרבה זמן להכיר את הסופר הזה (יהי זכרו ברוך).
April 17, 2016
נחמד אבל יותר מותחן מספריו האחרים של גוטפרונד וזה מקלקל את הסיפור.
לא הבנתי את החשיבות של אדלה שהספר זכה להיקרא על שמה.
לא הבנתי את החשיבות של אדלה שהספר זכה להיקרא על שמה.
November 4, 2016
Odd detective story, with odd people involved
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 - 20 of 20 reviews