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Bernie Gunther #12
Prusya Mavisi
Fransız Rivierası, 1956: Doğu Alman Gizli Polisi Stasi’nin Başkan Yardımcısı, eski Nazi Erich Mielke, Nice’te, farklı isim altında bir otelde çalışan dedektif Günther’in karşısına çıkar ve onu tehlikeli ve acımasız bir görevi kabul etmeye zorlar. Geçmişinden kurtulmaya çalışan Günther için ikinci tatsız sürpriz, eski asistanı, şimdiyse Stasi’nin adamı olan, hiç güvenmediği Korsch’la birlikte çalışacak olmasıdır. Korsch’la karşılaşması Günther’i 17 yıl geriye, 1939’a götürür.
Almanya, 1939: Adolf Hitler’in Bavyera’daki dağ evinde, düşük dereceli bir bürokrat ölü bulunur. Üçüncü Rayh’ın lideri ellinci doğum gününü kutlamak üzere bu eve gelmeden önce, istemeyerek Naziler için çalışan dedektif Günther’in Korsch’la birlikte katili bulmak için yalnızca bir haftası vardır.
Hikâye bu iki zaman arasında gidip gelirken Kerr bu ikili kurguyu ustalıkla harmanlıyor, gerilimin dozunu giderek artırarak okuru anlatımın içine çekiyor ve bütün olayı hem şaşırtıcı hem inandırıcı bir sona ulaştırıyor.
Almanya, 1939: Adolf Hitler’in Bavyera’daki dağ evinde, düşük dereceli bir bürokrat ölü bulunur. Üçüncü Rayh’ın lideri ellinci doğum gününü kutlamak üzere bu eve gelmeden önce, istemeyerek Naziler için çalışan dedektif Günther’in Korsch’la birlikte katili bulmak için yalnızca bir haftası vardır.
Hikâye bu iki zaman arasında gidip gelirken Kerr bu ikili kurguyu ustalıkla harmanlıyor, gerilimin dozunu giderek artırarak okuru anlatımın içine çekiyor ve bütün olayı hem şaşırtıcı hem inandırıcı bir sona ulaştırıyor.
652 pages, Paperback
First published April 4, 2017
884 people are currently reading
3032 people want to read
About the author
Philip Kerr
124 books2,011 followersPhilip Kerr was a British author. He was best known for his Bernie Gunther series of 13 historical thrillers and a children's series, Children of the Lamp, under the name P.B. Kerr.
Librarian’s note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Librarian’s note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 622 reviews
March 8, 2017
With Philip Kerr on his twelfth Bernie Gunther book, you might think that this is a series that should by now be running out of steam. Not a bit of it. This is superb and atmospheric reading with two concurrent storylines from different eras separated by seventeen years. Yet, in essence, so little has changed. It begins in 1956 with the charmless Deputy Head of the Stasi, General Erich Meilke, an old foe, cornering Bernie into a meeting at the French Riviera. He wants Bernie to poison an agent he previously encountered, Anne French, in Britain with thallium for which the only known antidote is Prussian Blue paint.
Whilst Bernie is less than fond of Anne, he is not really keen to carry out Meilke's orders, only to discover Meilke is leaving little to chance by deploying an old Kripo colleague of Gunther's, Friedrich Korsch, and other Stasi agents to ensure that Bernie follows orders. Bernie manages to escape intending to go to Germany. This triggers Gunther's memories of Friedrich Korsch when in 1939 he assisted Gunther on a murder investigation in Hitler's exclusive mountain retreat of Obersalzberg with its community of high ranking Nazis. Karl Flex, a low level engineer, is shot on the terrace of Hitler's home and Martin Boorman wants the best detective on the case. Heydrich sends Gunther to investigate and to find dirt on Boorman. This is a real headache of a politically charged case which places Gunther amidst the ambitious jostling for power by high ranking murderous and corrupt Nazis. The two tales converge in a tense finale at the same place in some quartz caves.
The secret to the success of this series is the battle hardened, courageous, wily and complex character of Bernie Gunther. He is a good man trying to do the right thing but forced into moral compromises by the ruthless men and the tumultuous times he lives in. So he does things he is not proud of but given the amoral cesspit he is barely surviving in, a pawn in the political intrigues of the Nazi and Stasi big men, he only does what he has to do. He speaks the truth to monstrously insane, ruthless, mendacious and corrupt men which ironically makes him a valuable commodity to them. The similarities between the Nazis and the Stasi are plain to see in the novel. Philip Kerr creates a wonderful and compelling narrative using history and real life characters. At the end of the book he gives us a rundown of the actual fates of the characters in the story. Simply brilliant storytelling and a stupendous series. Thanks to Quercus for an ARC.
Whilst Bernie is less than fond of Anne, he is not really keen to carry out Meilke's orders, only to discover Meilke is leaving little to chance by deploying an old Kripo colleague of Gunther's, Friedrich Korsch, and other Stasi agents to ensure that Bernie follows orders. Bernie manages to escape intending to go to Germany. This triggers Gunther's memories of Friedrich Korsch when in 1939 he assisted Gunther on a murder investigation in Hitler's exclusive mountain retreat of Obersalzberg with its community of high ranking Nazis. Karl Flex, a low level engineer, is shot on the terrace of Hitler's home and Martin Boorman wants the best detective on the case. Heydrich sends Gunther to investigate and to find dirt on Boorman. This is a real headache of a politically charged case which places Gunther amidst the ambitious jostling for power by high ranking murderous and corrupt Nazis. The two tales converge in a tense finale at the same place in some quartz caves.
The secret to the success of this series is the battle hardened, courageous, wily and complex character of Bernie Gunther. He is a good man trying to do the right thing but forced into moral compromises by the ruthless men and the tumultuous times he lives in. So he does things he is not proud of but given the amoral cesspit he is barely surviving in, a pawn in the political intrigues of the Nazi and Stasi big men, he only does what he has to do. He speaks the truth to monstrously insane, ruthless, mendacious and corrupt men which ironically makes him a valuable commodity to them. The similarities between the Nazis and the Stasi are plain to see in the novel. Philip Kerr creates a wonderful and compelling narrative using history and real life characters. At the end of the book he gives us a rundown of the actual fates of the characters in the story. Simply brilliant storytelling and a stupendous series. Thanks to Quercus for an ARC.
February 9, 2017
A new Bernie Gunther novel is really an event – I have read every book in the series since “March Violets,” and they never lose their appeal. This is the twelfth in the series and takes place in both 1956 and 1939. We begin in 1956 and Bernie is still working at the Grand Hotel Cap Ferrat on the Riviera, as he was in the last book, “The Other Side of Silence.” It is winter – a Nice winter and not quite the same as Berlin, but the Riviera is quiet and Bernie has time on his hands. However, things are going to get busier. Bernie is approached by the Deputy Head of the Stasi, relating to events in the last novel (although Bernie’s life skips about in these books, it is best to read them in order). Bernie is keen to go back to Germany and finds he is offered a new passport and a new start, if only he will carry out a little job first…
Of course, things rarely go smoothly in Bernie’s life and he finds himself on the run. The events of the present remind him of a case from the past and then the story diverges, as he recalls events from1939 when he was sent on a mission by Heydrich, who informs him that, “turning you into my stooge is going to be one of my long term projects…” Karl Flex, a civil engineer, was shot on the veranda of The Berghof; Hitler’s retreat. Heydrich is keen that Hitler should feel safe at the Berghof and that Bernie is the least corrupt person he knows and who he can rely on to discover the real murderer before the Fuhrer returns to celebrate his birthday.
With war in the air, Bernie sets off to the bizarre mountain retreat, where he finds that members of Hitler’s entourage have been buying up all the local houses around the Berghof; much to the disgruntlement of the dispossessed local populace. Indeed the area is like a town, with Martin Bormann presiding over it and a level of corruption that surely the Fuhrer has no idea about. It soon becomes apparent that, although Flex seems a fairly lowly minion on the Fuhrer’s mountain, there are those who are keen for the murder not to be solved.
It was apparent to me, reading this, that some of the novel links to a non-fiction book I read about Hitler’s Germany recently, which was the excellent, “Blitzed: Drugs in the Third Reich,” by Norman Ohler. When Bernie first arrives at the Berghof, he is introduced to a drug, called Pervitin, which was known as the ‘people’s drug.’ Kerr makes full use of this new research, with Bernie being introduced to the pills, which allow him to keep going. If you are interested in this aspect of the novel, then you may well enjoy reading, “Blitzed,” which is fascinating. Overall, this is an excellent addition to the Gunther books, with Kerr deftly handling all the strands of the storyline and tying them up perfectly. I also really enjoyed the setting of this novel and, as always, the atmosphere, and the era, was captured expertly. I really enjoy this series and hope there will be many more books featuring Bernie Gunther.
Of course, things rarely go smoothly in Bernie’s life and he finds himself on the run. The events of the present remind him of a case from the past and then the story diverges, as he recalls events from1939 when he was sent on a mission by Heydrich, who informs him that, “turning you into my stooge is going to be one of my long term projects…” Karl Flex, a civil engineer, was shot on the veranda of The Berghof; Hitler’s retreat. Heydrich is keen that Hitler should feel safe at the Berghof and that Bernie is the least corrupt person he knows and who he can rely on to discover the real murderer before the Fuhrer returns to celebrate his birthday.
With war in the air, Bernie sets off to the bizarre mountain retreat, where he finds that members of Hitler’s entourage have been buying up all the local houses around the Berghof; much to the disgruntlement of the dispossessed local populace. Indeed the area is like a town, with Martin Bormann presiding over it and a level of corruption that surely the Fuhrer has no idea about. It soon becomes apparent that, although Flex seems a fairly lowly minion on the Fuhrer’s mountain, there are those who are keen for the murder not to be solved.
It was apparent to me, reading this, that some of the novel links to a non-fiction book I read about Hitler’s Germany recently, which was the excellent, “Blitzed: Drugs in the Third Reich,” by Norman Ohler. When Bernie first arrives at the Berghof, he is introduced to a drug, called Pervitin, which was known as the ‘people’s drug.’ Kerr makes full use of this new research, with Bernie being introduced to the pills, which allow him to keep going. If you are interested in this aspect of the novel, then you may well enjoy reading, “Blitzed,” which is fascinating. Overall, this is an excellent addition to the Gunther books, with Kerr deftly handling all the strands of the storyline and tying them up perfectly. I also really enjoyed the setting of this novel and, as always, the atmosphere, and the era, was captured expertly. I really enjoy this series and hope there will be many more books featuring Bernie Gunther.
July 21, 2018
Sadly, this will be one of the last Bernie's I read, since Philip Kerr died a few months ago. I do not know whether the knowledge of Kerr's demise influenced my feeling about the book, but I thought it was more sad and desolate than previous ones. But, luckily, there were many Bernie wise-cracks to chuckle over now and then. And, as usual, much interesting information to be absorbed. Kerr certainly did his usual extensive research, this time on the Berghof and surroundings. Only two Bernie's to go after finishing this one. Such a pity. Philip Kerr died much too young.
May 11, 2025
Another very enjoyable Bernie Gunther crime novel. Rich in historic detail and characters, the much missed, Philip Kerr. in this dual timeline thriller, has Heydrich send Bernie on a mission in 1939 to solve a murder at Hitler's Eagle's Nest complex.
Martin Bormann is the chief Nazi managing the Leader's buildings, security, and systems that support Hitler's favourite place. Bormann is adamant that the killer is found and brought to "justice" as Hitler is visiting in just two weeks' time to celebrate his fiftieth birthday.
What Bernie discovers is something far more complex than a single murder, and puts him in great danger with events that affect him in both 1939 and later as we see in 1956.
Martin Bormann is the chief Nazi managing the Leader's buildings, security, and systems that support Hitler's favourite place. Bormann is adamant that the killer is found and brought to "justice" as Hitler is visiting in just two weeks' time to celebrate his fiftieth birthday.
What Bernie discovers is something far more complex than a single murder, and puts him in great danger with events that affect him in both 1939 and later as we see in 1956.
September 21, 2024
Prussian Blue (2016) by Philip Kerr is #14 of his Bernie Gunther detective series set largely in WWII Berlin. If you like historical fiction and detective series, this is for you. If you like super dark Nazi horrors tempered by Philip Marlowe wisecracking, this is for you. This volume, the longest in the series is set in 1956, the French Riviera, where Bernie is being forced to kill a former lover, Anne French, from the last volume, by former Deputy Head of the Stasi, General Erich Meilke, an old enemy. He’s to kill her with Thallium, the only known antidote for which is Prussian Blue paint. Bernie is also Prussian.
But most of the book is set in 1939, Berchtesgaden, where Bernie is forced by General Reinhard Heydrich--head of Gestapo in Berlin--to find the murderer of a guest at Hitler’s ridiculously extravagant Berghof made in his honor, in the week before Hitler arrives for his 50th birthday. This is a lose-lose proposition for Bernie as many people in this Bavarian mountain Nazi enclave do not want Bernie to solve the case, and everyone is lying, corruption is rampant, and Hitler sycophants are everywhere willing to have their enemies thrown into Dachau on made-up pretenses.
This includes Bernie. And who runs Berchtesgaden? #2 Nazi yes man Martin Boorman, who hates Heydrich, #3 in command. Both seem to want to get rid of Bernie, too. Bernie is a good cop and an anti-Nazi in a sea of Nazi vipers.
The book goes on too long, imho, but in most ways, how can you fault it? It is so carefully researched, clever and well-written, I am sure it is a 5-star book, but for my purposes it was not one of my favorites. It doesn't add much to the landscape of Nazism he had already painted except to see how terrible all the insiders were and how much they all fought for Hitler's favor. And the very conclusion is thrilling! I like the Huck Finne references, too. In the afterword of the book Kerr informs us of the actual fates of the historical characters in the story.
More on Prussian Blue: While the brilliant color paint is seen as an antidote to the Thallium Meilke gave Bernie to kill Anne, it also has a more complicated history: In 1782, a chemist, mixing Prussian blue with sulphuric acid, produced the poison hydrogen cyanide, which was prevalent as a poison in Nazi Germany. It was the main color of the Prussian army's uniforms and continued to be worn by German soldiers ceremonially up until World War I. But it also was the main way Jews (and others) were exterminated during the Holocaust: Cyanide, made in part with Prussian Blue.
But most of the book is set in 1939, Berchtesgaden, where Bernie is forced by General Reinhard Heydrich--head of Gestapo in Berlin--to find the murderer of a guest at Hitler’s ridiculously extravagant Berghof made in his honor, in the week before Hitler arrives for his 50th birthday. This is a lose-lose proposition for Bernie as many people in this Bavarian mountain Nazi enclave do not want Bernie to solve the case, and everyone is lying, corruption is rampant, and Hitler sycophants are everywhere willing to have their enemies thrown into Dachau on made-up pretenses.
This includes Bernie. And who runs Berchtesgaden? #2 Nazi yes man Martin Boorman, who hates Heydrich, #3 in command. Both seem to want to get rid of Bernie, too. Bernie is a good cop and an anti-Nazi in a sea of Nazi vipers.
The book goes on too long, imho, but in most ways, how can you fault it? It is so carefully researched, clever and well-written, I am sure it is a 5-star book, but for my purposes it was not one of my favorites. It doesn't add much to the landscape of Nazism he had already painted except to see how terrible all the insiders were and how much they all fought for Hitler's favor. And the very conclusion is thrilling! I like the Huck Finne references, too. In the afterword of the book Kerr informs us of the actual fates of the historical characters in the story.
More on Prussian Blue: While the brilliant color paint is seen as an antidote to the Thallium Meilke gave Bernie to kill Anne, it also has a more complicated history: In 1782, a chemist, mixing Prussian blue with sulphuric acid, produced the poison hydrogen cyanide, which was prevalent as a poison in Nazi Germany. It was the main color of the Prussian army's uniforms and continued to be worn by German soldiers ceremonially up until World War I. But it also was the main way Jews (and others) were exterminated during the Holocaust: Cyanide, made in part with Prussian Blue.
maybe
March 19, 2019P-review (ie, Preview)
Back in 2017, when I first wrote this preview, the occasion was reading about the author, the book, and his series of Bernie Gunther novels in a New Yorker article by Jane Kramer. I also noted that many friends of mine had got into the series.
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/201...
I was tempted enough to give Kerr a try, and Wow! I've read the first two books of the series now, and wouldn't be surprised if I actually read the whole series in the next several months. There's a link to a real review of #1 (March Violets) below.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Previous review: Timetables of History
Next review: The Kingdom
Older review: The Sense of an Ending
Previous library review: March Violets BG #1
Next library review: The Pebble Chance feuilletons & other prose
Back in 2017, when I first wrote this preview, the occasion was reading about the author, the book, and his series of Bernie Gunther novels in a New Yorker article by Jane Kramer. I also noted that many friends of mine had got into the series.
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/201...
I was tempted enough to give Kerr a try, and Wow! I've read the first two books of the series now, and wouldn't be surprised if I actually read the whole series in the next several months. There's a link to a real review of #1 (March Violets) below.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Previous review: Timetables of History
Next review: The Kingdom
Older review: The Sense of an Ending
Previous library review: March Violets BG #1
Next library review: The Pebble Chance feuilletons & other prose
May 1, 2018
I seem to make a habit of coming to book series late on in the sequence but I don’t believe I’ve ever come in as late to a series as book twelve! That’s the situation I was faced with when reading Prussian Blue, the twelfth outing for Philip Kerr’s leading character, Bernie Gunther. Although I was familiar with the author’s reputation and the existence of the series, I have The Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction judges to thank for making me read Prussian Blue as it was one of the thirteen books on the longlist for the 2018 prize (although it didn’t make the shortlist). Safe to say, I now have books one to eleven added to my wish list- oh, and book number thirteen, Greeks Bearing Gifts, which was published recently.
The book has a dual timeline structure, opening in 1956 with Bernie being made an ‘offer he can’t refuse’ by the Deputy Head of the East German Stasi. As it happens, being at a kind of crossroads in his life, it’s an offer Bernie does decide to refuse meaning he’s soon on the run from the agents sent to track him down. ‘When you go on the run you have to believe it’s worth it, but I really wasn’t sure about that. Not anymore. I was already tired. I had no real energy left for life, let alone escape.’ Bernie being Bernie he does find the energy to escape, a decision which will need all his experience and guile because one of his pursuers is someone he worked with when investigating a very singular case back in 1939 – a murder on no less a place than the terrace of Hitler’s mountain home in Obersalzberg. (Unfortunately, Hitler wasn’t there at the time but there are shades of Rogue Male by Geoffrey Household here.)
Although, as I’ve said, this was my first foray into the world of Bernie Gunther, I didn’t feel at all at a disadvantage. With some series I find that if you come late to them you already get to know pretty much everything that’s happened in previous books making reading the earlier books redundant. That’s not the case here. Yes, there are little references to earlier cases and events in Bernie’s life but these only served to whet my appetite to find out more.
I really felt I got to know Bernie’s character. He’s stubborn (pigheaded even), persistent, tough, resourceful and perceptive of human nature. He has a bit of a problem with authority. ‘Making a nuisance of yourself is what being a policeman is all about and suspecting people who were completely above suspicion was about the only thing that made doing the job such fun in Nazi Germany.’ Back in 1939 he was also no fan of the Nazis. ‘The one thing about the Nazis you could always rely on what that they were not to be relied upon. None of them. Not ever.’
What I really loved about Bernie and the writing in general was the dry, pithy humour. Here are some of my favourite Bernie bon mots from the book:
On the Stasi: ‘The Mounties might have had a reputation for always getting their man but the Stasi have always got the men and the women and the children too, and when they got them they made them all suffer.’
On Martin Boorman’s lair: ‘A log the size of the Sudetenland was smoking in the grate and on the walls were several electric candelabra that looked as if they’d been placed there by a mad scientist’s faithful retainer.’
A little in-joke by the author: ‘This case had it all, I told myself: absurdity, alienation, existential anxiety, and no shortage of likely and unlikely suspects. If I’d been a very clever German of the kind who knew the difference between the sons of Zeus, Reason and Chaos, I might have been dumb enough to think I could write a book about it.’
I’m not going to go into detail about the plot but I’ll just say the book is brilliantly structured. Both storylines are compelling and the way in which the book switches between the two never feels forced or out of place. I really did feel I was in a safe pair of hands with this author; that I was in the presence of a master storyteller. At one point, one of the characters says: “The end has to satisfy everyone, does it not?” Well, this reader was definitely satisfied at the end.
In reflective mood, Bernie muses, ‘I’d always thought there was plenty of time to do things and yet, now I really thought about it, there had been not a moment to spare.’ Sadly, there was very little more time for the author. Philip Kerr’s death in March robbed the book world of further Bernie Gunther adventures. However, what a wonderful legacy the author leaves for future readers to enjoy. I intend to savour every one of the other books in the series.
The book has a dual timeline structure, opening in 1956 with Bernie being made an ‘offer he can’t refuse’ by the Deputy Head of the East German Stasi. As it happens, being at a kind of crossroads in his life, it’s an offer Bernie does decide to refuse meaning he’s soon on the run from the agents sent to track him down. ‘When you go on the run you have to believe it’s worth it, but I really wasn’t sure about that. Not anymore. I was already tired. I had no real energy left for life, let alone escape.’ Bernie being Bernie he does find the energy to escape, a decision which will need all his experience and guile because one of his pursuers is someone he worked with when investigating a very singular case back in 1939 – a murder on no less a place than the terrace of Hitler’s mountain home in Obersalzberg. (Unfortunately, Hitler wasn’t there at the time but there are shades of Rogue Male by Geoffrey Household here.)
Although, as I’ve said, this was my first foray into the world of Bernie Gunther, I didn’t feel at all at a disadvantage. With some series I find that if you come late to them you already get to know pretty much everything that’s happened in previous books making reading the earlier books redundant. That’s not the case here. Yes, there are little references to earlier cases and events in Bernie’s life but these only served to whet my appetite to find out more.
I really felt I got to know Bernie’s character. He’s stubborn (pigheaded even), persistent, tough, resourceful and perceptive of human nature. He has a bit of a problem with authority. ‘Making a nuisance of yourself is what being a policeman is all about and suspecting people who were completely above suspicion was about the only thing that made doing the job such fun in Nazi Germany.’ Back in 1939 he was also no fan of the Nazis. ‘The one thing about the Nazis you could always rely on what that they were not to be relied upon. None of them. Not ever.’
What I really loved about Bernie and the writing in general was the dry, pithy humour. Here are some of my favourite Bernie bon mots from the book:
On the Stasi: ‘The Mounties might have had a reputation for always getting their man but the Stasi have always got the men and the women and the children too, and when they got them they made them all suffer.’
On Martin Boorman’s lair: ‘A log the size of the Sudetenland was smoking in the grate and on the walls were several electric candelabra that looked as if they’d been placed there by a mad scientist’s faithful retainer.’
A little in-joke by the author: ‘This case had it all, I told myself: absurdity, alienation, existential anxiety, and no shortage of likely and unlikely suspects. If I’d been a very clever German of the kind who knew the difference between the sons of Zeus, Reason and Chaos, I might have been dumb enough to think I could write a book about it.’
I’m not going to go into detail about the plot but I’ll just say the book is brilliantly structured. Both storylines are compelling and the way in which the book switches between the two never feels forced or out of place. I really did feel I was in a safe pair of hands with this author; that I was in the presence of a master storyteller. At one point, one of the characters says: “The end has to satisfy everyone, does it not?” Well, this reader was definitely satisfied at the end.
In reflective mood, Bernie muses, ‘I’d always thought there was plenty of time to do things and yet, now I really thought about it, there had been not a moment to spare.’ Sadly, there was very little more time for the author. Philip Kerr’s death in March robbed the book world of further Bernie Gunther adventures. However, what a wonderful legacy the author leaves for future readers to enjoy. I intend to savour every one of the other books in the series.
March 23, 2023
Με εξαιρετική μαεστρία, ο Κερ χειρίζεται δύο παράλληλες (με διαφορά 17 χρόνων) ιστορίες. Η μία στη μεταπολεμική Γαλλία, όπου η Στάζι μέσω παλιών γνώριμών του από την Κρίπο αναγκάζει τον Γκούντερ να βγει για άλλη μια φορά από τα "νερά" του και η άλλη στο εξοχικό του Χίτλερ στο Ομπερσάλτσμπεργκ, όπου δολοφονείται ένας μηχανικός και ο Γκούντερ πρέπει όχι μόνο να βγάλει άκρη ως προς το τι έγινε, αλλά και να μην προστεθεί στη λίστα θυμάτων που ακολουθούν τον μηχανικό...
Και οι δύο ιστορίες έχουν ενδιαφέρον (ιδίως αυτή του 1939, η ιστορία του '56 μάλλον υπάρχει για να δικαιολογεί το "Νο 12" ως ιστορία του Γκούντερ και ενδεχομένως για δώσει συνέχεια στην μίζερη μεταπολεμική ύπαρξη του Σοσιαλδημοκράτη Μπάτσου της Βαϊμάρης), το βιβλίο δεν κάνει κοιλιά πουθενά και, γενικώς, έχουμε έναν πολύ καλό Κερ που μπορεί να διαβαστεί απνευστί, αν αντέχετε 560 σελίδες (ή πάνω από 600 στην ελληνική έκδοση) σε μια μέρα.
Και οι δύο ιστορίες έχουν ενδιαφέρον (ιδίως αυτή του 1939, η ιστορία του '56 μάλλον υπάρχει για να δικαιολογεί το "Νο 12" ως ιστορία του Γκούντερ και ενδεχομένως για δώσει συνέχεια στην μίζερη μεταπολεμική ύπαρξη του Σοσιαλδημοκράτη Μπάτσου της Βαϊμάρης), το βιβλίο δεν κάνει κοιλιά πουθενά και, γενικώς, έχουμε έναν πολύ καλό Κερ που μπορεί να διαβαστεί απνευστί, αν αντέχετε 560 σελίδες (ή πάνω από 600 στην ελληνική έκδοση) σε μια μέρα.
April 11, 2017
It is a grand time of the year when a new Bernie Gunther is released, this 12th installment continues delivering quality as one expects from this series. While the original series started with the infamous Berlin Noir trilogy, which I found well written but unnecessary crude and misogynistic, I found the continuation by its original writer 15 years later a lot better and actually more interesting.
Prussian Blue is the 12th book and once again we meet Bernie Gunther at the French Riviera in Oktober 1956 and as usual in a duel-narrative a story is told about Bernie at Berchesgarden in April 1939.
Bernie gets drafted in a plot to kill a female character from the previous novel, one does not have to read this earlier book to understand the plot [even if you should because the series are so good and give such a different insight in Nazi Germany]. This is done by the East-German Stasi and of course Bernie is not given a choice in cooperating. And Bernie would not be Bernie if he had his own ideas about cooperating.
In the story that contains most of the book Bernie Gunther is send to Adolfs Bavarian mountain home because somebody has been shot at the sight and this murder warrants the best police investigator being send to have a look into the matter. Bernie gets once more drafted by Reinhard Heydrich a leading Nazi bigwig, considered to be the architect of the holocaust, to do his bidding. And as we have learned in the Bernie Gunther series the job of investigating the murder is secondary to Bernie finding dirt on other high-ranking German Nazis. And as you follow Bernie in his investigations in the murder you learn more about the seedy underbelly of Nazi Germany. That is what makes this series so interesting another look on the affairs of Nazi Germany through the eyes of a former Berlin police officer who never was a Nazi but is forced to survive among them and you wonder about his soul and sanity.
The two story-lines connect in the end and makes for a satisfying finale and leaves you wanting more Gunther books. Which is a very possible.
Well worth you time if you are interested in Historical whodunits with as subject Nazi Germany during their years of ruling and in some books the direct aftermath. This one is again a tour the force that keeps you reading when you have to do other more important things to do in & around the house.
Prussian Blue is the 12th book and once again we meet Bernie Gunther at the French Riviera in Oktober 1956 and as usual in a duel-narrative a story is told about Bernie at Berchesgarden in April 1939.
Bernie gets drafted in a plot to kill a female character from the previous novel, one does not have to read this earlier book to understand the plot [even if you should because the series are so good and give such a different insight in Nazi Germany]. This is done by the East-German Stasi and of course Bernie is not given a choice in cooperating. And Bernie would not be Bernie if he had his own ideas about cooperating.
In the story that contains most of the book Bernie Gunther is send to Adolfs Bavarian mountain home because somebody has been shot at the sight and this murder warrants the best police investigator being send to have a look into the matter. Bernie gets once more drafted by Reinhard Heydrich a leading Nazi bigwig, considered to be the architect of the holocaust, to do his bidding. And as we have learned in the Bernie Gunther series the job of investigating the murder is secondary to Bernie finding dirt on other high-ranking German Nazis. And as you follow Bernie in his investigations in the murder you learn more about the seedy underbelly of Nazi Germany. That is what makes this series so interesting another look on the affairs of Nazi Germany through the eyes of a former Berlin police officer who never was a Nazi but is forced to survive among them and you wonder about his soul and sanity.
The two story-lines connect in the end and makes for a satisfying finale and leaves you wanting more Gunther books. Which is a very possible.
Well worth you time if you are interested in Historical whodunits with as subject Nazi Germany during their years of ruling and in some books the direct aftermath. This one is again a tour the force that keeps you reading when you have to do other more important things to do in & around the house.
April 19, 2020
It seems to me that people don’t drink to escape their existence but to see its funny side instead: mine was beginning to resemble one of those delightful films starring Jacques Tati. The idea that the Stasi – the true heirs to the Gestapo – were using the French police to do their dirty work struck me as history repeating itself in the Marxian sense, which is to say, first as tragedy and then as farce.
Prussian Blue (BG#12) opens in October 1956 in the south of France, where former Berlin Kripo detective Bernie Gunther, is concierge at the Grand Hôtel, Cap Ferrat, using the false passport of Walter Wolf given to him by Stasi chief Erich Mielke (East German secret police). Months earlier, as a guest of Somerset Maugham, one-time spy for MI6, Bernie was involved in the murder of rogue MI5 chief, Roger Hollis, while falling for the charms of another Stasi agent, Anne French, now in the UK. (The Other Side of Silence). Mielke wants her assassinated, “to tie up a loose end”, which makes Gunther realise that he will be next on that list.
Given little choice, he is reunited with Mielke henchman, former KRIPO detective, Friedrich Korsch (The Pale Criminal, BG#2); Korsch reminding him that they had last met in 1949, in Munich, when Korsch was working undercover for MVD on an American newspaper, Die Neue Zeitung while Bernie was hunting a war criminal, Warzok. (The One from the Other, BG#4), and prior to that in Berlin 1947, when Gunther was looking for the wife of Becker, another former KRIPOS detective turned black-marketeer. (A German Requiem BG#3).
As Gunther plots his escape from the Stasi, on board the train from Nice to Marseilles, the story diverts to April 1939, when General Reinhard Heydrich – head of Gestapo in Berlin – sends Gunther and Korsch to Hitler’s stronghold at Berchtesgaden in the Bavarian Alps, ostensibly to investigate the murder of Nazi Karl Flex, shot dead on the terrace of the tea house within days of celebrations planned for Der Fūhrer’s fiftieth birthday. The real reason is that Heydrich dislikes Hitler’s chief of staff, Martin Bormann, and Gunther is to get the “dirt” on him so Heydrich can use it as leverage.
Heydrich had just enough nerve to blackmail the devil himself, and collect on his menaces…
Arriving in Berchtesgaden it becomes clear that there were many people with a motive for wanting Karl Flex dead, especially among those bought out / dispossessed of their homes to make way for the Nazi inner circle.
It was easy to see why those houses had been acquired by the Nazis. The location was enviable, and, if you like that kind of thing, it had fine views in almost every direction…I was never one for looking at beautiful scenery, and certainly not since 1933: it distracts from the more important and metropolitan business of keeping an eye out for the Gestapo…
The cast reads as a who’s who of Nazi Germany: Rudolph Hess arguing with Bormann, Albert Speer – Hitler’s architect – designing buildings to showcase the regime – Himmler back in Berlin – and with his investigation hampered at every turn, Gunther still manages to locate the murder weapon and attend the autopsy of Karl Flex, each opening other cans of worms. The local head of police assisting him is also murdered and the Gestapo from Salzburg want to arrest Gunther on trumped up charges against the man spoken of not by name but by his title.
In the summer it was impossible to open a German newspaper without seeing several pictures of our avuncular Leader with local children – the more German-looking, the better – almost as if someone (Goebbels probably) had decided being seen with them might make him seem like less of a belligerent monster.
Gunther is not without his resources and calls upon Heydrich’s help to release two prisoners to crack Karl Flex’s safe.
Their father had been a famous rabbi, but if they were still religious it wasn’t obvious: these were tough-looking men whose skill was not unlocking the secrets of the Zohar and the Kabbalah, but other people’s safes. It was said that they could open a gnat’s arse with a paper clip and that the gnat wouldn’t even notice.
Throughout, the book is filled with Gunther’s dry humour: The piebald came to the edge of the fence to see what was happening, fixing me with that kind of wary, black-eyed, who-the-hell-are-you look I normally only get from single women in bars…
At 560 pages and a wealth of detail, this is no short, easy read. Most of the book is set in April 1939 and is filled with the characters, crimes, conspiracies and cover-ups, as the Nazi elite sets out to deflect and sweep events under the carpet. In between, the narrative switches to October 1956, and I used a well-thumbed and treasured France Road Atlas (2002 edition) to chart Gunther’s escape from the South of France to Germany to evade the Stasi.
Author Philip Kerr excels in this genre, placing his unlikely fictional anti-hero into historical fact, and this was possibly the best of the Bernie Gunther thrillers so far, but I suggest that reader’s unfamiliar with the character start with the earlier books.
Prussian Blue (BG#12) opens in October 1956 in the south of France, where former Berlin Kripo detective Bernie Gunther, is concierge at the Grand Hôtel, Cap Ferrat, using the false passport of Walter Wolf given to him by Stasi chief Erich Mielke (East German secret police). Months earlier, as a guest of Somerset Maugham, one-time spy for MI6, Bernie was involved in the murder of rogue MI5 chief, Roger Hollis, while falling for the charms of another Stasi agent, Anne French, now in the UK. (The Other Side of Silence). Mielke wants her assassinated, “to tie up a loose end”, which makes Gunther realise that he will be next on that list.
Given little choice, he is reunited with Mielke henchman, former KRIPO detective, Friedrich Korsch (The Pale Criminal, BG#2); Korsch reminding him that they had last met in 1949, in Munich, when Korsch was working undercover for MVD on an American newspaper, Die Neue Zeitung while Bernie was hunting a war criminal, Warzok. (The One from the Other, BG#4), and prior to that in Berlin 1947, when Gunther was looking for the wife of Becker, another former KRIPOS detective turned black-marketeer. (A German Requiem BG#3).
As Gunther plots his escape from the Stasi, on board the train from Nice to Marseilles, the story diverts to April 1939, when General Reinhard Heydrich – head of Gestapo in Berlin – sends Gunther and Korsch to Hitler’s stronghold at Berchtesgaden in the Bavarian Alps, ostensibly to investigate the murder of Nazi Karl Flex, shot dead on the terrace of the tea house within days of celebrations planned for Der Fūhrer’s fiftieth birthday. The real reason is that Heydrich dislikes Hitler’s chief of staff, Martin Bormann, and Gunther is to get the “dirt” on him so Heydrich can use it as leverage.
Heydrich had just enough nerve to blackmail the devil himself, and collect on his menaces…
Arriving in Berchtesgaden it becomes clear that there were many people with a motive for wanting Karl Flex dead, especially among those bought out / dispossessed of their homes to make way for the Nazi inner circle.
It was easy to see why those houses had been acquired by the Nazis. The location was enviable, and, if you like that kind of thing, it had fine views in almost every direction…I was never one for looking at beautiful scenery, and certainly not since 1933: it distracts from the more important and metropolitan business of keeping an eye out for the Gestapo…
The cast reads as a who’s who of Nazi Germany: Rudolph Hess arguing with Bormann, Albert Speer – Hitler’s architect – designing buildings to showcase the regime – Himmler back in Berlin – and with his investigation hampered at every turn, Gunther still manages to locate the murder weapon and attend the autopsy of Karl Flex, each opening other cans of worms. The local head of police assisting him is also murdered and the Gestapo from Salzburg want to arrest Gunther on trumped up charges against the man spoken of not by name but by his title.
In the summer it was impossible to open a German newspaper without seeing several pictures of our avuncular Leader with local children – the more German-looking, the better – almost as if someone (Goebbels probably) had decided being seen with them might make him seem like less of a belligerent monster.
Gunther is not without his resources and calls upon Heydrich’s help to release two prisoners to crack Karl Flex’s safe.
Their father had been a famous rabbi, but if they were still religious it wasn’t obvious: these were tough-looking men whose skill was not unlocking the secrets of the Zohar and the Kabbalah, but other people’s safes. It was said that they could open a gnat’s arse with a paper clip and that the gnat wouldn’t even notice.
Throughout, the book is filled with Gunther’s dry humour: The piebald came to the edge of the fence to see what was happening, fixing me with that kind of wary, black-eyed, who-the-hell-are-you look I normally only get from single women in bars…
At 560 pages and a wealth of detail, this is no short, easy read. Most of the book is set in April 1939 and is filled with the characters, crimes, conspiracies and cover-ups, as the Nazi elite sets out to deflect and sweep events under the carpet. In between, the narrative switches to October 1956, and I used a well-thumbed and treasured France Road Atlas (2002 edition) to chart Gunther’s escape from the South of France to Germany to evade the Stasi.
Author Philip Kerr excels in this genre, placing his unlikely fictional anti-hero into historical fact, and this was possibly the best of the Bernie Gunther thrillers so far, but I suggest that reader’s unfamiliar with the character start with the earlier books.
May 7, 2017
As Nate Heller is to American P.I. noir; as Arkady Renko is to Russian P.I. noir; Philip Kerr’s Bernie Gunther is to Nazi-era P.I. noir.
Here is how one of the characters sees Gunther: “Your trouble is that you’re the worst kind of detective there is. A German detective. No, it’s worse than that; you’re a Prussian detective. You don’t just believe in your competence and efficiency, you make a damn fetish out of it. You think your devotion to the job is a virtue, but it’s not. With you it’s a vice. You can’t help yourself. It’s somethingthat runs through your character like the black stripe on the old Prussian flag. That’s your problem…If you investigate a case you have to do it scrupulously and to the very best of your ability. Realism and common sense are powerless against your pigheaded devotion to doing the job as efficiently as it’s possible to do it. And this takes away all your better judgment about the wisdom of what you’re doing. You just don’t know when it’s in your own interest to stop. That’s why Heydrich uses you. Because you always stay the course. You’re like Schmeling; you keep getting up even though the fight is lost. To that extent you’re the most Prussian man I’ve ever met. I admire you, Bernie. I also can’t help but think that there’s a real danger you’re always destined to be your own life’s saboteur.”
I believe that Philip Kerr shares most of this view of Bernie Gunther. The words come fast; the cultural references are piled on one another; and our P.I. gets the worst of many encounters. In this book (#12), Gunther is skating on the edge of disaster from the start.
And here I am going to have to disclose part of the plot.
The novel weaves together two separate incidents almost 20 years apart. It opens in October 1956. Gunther is on the French Riviera barely getting by. An incident occurs and he finds himself in front of one of the chief Stasi agents (and, it should come as no surprise that many of the East German secret police had Nazi backgrounds). Gunther is forced to agree to carry out an assassination. This isn’t something that fits with his personality so very shortly he is trying to find a way to get out of it. But they pursue him. “I estimated once that the Gestapo had employed less than fifty thousand officers to keep an eye on eighty million Germans, but from what I’d read…the Stasi employed at least twice that number….to keep an eye on just seventeen million Germans. “
As this plot plays out, Gunther is confronted by a character from his past who worked with him in 1939 on a particularly stressful case. Obergruppenführer und General der Polizei, Rheinhard Heydrich orders him to leave Berlin for Hitler’s retreat at the Austrian border. There has been a death, on Der Fuehrer’s back patio and it better be solved before Hitler arrives for his birthday celebration. Gunther must work under Martin Bormann at the same time as serving Heydrich’s desires to find ways to undermine Bormann. Tick-tock……….is there any way in which Gunther can do any of this without finding himself imprisoned, assassinated or discredited?
[Information that may be relevant: Martin Bormann was Hitler’s “second in command” for many functions of the Nazi government. Rheinhard Heydrich worked just under Himmler and was the moving force for much of what became known as The Holocaust. ]
Kerr gets the plot up to maximum speed very quickly and events tumble after events in a veritable train wreck until the final few pages. Kerr is a master storyteller who can juggle both characters and action with the best. And, he can do this while portraying the enormity of the evil that was Nazism. He also provides some nice nuance between the Bernie Gunther of 1939 and the man of 1956. This novel is one of his best.
Here is how one of the characters sees Gunther: “Your trouble is that you’re the worst kind of detective there is. A German detective. No, it’s worse than that; you’re a Prussian detective. You don’t just believe in your competence and efficiency, you make a damn fetish out of it. You think your devotion to the job is a virtue, but it’s not. With you it’s a vice. You can’t help yourself. It’s somethingthat runs through your character like the black stripe on the old Prussian flag. That’s your problem…If you investigate a case you have to do it scrupulously and to the very best of your ability. Realism and common sense are powerless against your pigheaded devotion to doing the job as efficiently as it’s possible to do it. And this takes away all your better judgment about the wisdom of what you’re doing. You just don’t know when it’s in your own interest to stop. That’s why Heydrich uses you. Because you always stay the course. You’re like Schmeling; you keep getting up even though the fight is lost. To that extent you’re the most Prussian man I’ve ever met. I admire you, Bernie. I also can’t help but think that there’s a real danger you’re always destined to be your own life’s saboteur.”
I believe that Philip Kerr shares most of this view of Bernie Gunther. The words come fast; the cultural references are piled on one another; and our P.I. gets the worst of many encounters. In this book (#12), Gunther is skating on the edge of disaster from the start.
And here I am going to have to disclose part of the plot.
The novel weaves together two separate incidents almost 20 years apart. It opens in October 1956. Gunther is on the French Riviera barely getting by. An incident occurs and he finds himself in front of one of the chief Stasi agents (and, it should come as no surprise that many of the East German secret police had Nazi backgrounds). Gunther is forced to agree to carry out an assassination. This isn’t something that fits with his personality so very shortly he is trying to find a way to get out of it. But they pursue him. “I estimated once that the Gestapo had employed less than fifty thousand officers to keep an eye on eighty million Germans, but from what I’d read…the Stasi employed at least twice that number….to keep an eye on just seventeen million Germans. “
As this plot plays out, Gunther is confronted by a character from his past who worked with him in 1939 on a particularly stressful case. Obergruppenführer und General der Polizei, Rheinhard Heydrich orders him to leave Berlin for Hitler’s retreat at the Austrian border. There has been a death, on Der Fuehrer’s back patio and it better be solved before Hitler arrives for his birthday celebration. Gunther must work under Martin Bormann at the same time as serving Heydrich’s desires to find ways to undermine Bormann. Tick-tock……….is there any way in which Gunther can do any of this without finding himself imprisoned, assassinated or discredited?
[Information that may be relevant: Martin Bormann was Hitler’s “second in command” for many functions of the Nazi government. Rheinhard Heydrich worked just under Himmler and was the moving force for much of what became known as The Holocaust. ]
Kerr gets the plot up to maximum speed very quickly and events tumble after events in a veritable train wreck until the final few pages. Kerr is a master storyteller who can juggle both characters and action with the best. And, he can do this while portraying the enormity of the evil that was Nazism. He also provides some nice nuance between the Bernie Gunther of 1939 and the man of 1956. This novel is one of his best.
April 2, 2017
Review can also be found in Chill and read
“Prussian Blue” is the twelfth book in the “Bernie Gunther series”, yet again, it can be read as stand alone.
This book finds Bernie in the French Riviera, working on a hotel, as he receives a dinner invitation from his wife. It sounds rather strange to him, as it would be a little difficult for her to be there at the time, but he accepts the offer. When he arrives at the date, he founds himself having dinner with the head of Stasi police. It is 1956 and the Eastern Germany Police is shuffling the cards of the deck. Bernie is asked to handle a loose end of an agent, he is not so fond of. Given his integrity and honesty, he cannot commit murder, even to someone he dislikes. Therefore he is on the run, trying to escape being captured by an old partner.
The whole situation brings him memories of 17 years ago, 1939, when he was investigating a murder in Berghof, in Hitler’s country house, and actual headquarters of the chancellery and the Nazi Party, just before the invasion to Poland. It was not out of his fondness for the Nazis or Hitler that he agreed to this investigation, but rather of the selfe conservation feeling that kept him alive in the coming years.
This is a hell of a detective’s story that Kerr is up to with this novel. History is around the trenches at all time and the whole pre and post World War II atmosphere is vivid in the air of this Bavarian village. The narration is split between two eras with 17 year difference between them. It starts at 1956, with the reality of the East German Police, Stasi, leading their way around the world, committing their own crimes, just like the Gestapo. That is because, the same people that were in the police forces of Hitler’s Germany are still pulling the strings after the war. Nothing new for those who study history. It continues back in 1939, going back and forth really smoothly and not confusing the reader, as all the events from one era connect to those of the other.
Kerr’s narration is well known to his fans and so is Bernie’s integrity. The author tries really hard to keep his main character unchanged throughout the years and the difficult times, and he accomplishes it nonetheless. It is a remarkable job so to speak, being able to support your hero after 12 books!
It’s an atmospheric long but enjoyable read, destined to put the reader into some thought. Human nature is not far from the savage times. Given the current situation in Europe and around the world in general, where the right and fascist parties are getting strength and power, it is a reminder to us all of what has happened and what can become of people in power. Even the slightest power can make man hungry for more, can make him greedy, can make him think low of human life. Do we really want to see another Hitler dominating our world? Cause we are really not far from that…
“Prussian Blue” is the twelfth book in the “Bernie Gunther series”, yet again, it can be read as stand alone.
This book finds Bernie in the French Riviera, working on a hotel, as he receives a dinner invitation from his wife. It sounds rather strange to him, as it would be a little difficult for her to be there at the time, but he accepts the offer. When he arrives at the date, he founds himself having dinner with the head of Stasi police. It is 1956 and the Eastern Germany Police is shuffling the cards of the deck. Bernie is asked to handle a loose end of an agent, he is not so fond of. Given his integrity and honesty, he cannot commit murder, even to someone he dislikes. Therefore he is on the run, trying to escape being captured by an old partner.
The whole situation brings him memories of 17 years ago, 1939, when he was investigating a murder in Berghof, in Hitler’s country house, and actual headquarters of the chancellery and the Nazi Party, just before the invasion to Poland. It was not out of his fondness for the Nazis or Hitler that he agreed to this investigation, but rather of the selfe conservation feeling that kept him alive in the coming years.
This is a hell of a detective’s story that Kerr is up to with this novel. History is around the trenches at all time and the whole pre and post World War II atmosphere is vivid in the air of this Bavarian village. The narration is split between two eras with 17 year difference between them. It starts at 1956, with the reality of the East German Police, Stasi, leading their way around the world, committing their own crimes, just like the Gestapo. That is because, the same people that were in the police forces of Hitler’s Germany are still pulling the strings after the war. Nothing new for those who study history. It continues back in 1939, going back and forth really smoothly and not confusing the reader, as all the events from one era connect to those of the other.
Kerr’s narration is well known to his fans and so is Bernie’s integrity. The author tries really hard to keep his main character unchanged throughout the years and the difficult times, and he accomplishes it nonetheless. It is a remarkable job so to speak, being able to support your hero after 12 books!
It’s an atmospheric long but enjoyable read, destined to put the reader into some thought. Human nature is not far from the savage times. Given the current situation in Europe and around the world in general, where the right and fascist parties are getting strength and power, it is a reminder to us all of what has happened and what can become of people in power. Even the slightest power can make man hungry for more, can make him greedy, can make him think low of human life. Do we really want to see another Hitler dominating our world? Cause we are really not far from that…
April 13, 2018
From mid-October 2016 through to early January 2017 I read all eleven of the Bernie Gunther series. Helpfully (in March 2017) a new, 12th instalment in the Bernie Gunther series - 'Prussian Blue' - has just arrived to help with my withdrawal symptoms.
Whilst there are rich rewards for any reader who has followed Bernie throughout the 12 novels, 'Prussian Blue' can also be enjoyed as a stand-alone novel.
'Prussian Blue' picks up, in 1956, exactly where previous novel 'The Other Side of Silence' left off, with Bernie still living and working in the French Riviera.
Bernie cannot refuse a dinner invitation from Erich Mielke, the Stasi chief, who long time readers know as an old adversary. Before long Bernie is being hunted through France by a group of Stasi agents, one of whom is a former Kripo colleague, which prompts a detour back to 1939, when both men were tasked with solving a murder at Hitler's Berghof, his mountain retreat in Bavaria, prior to the Fuhrer’s 50th birthday celebrations.
As usual Philip Kerr skilfully weaves to the two stories together, illuminating day-to-day life in Nazi Germany and the high levels of brutality and corruption, whilst simultaneously providing readers with interesting new developments, and plenty of excitement too, for Bernie in his “present day” life.
'Prussian Blue' is a splendid addition to the series which will satisfy long-term fans but leave them wanting more. This series appears to have plenty more mileage. As always Philip Kerr finishes by explaining a bit more about the real historical characters who populate this gripping novel. Hopefully we won't have to wait too long for the next one.
4/5
Whilst there are rich rewards for any reader who has followed Bernie throughout the 12 novels, 'Prussian Blue' can also be enjoyed as a stand-alone novel.
'Prussian Blue' picks up, in 1956, exactly where previous novel 'The Other Side of Silence' left off, with Bernie still living and working in the French Riviera.
Bernie cannot refuse a dinner invitation from Erich Mielke, the Stasi chief, who long time readers know as an old adversary. Before long Bernie is being hunted through France by a group of Stasi agents, one of whom is a former Kripo colleague, which prompts a detour back to 1939, when both men were tasked with solving a murder at Hitler's Berghof, his mountain retreat in Bavaria, prior to the Fuhrer’s 50th birthday celebrations.
As usual Philip Kerr skilfully weaves to the two stories together, illuminating day-to-day life in Nazi Germany and the high levels of brutality and corruption, whilst simultaneously providing readers with interesting new developments, and plenty of excitement too, for Bernie in his “present day” life.
'Prussian Blue' is a splendid addition to the series which will satisfy long-term fans but leave them wanting more. This series appears to have plenty more mileage. As always Philip Kerr finishes by explaining a bit more about the real historical characters who populate this gripping novel. Hopefully we won't have to wait too long for the next one.
4/5
January 3, 2017
A book you try to savour, but end up devouring. Prussian Blue features the author’s brilliant Bernie Gunther, and is set in 1956 with considerable sections set back in 1939. In 1956 Bernie is asked to murder someone by the East German Police and decides to go on the run. As Bernie tries to get to somewhere safe, he is reminded of the events of 1939…
In 1939, before the Germans invade Poland, Germany is full of the Nazi’s that have risen to power and the arrogance, greed and cruelty underpins their invincibility. Heydrich has a need for a detective to investigate a murder in the Bavarian mountains, a favourite area of Hitler’s and one where Martin Bormann has a mini kingdom. Bernie is not being given much time while he tries to identify a murderer in a place where powerful people do not want the truth to come out.
More of a detective story than any other of the Bernie novels, but still plenty of significant real life characters in this and a real feel for the atmosphere (and fear) of the time. Of course, Bernie’s past and present collide in the manner we have become gratefully accustomed to.
I doubt if I will read many better books this year.
In 1939, before the Germans invade Poland, Germany is full of the Nazi’s that have risen to power and the arrogance, greed and cruelty underpins their invincibility. Heydrich has a need for a detective to investigate a murder in the Bavarian mountains, a favourite area of Hitler’s and one where Martin Bormann has a mini kingdom. Bernie is not being given much time while he tries to identify a murderer in a place where powerful people do not want the truth to come out.
More of a detective story than any other of the Bernie novels, but still plenty of significant real life characters in this and a real feel for the atmosphere (and fear) of the time. Of course, Bernie’s past and present collide in the manner we have become gratefully accustomed to.
I doubt if I will read many better books this year.
May 24, 2017
Bernie Gunther in the pay of the Stasi
Another great outing for Bernie Gunther and keeping up the high standard of Philip Kerr’s previous works.
This time Bernie falls out with Stasi Chief Erich Meilke, not the best of things to do. Kerr continues his rich grasp of period detail as his anti-hero moves into the 1950s.
I found the final sequences were somewhat implausible, but overall a very entertaining return for this great literary character.
Another great outing for Bernie Gunther and keeping up the high standard of Philip Kerr’s previous works.
This time Bernie falls out with Stasi Chief Erich Meilke, not the best of things to do. Kerr continues his rich grasp of period detail as his anti-hero moves into the 1950s.
I found the final sequences were somewhat implausible, but overall a very entertaining return for this great literary character.
November 30, 2020
«Πρωσικό Μπλε»: ο Μπέρνι Γκούντερ είναι πάλι εδώ!
Οι φανατικοί αναγνώστες του Philip Kerr στενοχωρηθήκαμε πολύ με την είδηση του πρόωρου θανάτου του το 2018, αλλά φέτος χαρήκαμε πολύ που οι εκδόσεις Κέδρος εξέδωσαν το «Πρωσικό μπλε» (Prussian Blue, περισσότερα για το βιβλίο δείτε εδώ).
Αυτή τη φορά βρισκόμαστε στη Γαλλική Ριβιέρα το 1956 και στο Γκούντερ ανατίθεται (όχι ακριβώς με τη θέλησή του) να δηλητηριάσει με θάλλιο, μια παλιά του συνεργάτιδα, την πράκτορα Ανν Φρεντς. Εντολέας του είναι ο υποδιευθυντής της Στάζι, Έριχ Μίλκε και «φρουρός» του Γκούντερ ο πάλαι ποτέ συνεργάτης του Φρίντιχ Κορς.
«Κάνε το αντίθετο απ’ αυτό που περιμένουν από σένα. Αυτό είναι το κλειδί της επιβίωσης όταν σε κυνηγούν».
Με το Φρίντιχ Κορς είχαν συνεργαστεί τελευταία φορά το 1939 σε μία υπόθεση στις Βαυαρικές Άλπεις: πρόκειται για μία δολοφονία στην εξοχική κατοικία του Χίτλερ στο Ομπερσάλτσμπεργκ, όπου είχαν τεθεί επικεφαλής για την εξιχνίασή της.
«Οι Ναζί είναι σαν όλους τους άλλους βασιλιάδες της Αγίας Γερμανίας από τον Κάρολο Ε’ μέχρι τον αυτοκράτορα Γουλιέλμο Β’. Όλοι τους πιστεύουν ότι τα καλύτερα επιχειρήματα βγαίνουν από την κάννη ενός όπλου».
Κλασσικός Kerr, μάς βάζει πάντα στο κλίμα του Β΄ Παγκοσμίου πολέμου, τόσο κοντά στη ναζιστική πλευρά, αλλά τόσο μακριά απ’ αυτήν…
«Κάθε ηγέτης έχει ανάγκη από καλές συμβουλές. Απλώς μερικοί άνθρωποι γύρω του δεν είναι οι κατάλληλοι».
Οι περιγραφές του, τα τοπία, οι χαρακτήρες έχουν άρτια αποδοθεί στις 667 σελίδες του συγκεκριμένου βιβλίου.
«Η ζωή έδειχνε πλέον υπερβολικά σοβαρή για να την αποσπούν ασημαντότητες όπως η ευτυχία».
Επίσης, άξιο αναφοράς είναι το σημείωμα στο τέλος του, επίμετρο θα έλεγε κανείς, όπου ο συγγραφέας καταγράφει τα πρόσωπα της ιστορίας (που πολλά εξ αυτών υπήρξαν στην πραγματικότητα) και τί απόγιναν μετά το τέλος του πολέμου.
«Η καλή τύχη δεν είναι παρά η ικανότητα και η αποφασιστικότητα να ξεπερνάς την κακή τύχη».
Η αφήγηση κάνει πισωγυρίσματα στο χρόνο, κάτι που αντί να μειώνει το ενδιαφέρον του αναγνώστη το διατηρεί έντονο.
«Η φαντασία δε βασίζεται στη σαφήνεια, αλλά στην απουσία της».
Μη φοβηθείτε να το διαβάσετε άμεσα, τα βιβλία με ήρωα το Μπέρνι Γκούντερ διαβάζονται τελείως αυτόνομα, δε χρειάζεται να τα ξεκινήσετε με τη χρονολογική σειρά κυκλοφορίας τους.
«Το να το βάζεις στα πόδια είναι πάντα καλύτερο σχέδιο απ’ όσο νομίζετε. Ρωτήστε απλώς οποιονδήποτε εγκληματία».
Υ.Γ.: Το πρωσικό μπλε (Κυανό της Πρωσίας ή κυανό του Βερολίνου, Berlin blue) είναι μια συνθετική χρωματική ουσία βαθυκύανου χρώματος που ανακαλύφθηκε τυχαία στις αρχές του 18ου αιώνα και λειτουργεί ως αντίδοτο στο θάλλιο.
https://www.clevernews.gr/prosiko-mpl...
Οι φανατικοί αναγνώστες του Philip Kerr στενοχωρηθήκαμε πολύ με την είδηση του πρόωρου θανάτου του το 2018, αλλά φέτος χαρήκαμε πολύ που οι εκδόσεις Κέδρος εξέδωσαν το «Πρωσικό μπλε» (Prussian Blue, περισσότερα για το βιβλίο δείτε εδώ).
Αυτή τη φορά βρισκόμαστε στη Γαλλική Ριβιέρα το 1956 και στο Γκούντερ ανατίθεται (όχι ακριβώς με τη θέλησή του) να δηλητηριάσει με θάλλιο, μια παλιά του συνεργάτιδα, την πράκτορα Ανν Φρεντς. Εντολέας του είναι ο υποδιευθυντής της Στάζι, Έριχ Μίλκε και «φρουρός» του Γκούντερ ο πάλαι ποτέ συνεργάτης του Φρίντιχ Κορς.
«Κάνε το αντίθετο απ’ αυτό που περιμένουν από σένα. Αυτό είναι το κλειδί της επιβίωσης όταν σε κυνηγούν».
Με το Φρίντιχ Κορς είχαν συνεργαστεί τελευταία φορά το 1939 σε μία υπόθεση στις Βαυαρικές Άλπεις: πρόκειται για μία δολοφονία στην εξοχική κατοικία του Χίτλερ στο Ομπερσάλτσμπεργκ, όπου είχαν τεθεί επικεφαλής για την εξιχνίασή της.
«Οι Ναζί είναι σαν όλους τους άλλους βασιλιάδες της Αγίας Γερμανίας από τον Κάρολο Ε’ μέχρι τον αυτοκράτορα Γουλιέλμο Β’. Όλοι τους πιστεύουν ότι τα καλύτερα επιχειρήματα βγαίνουν από την κάννη ενός όπλου».
Κλασσικός Kerr, μάς βάζει πάντα στο κλίμα του Β΄ Παγκοσμίου πολέμου, τόσο κοντά στη ναζιστική πλευρά, αλλά τόσο μακριά απ’ αυτήν…
«Κάθε ηγέτης έχει ανάγκη από καλές συμβουλές. Απλώς μερικοί άνθρωποι γύρω του δεν είναι οι κατάλληλοι».
Οι περιγραφές του, τα τοπία, οι χαρακτήρες έχουν άρτια αποδοθεί στις 667 σελίδες του συγκεκριμένου βιβλίου.
«Η ζωή έδειχνε πλέον υπερβολικά σοβαρή για να την αποσπούν ασημαντότητες όπως η ευτυχία».
Επίσης, άξιο αναφοράς είναι το σημείωμα στο τέλος του, επίμετρο θα έλεγε κανείς, όπου ο συγγραφέας καταγράφει τα πρόσωπα της ιστορίας (που πολλά εξ αυτών υπήρξαν στην πραγματικότητα) και τί απόγιναν μετά το τέλος του πολέμου.
«Η καλή τύχη δεν είναι παρά η ικανότητα και η αποφασιστικότητα να ξεπερνάς την κακή τύχη».
Η αφήγηση κάνει πισωγυρίσματα στο χρόνο, κάτι που αντί να μειώνει το ενδιαφέρον του αναγνώστη το διατηρεί έντονο.
«Η φαντασία δε βασίζεται στη σαφήνεια, αλλά στην απουσία της».
Μη φοβηθείτε να το διαβάσετε άμεσα, τα βιβλία με ήρωα το Μπέρνι Γκούντερ διαβάζονται τελείως αυτόνομα, δε χρειάζεται να τα ξεκινήσετε με τη χρονολογική σειρά κυκλοφορίας τους.
«Το να το βάζεις στα πόδια είναι πάντα καλύτερο σχέδιο απ’ όσο νομίζετε. Ρωτήστε απλώς οποιονδήποτε εγκληματία».
Υ.Γ.: Το πρωσικό μπλε (Κυανό της Πρωσίας ή κυανό του Βερολίνου, Berlin blue) είναι μια συνθετική χρωματική ουσία βαθυκύανου χρώματος που ανακαλύφθηκε τυχαία στις αρχές του 18ου αιώνα και λειτουργεί ως αντίδοτο στο θάλλιο.
https://www.clevernews.gr/prosiko-mpl...
March 3, 2022
Ο επιθεωρητής Μπερνι Γκουντερ καλείται να λύσει μια σοβαρή υπόθεση. Η υπόθεση διαδραματιζεται το 1939 και 1956. Μια περίεργη ιστορία που εμπλέκονται πολλά ονόματα.... λίγο δυσκολεύτηκα με το
who is who...
who is who...
April 29, 2017
I am somewhat puzzled that I seem to forget about this series since this is only the third Bernie Gunther book I have read out of the 12 published and I really liked the other two as well. Anyway, this book is excellent. Gunther is called in to investigate a murder on Hitler's "mountain" because he is not a party member and they supposedly want to find the culprit to make all secure before Hitler arrives for his 50th birthday celebration.
The narrative goes between the mid 1950's and the late 1930's and our narrator, Gunther, somehow survives beyond all reason in both eras despite every threat thrown at him. That is a good thing since he can live another day in yet another book perhaps?
It kicks off in the 50's with Bernie being hanged "by two human bollards, each with absurdly blond, master-race hair of the kind that Himmler's favorite barber would have put up on his hero-haircut wall" along with another vaguely familiar dude with eye patch who apologizes saying he is under orders - "this is just how the comrade-general wants it." Gunther struggles against "the iron grip of the two Stasi men, but to no avail. Like Christ ascending into heaven I felt myself already rising up from the cobbled ground to meet the noose, where another obliging Stasi man, wearing a gray suit and a hat, was holding on to a street lamp like Gene Kelly to help lasso my neck with it." I will stop there. It is somehow laced with humour as all of Gunther's descriptions are, but what a start!
As Gunther manages escape from these goons, he begins to recall cases he had worked on with the man with the eye patch. "Clearly, as if it were yesterday, I remembered a dark and wintry night in early April 1939, and being driven halfway across Germany in the general's own Mercedes..." And so the story unfolds.
The book is a long one, but it is dense with wit (in the form of sarcasm), intelligence, honest depictions of real war criminals and life reflections that are probably more plentiful than some readers may prefer, e.g. "Most of all I remembered being almost twenty years younger and possessed of a sense of decency and honor I now found almost quaint. For a while back there, I think I sincerely believed I was the only honest man I knew."
Some of my favorite highlights: "the devil was wearing a uniform that was the same color as his heart: black."; "Hitler places great store on family values and on the personal morality of senior Party men."; "you live long enough you realize that everything that happens to us is all the same illusion, the same shit, the same celestial joke."; "Hitler, Stalin, Ulbricht, Khrushchev--they were all the same, the same monsters from the neurological abyss we call our own subconscious."; "Sometimes that was all it took to be a real Nazi; the absolute and unscrupulous desire for preferment and promotion."; "Perhaps I would only be free of these monstrous people on the day I went to hell. That's the trouble with being an eyewitness to history; sometimes history is like an avalanche that sweeps you down off the face of the mountain and into the oblivion of some hidden black crevasse."
The narrative goes between the mid 1950's and the late 1930's and our narrator, Gunther, somehow survives beyond all reason in both eras despite every threat thrown at him. That is a good thing since he can live another day in yet another book perhaps?
It kicks off in the 50's with Bernie being hanged "by two human bollards, each with absurdly blond, master-race hair of the kind that Himmler's favorite barber would have put up on his hero-haircut wall" along with another vaguely familiar dude with eye patch who apologizes saying he is under orders - "this is just how the comrade-general wants it." Gunther struggles against "the iron grip of the two Stasi men, but to no avail. Like Christ ascending into heaven I felt myself already rising up from the cobbled ground to meet the noose, where another obliging Stasi man, wearing a gray suit and a hat, was holding on to a street lamp like Gene Kelly to help lasso my neck with it." I will stop there. It is somehow laced with humour as all of Gunther's descriptions are, but what a start!
As Gunther manages escape from these goons, he begins to recall cases he had worked on with the man with the eye patch. "Clearly, as if it were yesterday, I remembered a dark and wintry night in early April 1939, and being driven halfway across Germany in the general's own Mercedes..." And so the story unfolds.
The book is a long one, but it is dense with wit (in the form of sarcasm), intelligence, honest depictions of real war criminals and life reflections that are probably more plentiful than some readers may prefer, e.g. "Most of all I remembered being almost twenty years younger and possessed of a sense of decency and honor I now found almost quaint. For a while back there, I think I sincerely believed I was the only honest man I knew."
Some of my favorite highlights: "the devil was wearing a uniform that was the same color as his heart: black."; "Hitler places great store on family values and on the personal morality of senior Party men."; "you live long enough you realize that everything that happens to us is all the same illusion, the same shit, the same celestial joke."; "Hitler, Stalin, Ulbricht, Khrushchev--they were all the same, the same monsters from the neurological abyss we call our own subconscious."; "Sometimes that was all it took to be a real Nazi; the absolute and unscrupulous desire for preferment and promotion."; "Perhaps I would only be free of these monstrous people on the day I went to hell. That's the trouble with being an eyewitness to history; sometimes history is like an avalanche that sweeps you down off the face of the mountain and into the oblivion of some hidden black crevasse."
August 4, 2023
1956-ieji. E. Milkė trokšta suvesti senas sąskaitas su B. Giunteriu. Pastarasis turi atlikti užduotį - nužudyti vieną agentę, o visa tai prižiūri F. Koršas, su kuriuo Bernis vykdė kitą užduotį 1939m., kai A. Hitlerio kalnų prieglobstyje buvo rastas biurokrato lavonas. Dvi epochos, kurias skiria septyniolika metų, tačiau, pasirodo, jos glaudžiai susijusios.
Tik perskaičiusi pirmąjį B. Giunterio detektyvinį tyrimą, iš karto likau nustebinta ne tik rašymo stiliumi, idėja, siužetu ir protagonistu, bet ir tuo, kad sugebėta istorinius fragmentus taip įdomiai įtraukti į bendrą visumą, į nusikaltimo kontekstą. Pagalvojau, kad net ir tas skaitytojas, kuriam istoriniai įvykiai bei asmenybės didelio įspūdžio knygose nepalieka, tikrai liks sužavėtas ar bent jau mėgausis įdomesniu ir išskirtiniu skaitiniu, kadangi literatūroje tokių istorinių detektyvinių tyrimų pasirinkimas nėra gausus. Ne mažesnis efektas buvo ir tada, kai sužinojau, kad knygos parašytos dar XX a., bet nė kiek nenusileidžia šiuolaikiniams kūriniams. Žinoma, gali būti, kad tai iš dalies yra knygos vertėjo, profesionaliai padirbėjusio, nuopelnas. Iki „Prūsų mėlis“ buvau skaičiusi „Beveidis nusikaltėlis“ ir „Vokiškas rekviem“, kurios man paliko geresnį bei ryškesnį įspūdį, lyginant su pastarąja.
Ištempta? Truputį. Nuobodoka? Šiek tiek. Per daug vardų, asmenybių ir sudėtingų, gal net nereikalingų, sąryšių, keliančių pasimetimą bei keblumą skaitant? Taip. Sunkiai perprantamos sąsajos tarp 1939m. ir 1956m.? Neretai taip. Nors gal tokie jausmai ir įspūdžiai - tik mano pačios bėda, gal per kelis tęsinius B. Giunterio tyrimų jau „atsikandau“ ir su lyg kiekviena dalimi jiems nebėra kuo manęs nustebinti, kaip tai pavyko padaryti pirmąjį kartą, kai prieš pradėdama skaityti absoliučiai nežinojau, ko tikėtis, kas ir kaip čia bus, kai jaučiausi tarsi patiekalų degustacijoje - iš anksto negali žinoti, koks bus skonis, ar jis taps tau priimtinu.
Jausdama simpatiją istorijai, žinoma, negaliu teigti, kad istorija visiškai nepatiko, kad neradau vieno ar kito kabliuko, kuriuo galėjau mėgautis. Vis dar stebiuosi rašytojo P. Kerr talentu taip subtiliai įtraukti konkrečius faktus, kad pastarieji vienu momentu ir suteiktų žinių skaitytojui, o tuo pačiu nesudarytų kliūčių mėgautis tyrimo etiudais, nusikaltėlio paieškomis ir sarkastiškąja B. Giunterio asmenybe. Kadangi vienas iš aptariamų laikotarpių (1939m.) yra II Pasaulinis karas, pastarojo elementų netrūksta. Pavyzdžiui, vokiečių planai pulti Lenkiją, nerimastingi Lotaringijos ir Elzaso klausimai, keblūs santykiai su prancūzais, aiški įžanga į žydų diskriminaciją, būsimą holokaustą, paminėtas ir Sudetų krašto atidavimas Vokietijai, tikintis, kad baisus karas neprasidės, o taip pat kiti įvykiai, gerai žinomi besidomintiems istorija arba tiems, kurie dar bent kiek pamena mokyklinį šio mokomojo dalyko kursą. Jau nekalbu apie fragmentus, atskleidžiančius A. Hitlerio asmenybę, o taip pat jo būstą, apsaugą ir kitus svarbius dalykus karo metu, apie kuriuos buvau pakankamai daug sužinojusi iš knygos „Sergint Hitlerį“, tad regėti minimalius jų paminėjimus čia - buvo įstabu.
Šį kartą istorijos pasakojimas dvejomis laiko perspektyvomis man nepaliko įspūdžio, kadangi pasigedau glaudesnės ir aiškesnės sąsajos tarp jų. Be to, 1939m. įvykiai kur kas įdomesni (visas esminis tyrimas vyksta būtent tada), personažai išraiškingesni ir, nors neretai visko buvo truputį per daug, lyginant su 1956m., kai, regis, nieko apskritai neįvyko, metai turėjo paveikesnę siužeto liniją. Pastarieji metai nublanko, todėl džiugu, kad jie pernelyg ir nedetalizuojami.
„Prūsų mėlis“ - detektyvinis tyrimas, nukeliantis skaitytoją į XX a. politinių aktualijų, tame tarpe ir į II Pasaulinio karo pradžią, srautą. Informacijos čia per akis, kadangi kūrinyje nestinga realiai gyvenusių žmonių (pavyzdžiui, A. Hitlerio bendrininkų ar kitų asmenų, buvusių diktatorių patikėtiniais), kurių charakteriai įtraukiami į istoriją taip, lyg tai būtų rašytojo išmonės vaisiai. Kaip ir kiekvienas kitas detektyvas, „Prūsų mėlis“ apipintas ieškojimais, tyrimo detalėmis, įtariamųjų keitimosi peripetijomis. Vienintelis skirtumas - tyrėjas Bernis, kurio charakteris išskiria jį iš visų kitų ir ilgai neleidžia pamiršti ar nublankti gausioje detektyvinių knygų protagonistų apsuptyje. Daugžodžiauti neverta, linkiu patiems pažinti ir pajusti tiek detektyvo atmosferą, tiek B. Giunterį - kas žino, gal tai taps viena geriausių knygų serijų, kurią skaitėte, o gal jums kaip ir man pasirodys, kad kas per daug - tas nesveika...
Rekomenduoju detektyvinių ir istorinių knygų mylėtojams, kadangi B. Giunterio tyrimai saikingai ir skoningai apima tiek vieną, tiek kitą sritį. Jeigu jaučiate simpatiją detektyvams, kuriuose nėra tiriamos šiurpios žmogžudystės, kur kraujas neteka upeliais arba netrykšta lyg fontanas, tuomet siūlau P. Kerr rašomus B. Giunterio tyrimus, kadangi visos mirtys, kiek jų čia rasite, ir subjaurotos žmonių kūnų išvaizdos yra aprašomos subtiliai, proto ribose, nesiekiant detalizuoti, pavyzdžiui, žaizdų, todėl gali skaityti ir jautresnis asmuo. Rekomenduoju mėgstantiems lėtesnius detektyvus, kuriuose daug dėmesio skiriama ne tik pačiam tyrimui, bet ir jo aplinkai (miestams, gyvenvietėms, kitaip tariant, istorijos fono sudarymui), pašaliniams (su pačiu tyrimu nesusijusiems) dalykams. Jeigu žavitės knygomis, kuriose net pagyvenęs tyrėjas turi ne tik vidinės ugnelės, cinkelio, bet ir visada geba išsisukti iš pačios sudėtingiausios situacijos, siūlau, kadangi B. Giunteris tikrai atitinka tokį apibūdinimą.
3/5⭐
Tik perskaičiusi pirmąjį B. Giunterio detektyvinį tyrimą, iš karto likau nustebinta ne tik rašymo stiliumi, idėja, siužetu ir protagonistu, bet ir tuo, kad sugebėta istorinius fragmentus taip įdomiai įtraukti į bendrą visumą, į nusikaltimo kontekstą. Pagalvojau, kad net ir tas skaitytojas, kuriam istoriniai įvykiai bei asmenybės didelio įspūdžio knygose nepalieka, tikrai liks sužavėtas ar bent jau mėgausis įdomesniu ir išskirtiniu skaitiniu, kadangi literatūroje tokių istorinių detektyvinių tyrimų pasirinkimas nėra gausus. Ne mažesnis efektas buvo ir tada, kai sužinojau, kad knygos parašytos dar XX a., bet nė kiek nenusileidžia šiuolaikiniams kūriniams. Žinoma, gali būti, kad tai iš dalies yra knygos vertėjo, profesionaliai padirbėjusio, nuopelnas. Iki „Prūsų mėlis“ buvau skaičiusi „Beveidis nusikaltėlis“ ir „Vokiškas rekviem“, kurios man paliko geresnį bei ryškesnį įspūdį, lyginant su pastarąja.
Ištempta? Truputį. Nuobodoka? Šiek tiek. Per daug vardų, asmenybių ir sudėtingų, gal net nereikalingų, sąryšių, keliančių pasimetimą bei keblumą skaitant? Taip. Sunkiai perprantamos sąsajos tarp 1939m. ir 1956m.? Neretai taip. Nors gal tokie jausmai ir įspūdžiai - tik mano pačios bėda, gal per kelis tęsinius B. Giunterio tyrimų jau „atsikandau“ ir su lyg kiekviena dalimi jiems nebėra kuo manęs nustebinti, kaip tai pavyko padaryti pirmąjį kartą, kai prieš pradėdama skaityti absoliučiai nežinojau, ko tikėtis, kas ir kaip čia bus, kai jaučiausi tarsi patiekalų degustacijoje - iš anksto negali žinoti, koks bus skonis, ar jis taps tau priimtinu.
Jausdama simpatiją istorijai, žinoma, negaliu teigti, kad istorija visiškai nepatiko, kad neradau vieno ar kito kabliuko, kuriuo galėjau mėgautis. Vis dar stebiuosi rašytojo P. Kerr talentu taip subtiliai įtraukti konkrečius faktus, kad pastarieji vienu momentu ir suteiktų žinių skaitytojui, o tuo pačiu nesudarytų kliūčių mėgautis tyrimo etiudais, nusikaltėlio paieškomis ir sarkastiškąja B. Giunterio asmenybe. Kadangi vienas iš aptariamų laikotarpių (1939m.) yra II Pasaulinis karas, pastarojo elementų netrūksta. Pavyzdžiui, vokiečių planai pulti Lenkiją, nerimastingi Lotaringijos ir Elzaso klausimai, keblūs santykiai su prancūzais, aiški įžanga į žydų diskriminaciją, būsimą holokaustą, paminėtas ir Sudetų krašto atidavimas Vokietijai, tikintis, kad baisus karas neprasidės, o taip pat kiti įvykiai, gerai žinomi besidomintiems istorija arba tiems, kurie dar bent kiek pamena mokyklinį šio mokomojo dalyko kursą. Jau nekalbu apie fragmentus, atskleidžiančius A. Hitlerio asmenybę, o taip pat jo būstą, apsaugą ir kitus svarbius dalykus karo metu, apie kuriuos buvau pakankamai daug sužinojusi iš knygos „Sergint Hitlerį“, tad regėti minimalius jų paminėjimus čia - buvo įstabu.
Šį kartą istorijos pasakojimas dvejomis laiko perspektyvomis man nepaliko įspūdžio, kadangi pasigedau glaudesnės ir aiškesnės sąsajos tarp jų. Be to, 1939m. įvykiai kur kas įdomesni (visas esminis tyrimas vyksta būtent tada), personažai išraiškingesni ir, nors neretai visko buvo truputį per daug, lyginant su 1956m., kai, regis, nieko apskritai neįvyko, metai turėjo paveikesnę siužeto liniją. Pastarieji metai nublanko, todėl džiugu, kad jie pernelyg ir nedetalizuojami.
„Prūsų mėlis“ - detektyvinis tyrimas, nukeliantis skaitytoją į XX a. politinių aktualijų, tame tarpe ir į II Pasaulinio karo pradžią, srautą. Informacijos čia per akis, kadangi kūrinyje nestinga realiai gyvenusių žmonių (pavyzdžiui, A. Hitlerio bendrininkų ar kitų asmenų, buvusių diktatorių patikėtiniais), kurių charakteriai įtraukiami į istoriją taip, lyg tai būtų rašytojo išmonės vaisiai. Kaip ir kiekvienas kitas detektyvas, „Prūsų mėlis“ apipintas ieškojimais, tyrimo detalėmis, įtariamųjų keitimosi peripetijomis. Vienintelis skirtumas - tyrėjas Bernis, kurio charakteris išskiria jį iš visų kitų ir ilgai neleidžia pamiršti ar nublankti gausioje detektyvinių knygų protagonistų apsuptyje. Daugžodžiauti neverta, linkiu patiems pažinti ir pajusti tiek detektyvo atmosferą, tiek B. Giunterį - kas žino, gal tai taps viena geriausių knygų serijų, kurią skaitėte, o gal jums kaip ir man pasirodys, kad kas per daug - tas nesveika...
Rekomenduoju detektyvinių ir istorinių knygų mylėtojams, kadangi B. Giunterio tyrimai saikingai ir skoningai apima tiek vieną, tiek kitą sritį. Jeigu jaučiate simpatiją detektyvams, kuriuose nėra tiriamos šiurpios žmogžudystės, kur kraujas neteka upeliais arba netrykšta lyg fontanas, tuomet siūlau P. Kerr rašomus B. Giunterio tyrimus, kadangi visos mirtys, kiek jų čia rasite, ir subjaurotos žmonių kūnų išvaizdos yra aprašomos subtiliai, proto ribose, nesiekiant detalizuoti, pavyzdžiui, žaizdų, todėl gali skaityti ir jautresnis asmuo. Rekomenduoju mėgstantiems lėtesnius detektyvus, kuriuose daug dėmesio skiriama ne tik pačiam tyrimui, bet ir jo aplinkai (miestams, gyvenvietėms, kitaip tariant, istorijos fono sudarymui), pašaliniams (su pačiu tyrimu nesusijusiems) dalykams. Jeigu žavitės knygomis, kuriose net pagyvenęs tyrėjas turi ne tik vidinės ugnelės, cinkelio, bet ir visada geba išsisukti iš pačios sudėtingiausios situacijos, siūlau, kadangi B. Giunteris tikrai atitinka tokį apibūdinimą.
3/5⭐
March 8, 2017
Unlike the earlier books in this series which were relatively short and sharp, this is loose, baggy and protracted: there's a framing story set in 1956 which picks up from the previous book, The Other Side of Silence; then, when Gunther goes on the run, his memory flips back to 1939 and we have another story which is more interesting.
In the 1939 story Gunther is sent to The Berghof, Hitler's private home, after a man is shot on the terrace there: as well as finding the murderer, Gunther is set by Heydrich to spy on Martin Bormann, involving him in the corrupt politics of Nazi power.
As usual, Gunther wisecracks his way through both stories, something which I find wearying. But what Kerr does so well is to wind in real, well-researched history with a fine eye for the telling detail. His inside take on the inner circles of the Third Reich make this series worth considering, and here he drops in some of the latest research on Nazi use of addictive metamphetamines.
There are a few small slips in the historical recreation (would anyone really say 'go figure' in 1939?) but what let this book down for me was the needlessly-long story: it takes too long to get going, too long to play out, too long even to get to the end - 550 pages to tell a story that is, at heart, much shorter.
Review from an ARC from Amazon Vine
In the 1939 story Gunther is sent to The Berghof, Hitler's private home, after a man is shot on the terrace there: as well as finding the murderer, Gunther is set by Heydrich to spy on Martin Bormann, involving him in the corrupt politics of Nazi power.
As usual, Gunther wisecracks his way through both stories, something which I find wearying. But what Kerr does so well is to wind in real, well-researched history with a fine eye for the telling detail. His inside take on the inner circles of the Third Reich make this series worth considering, and here he drops in some of the latest research on Nazi use of addictive metamphetamines.
There are a few small slips in the historical recreation (would anyone really say 'go figure' in 1939?) but what let this book down for me was the needlessly-long story: it takes too long to get going, too long to play out, too long even to get to the end - 550 pages to tell a story that is, at heart, much shorter.
Review from an ARC from Amazon Vine
October 20, 2022
1956-ieji. Bernis, žinoma, prisidengęs svetimu vardu, darbuojasi viename Rivjeros viešbučių. Tačiau matomai pasislėpė jis ne taip gerai, kaip manė. Čia jį suranda „Stasi“ karininkas ir pateikia pasiūlymą – iš tų, kurių negali atsisakyti. Berniui teks vykti į Londoną ir nužudyti ten vieną agentę. Kitu atveju, mirtis ištiks patį Bernį. Tačiau šis nei kiek neabejoja, kad net tuo atveju, jei įvykdytų užduotį, jo likimas būtų visiškai toks pats. Tad vienintelė išeitis – pasprukti nuo jį lydinčių „Stasi“ agentų. Ir štai Bernis jau juda per Prancūziją link Vakarų Vokietijos sienos, o jam ant kulnų lipa rytų vokiečiai ir visa Prancūzijos policija.
Tačiau tam pabėgimui knygoje skirta gal koks dešimtadalis. Pagrindinę vietą užima bylą, kurią jis vis prisimena. Byla, kurią jam teko tirti 1939-ais, kai Hitlerio vasarnamio terasoje buvo nužudytas inžinierius.
Kaip visada, Kerro romanuose apie Bernį, puikiai perteiktas laikmetis, detalės, o šįsyk – ne taip, kaip kartais Kerras mėgsta – gana tikslūs asmenybių portretai. Na,ir detektyvinė linija gana stipri.
Vienas geriausių romanų iš ciklo. Įspūdžio negadino net sykis nuo sykio išlendančios praslydusios korektūros klaidos.
Gal ne patys tvirčiausi, bet penki iš penkių. Man negaila.
Tačiau tam pabėgimui knygoje skirta gal koks dešimtadalis. Pagrindinę vietą užima bylą, kurią jis vis prisimena. Byla, kurią jam teko tirti 1939-ais, kai Hitlerio vasarnamio terasoje buvo nužudytas inžinierius.
Kaip visada, Kerro romanuose apie Bernį, puikiai perteiktas laikmetis, detalės, o šįsyk – ne taip, kaip kartais Kerras mėgsta – gana tikslūs asmenybių portretai. Na,ir detektyvinė linija gana stipri.
Vienas geriausių romanų iš ciklo. Įspūdžio negadino net sykis nuo sykio išlendančios praslydusios korektūros klaidos.
Gal ne patys tvirčiausi, bet penki iš penkių. Man negaila.
March 14, 2017
I received a free e-ARC from the publisher, via Netgalley.
I can’t believe it’s been 28 years since I read the first Bernie Gunther novel, March Violets. If you’re a fan of this series, you know that Philip Kerr wrote a trilogy from 1989-1991 (March Violets, The Pale Criminal and A German Requiem, known collectively as Berlin Noir) and didn’t return to the series for 15 years. But since he brought Bernie back in 2006, he’s come out with a new novel in the series every year or two, which makes Prussian Blue the 12th in the series.
In the post-Berlin Noir books, Kerr has generally used a dual-narrative approach, with a post-WW2 story and a Nazi-era story. There is always a connection between the two narratives, and I think there is a sort of chickens-come-home-to-roost feel to the postwar story. Maybe Kerr puts it better, though, when he has Bernie say: “If you live long enough you realize that everything that happens to us is all the same illusion, the same [s**t], the same celestial joke.” And so it is with Prussian Blue.
Prussian Blue picks up where the last novel, The Other Side of Silence, left off. It’s 1956 and Bernie is using a fake identity and working as a concierge on the French Riviera–––that is, until the East Germans catch up to him and make him an offer he can’t refuse. Of course, Bernie being Bernie, not refusing and actually doing are two very different things.
The other narrative, which is more than two-thirds of the book’s chapters, takes us back to 1939, before the German invasion of Poland, but well after anyone with a nose could smell the war coming. Bernie is once again pressed into a sleuthing service by high-ranking Nazi creep Reinhard Heydich.
Bernie’s task is to figure out who sniper-shot and killed a Nazi visitor on the terrace of Hitler’s palatial Bavarian alpine retreat in Obersalzberg. The pressure is intense because Bernie has just one week to crack the case before Hitler arrives for his birthday celebration. But the investigation is complicated by the sheer depth and breadth of corruption and infighting among all the Nazis in Obersalzberg and beyond.
The novel is a terrifically readable mix of plot complexity, action, history and powerful characterization. The connections between the 1939 and 1956 stories are well drawn and, as usual, we are left anxious for more. I haven’t come across a bad Bernie Gunther novel yet, but this one is particularly strong.
This book could be read as a standalone, but if you haven’t read any books in the series yet, you’d be best served by at least reading the Berlin Noir trilogy first.
I can’t believe it’s been 28 years since I read the first Bernie Gunther novel, March Violets. If you’re a fan of this series, you know that Philip Kerr wrote a trilogy from 1989-1991 (March Violets, The Pale Criminal and A German Requiem, known collectively as Berlin Noir) and didn’t return to the series for 15 years. But since he brought Bernie back in 2006, he’s come out with a new novel in the series every year or two, which makes Prussian Blue the 12th in the series.
In the post-Berlin Noir books, Kerr has generally used a dual-narrative approach, with a post-WW2 story and a Nazi-era story. There is always a connection between the two narratives, and I think there is a sort of chickens-come-home-to-roost feel to the postwar story. Maybe Kerr puts it better, though, when he has Bernie say: “If you live long enough you realize that everything that happens to us is all the same illusion, the same [s**t], the same celestial joke.” And so it is with Prussian Blue.
Prussian Blue picks up where the last novel, The Other Side of Silence, left off. It’s 1956 and Bernie is using a fake identity and working as a concierge on the French Riviera–––that is, until the East Germans catch up to him and make him an offer he can’t refuse. Of course, Bernie being Bernie, not refusing and actually doing are two very different things.
The other narrative, which is more than two-thirds of the book’s chapters, takes us back to 1939, before the German invasion of Poland, but well after anyone with a nose could smell the war coming. Bernie is once again pressed into a sleuthing service by high-ranking Nazi creep Reinhard Heydich.
Bernie’s task is to figure out who sniper-shot and killed a Nazi visitor on the terrace of Hitler’s palatial Bavarian alpine retreat in Obersalzberg. The pressure is intense because Bernie has just one week to crack the case before Hitler arrives for his birthday celebration. But the investigation is complicated by the sheer depth and breadth of corruption and infighting among all the Nazis in Obersalzberg and beyond.
The novel is a terrifically readable mix of plot complexity, action, history and powerful characterization. The connections between the 1939 and 1956 stories are well drawn and, as usual, we are left anxious for more. I haven’t come across a bad Bernie Gunther novel yet, but this one is particularly strong.
This book could be read as a standalone, but if you haven’t read any books in the series yet, you’d be best served by at least reading the Berlin Noir trilogy first.
August 26, 2017
Book# 12, in the Bernie Gunther Mysteries
This story moves back and forth between Nazi Germany in 1939 and the French Riviera in 1956. We follow Gunther match wits with German officials in two suspenseful stories that at first seemed to go their own ways but meshes nicely by the end. Mr. Kerr brings once again a renewed life to the monsters of the Nazi era and at the same time gives us a thrilling adventure, a deadly cat and mouse game in the French countryside….
Nothing is more frustrating for a cop with a conscience than to work under the Nazis and not end up in prison. “Prussian Blue”, swings around between a plot that trails the reluctant Gunther’s from France in the 50’s being pursued by his old enemies of the Reich, narrowly escaping the noose by doing dirty deeds to save himself. Then the plot brings Gunther to the days when he worked for Martin Bormann to clean up a messy situation at Hitler’s vacation home before he shows up for his birthday celebration in a week. The two plots go back and forth.
Mr. Kerr has a real talent in capturing the mood and misdeeds and once again brilliantly created a whodunit to bring the horrors of life during the Nazi’s regime. The shrewd and acute interpretations of facts blended with fiction makes for a believable depiction. The research and the accuracy of the historical setting can only match the best of the best authors; Mr. Kerr is definitely a master. I am a huge fan of Bernie Gunther and have devoured in gulps of fright and pleasure all of them to date. The plot is an entertaining adventure that takes in high crime, scandals, fraud, drugs and murder and features one of the most successful anti-heroes in crime fiction, Bernie Gunther: a WW1 veteran, a Kripo detective during WW11 who now roams the world like a wanted criminal. Gunther is not a young man how long can he stick around….only Mr. Kerr knows…but in the meantime I will be faithful to him….
I like this book but on the down side, although the pacing is steady it lacks the suspense I was hoping for. It is a bit overwritten, descriptions of people and places and long paragraphs stretch the plot over many pages unnecessary, making a meaty book to read.
Good story but not one at the top of my list.
This story moves back and forth between Nazi Germany in 1939 and the French Riviera in 1956. We follow Gunther match wits with German officials in two suspenseful stories that at first seemed to go their own ways but meshes nicely by the end. Mr. Kerr brings once again a renewed life to the monsters of the Nazi era and at the same time gives us a thrilling adventure, a deadly cat and mouse game in the French countryside….
Nothing is more frustrating for a cop with a conscience than to work under the Nazis and not end up in prison. “Prussian Blue”, swings around between a plot that trails the reluctant Gunther’s from France in the 50’s being pursued by his old enemies of the Reich, narrowly escaping the noose by doing dirty deeds to save himself. Then the plot brings Gunther to the days when he worked for Martin Bormann to clean up a messy situation at Hitler’s vacation home before he shows up for his birthday celebration in a week. The two plots go back and forth.
Mr. Kerr has a real talent in capturing the mood and misdeeds and once again brilliantly created a whodunit to bring the horrors of life during the Nazi’s regime. The shrewd and acute interpretations of facts blended with fiction makes for a believable depiction. The research and the accuracy of the historical setting can only match the best of the best authors; Mr. Kerr is definitely a master. I am a huge fan of Bernie Gunther and have devoured in gulps of fright and pleasure all of them to date. The plot is an entertaining adventure that takes in high crime, scandals, fraud, drugs and murder and features one of the most successful anti-heroes in crime fiction, Bernie Gunther: a WW1 veteran, a Kripo detective during WW11 who now roams the world like a wanted criminal. Gunther is not a young man how long can he stick around….only Mr. Kerr knows…but in the meantime I will be faithful to him….
I like this book but on the down side, although the pacing is steady it lacks the suspense I was hoping for. It is a bit overwritten, descriptions of people and places and long paragraphs stretch the plot over many pages unnecessary, making a meaty book to read.
Good story but not one at the top of my list.
September 9, 2017
If Goodreads allowed a 4.5 rating, that would be more accurate...perhaps even 4.75.
Yes, it was that good. Bernie Gunther and Philip Kerr at their best. And if I'm not mistaken this is the closest yet that our hero has come to actually coming face-to-face with Hitler, as he goes to Berchtesgaden at Heydrich's request to investigate a murder at the Berghof, Hitler's retreat in the Bavarian Alps.
Although Gunther doesn't actually meet the Fuhrer in this book, he's tasked with finding out who shot one of Martin Bormann's aids while he was standing on the terrace of one of the buildings within Hitler's private, and supposedly highly secure, compound. In the course of the investigation, which takes place during April 1939, pre-Hitler's 50th birthday, Gunther discovers just how corrupt Bormann, a member of the Nazi party Chancellory and Hitler's private secretary, and Bormann's inner circle were.
At the same time, and in typical Kerr fashion, there's a parallel story taking place in what's considered 'present day' Bernie Gunther time, April 1956. How Gunther keeps his powder dry against a host of violent characters and life threatening circumstances--during both events--is, of course, what makes these books so terrific and terrifically engaging.
Yes, it was that good. Bernie Gunther and Philip Kerr at their best. And if I'm not mistaken this is the closest yet that our hero has come to actually coming face-to-face with Hitler, as he goes to Berchtesgaden at Heydrich's request to investigate a murder at the Berghof, Hitler's retreat in the Bavarian Alps.
Although Gunther doesn't actually meet the Fuhrer in this book, he's tasked with finding out who shot one of Martin Bormann's aids while he was standing on the terrace of one of the buildings within Hitler's private, and supposedly highly secure, compound. In the course of the investigation, which takes place during April 1939, pre-Hitler's 50th birthday, Gunther discovers just how corrupt Bormann, a member of the Nazi party Chancellory and Hitler's private secretary, and Bormann's inner circle were.
At the same time, and in typical Kerr fashion, there's a parallel story taking place in what's considered 'present day' Bernie Gunther time, April 1956. How Gunther keeps his powder dry against a host of violent characters and life threatening circumstances--during both events--is, of course, what makes these books so terrific and terrifically engaging.
July 16, 2021
Flitting between Gunther investigating a murder at Hitler's mountain retreat Obersalzburg in 1939 and Gunther fleeing through France from Stasi Deputy Chief Eric Mielke's blackmailing in 1956, this is Kerr on top form. The glue that fuses the two storylines is Korch, one-time ally of Gunther's at the Berlin Kripo. This might be the 12th outing for the sardonic detective, but the series is in no way flagging from its gripping tempo.
October 28, 2020
Ένας εξαιρετικός Kerr ! Όπως στην τριλογία του Βερολίνου και στη Μοιραία Πράγα !
September 21, 2018
Being asked which is the best Bernie Gunther thriller, must be like being asked which is your favourite child. Impossible to say, though if it were my child, I'd shower this one with gifts, love and affection.
Prussian Blue can't be far off the longest Bernie Gunther thriller so far. 500+ pages packed with incident, real-life characters, close-shaves, flash-backs and slow-backs as Bernie races to get back to Berlin while staying ahead of the vicious monsters chasing him, while being reminded of a really rather bizarre and chilling investigation he was forced into during the war. That's it in a nutshell, but with Philip Kerr and Bernie Gunther involved, you know you're in for a whole lot more. The book is also a look at Martin Bormann, the 'cult of Hitler' and the detachment from reality, the Nazi inner-circle both instigated and prolonged.
The Speesh Reads Infiltration Department have smuggled a coded message back from the other side of the Berlin Wall: The name Stasi, is a shortening of Ministerium für Staatssicherheit. It meant 'The Ministry for State Security.'
Bernie seems to have had enough of this shit too. Obviously, getting away from his post-War life on the French Riviera, was a sensible, life-or-death move. If he wanted to have more of the former, and not the latter, but the lure of a return to Berlin was finally too strong, you could almost hear him damning the consequences in the need to get back to where, despite all that has happened to him in his eventful life, he still feels is 'home.' As Lee Child is quoted on the cover:
Bernie Gunther - sly, subversive, sardonic, and occasionally hilarious - is one of the greatest anti-heroes ever written, and as always, he lights up this tough and unflinching novel.
For me, while Prussian Blue was the point that the news of Philip Kerr's untimely death broke. Reading it turned to a bitter sweet experience, then to a good one, as I thought, how lucky I was to have been around at the same time that one of any kind of Fiction's best exponents was writing at the absolute top of his - and anyone else's - game.
Check out the Speesh Reads Pinterest board for Prussian Blue
Blog: Speesh Reads
Facebook: Speesh Reads
Prussian Blue can't be far off the longest Bernie Gunther thriller so far. 500+ pages packed with incident, real-life characters, close-shaves, flash-backs and slow-backs as Bernie races to get back to Berlin while staying ahead of the vicious monsters chasing him, while being reminded of a really rather bizarre and chilling investigation he was forced into during the war. That's it in a nutshell, but with Philip Kerr and Bernie Gunther involved, you know you're in for a whole lot more. The book is also a look at Martin Bormann, the 'cult of Hitler' and the detachment from reality, the Nazi inner-circle both instigated and prolonged.
The Speesh Reads Infiltration Department have smuggled a coded message back from the other side of the Berlin Wall: The name Stasi, is a shortening of Ministerium für Staatssicherheit. It meant 'The Ministry for State Security.'
Bernie seems to have had enough of this shit too. Obviously, getting away from his post-War life on the French Riviera, was a sensible, life-or-death move. If he wanted to have more of the former, and not the latter, but the lure of a return to Berlin was finally too strong, you could almost hear him damning the consequences in the need to get back to where, despite all that has happened to him in his eventful life, he still feels is 'home.' As Lee Child is quoted on the cover:
Bernie Gunther - sly, subversive, sardonic, and occasionally hilarious - is one of the greatest anti-heroes ever written, and as always, he lights up this tough and unflinching novel.
For me, while Prussian Blue was the point that the news of Philip Kerr's untimely death broke. Reading it turned to a bitter sweet experience, then to a good one, as I thought, how lucky I was to have been around at the same time that one of any kind of Fiction's best exponents was writing at the absolute top of his - and anyone else's - game.
Check out the Speesh Reads Pinterest board for Prussian Blue
Blog: Speesh Reads
Facebook: Speesh Reads
December 11, 2017
Excellent escapist post second world war novel with lots of insights and cleverly written
March 23, 2017
It’s 1939 at the Berghof. A Nazi apparatchik just got shot – on the terrace where Hitler takes his tea!
The action starts in 1956, but the heart of this story is set back at the beginning of WW2. As ever, the cynical and snarky Berlin detective must balance the demands of his fascist masters with his increasingly dangerous compulsion to do the right thing. As ever, Bernie is steered by his own moral compass to stay just about on the side of the righteous, although the compromises he must make are becoming ever harder to justify. As ever, his wiseass mouth gets him into all kinds of trouble. As ever, there’s attractive women tend to lead him astray. And, as ever, SS thugs and SD agents are quite keen to bust his balls. Or his skull. It’s all the same to them.
The story is genuinely intriguing, multi-layered whodunit, packed with possibilities. The shooting looks like a political killing, and there are plenty of hard-faced, blonde-haired, ambitious and angry men who might have done it – and who could be plotting another, more sensational assassination. But the murdered man has his own chequered history, and Kerr skilfully builds a thoroughly rewarding story around both possibilities.
As usual, Kerr’s historical detail and references are impeccable; it’s almost impossible to tell where reality ends and fiction begins. It was a canny move, telling a story from WW2 without breaking the overall series continuity. I enjoyed the flashback to Bernie’s earlier existence more than other recent books where the action takes place post-war.
But there is no escaping the unnecessarily unwieldy length of this book. The lumbering sequences in 1956, which are interspliced with the 1939 story, detract from the main narrative, slow the pace and add very little atmosphere or tension. Prussian Blue contains two stories, and the 1939 one is by far the better.
8/10
There's a longer version of this review (and many others) over at https://murdermayhemandmore.wordpress...
The action starts in 1956, but the heart of this story is set back at the beginning of WW2. As ever, the cynical and snarky Berlin detective must balance the demands of his fascist masters with his increasingly dangerous compulsion to do the right thing. As ever, Bernie is steered by his own moral compass to stay just about on the side of the righteous, although the compromises he must make are becoming ever harder to justify. As ever, his wiseass mouth gets him into all kinds of trouble. As ever, there’s attractive women tend to lead him astray. And, as ever, SS thugs and SD agents are quite keen to bust his balls. Or his skull. It’s all the same to them.
The story is genuinely intriguing, multi-layered whodunit, packed with possibilities. The shooting looks like a political killing, and there are plenty of hard-faced, blonde-haired, ambitious and angry men who might have done it – and who could be plotting another, more sensational assassination. But the murdered man has his own chequered history, and Kerr skilfully builds a thoroughly rewarding story around both possibilities.
As usual, Kerr’s historical detail and references are impeccable; it’s almost impossible to tell where reality ends and fiction begins. It was a canny move, telling a story from WW2 without breaking the overall series continuity. I enjoyed the flashback to Bernie’s earlier existence more than other recent books where the action takes place post-war.
But there is no escaping the unnecessarily unwieldy length of this book. The lumbering sequences in 1956, which are interspliced with the 1939 story, detract from the main narrative, slow the pace and add very little atmosphere or tension. Prussian Blue contains two stories, and the 1939 one is by far the better.
8/10
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February 6, 2017
In this latest addition to the adventures of Bernie Gunther, Bernie finds himself in 1956 hunted through France by a gang of murderous East German Stasi agents, led by a former colleague from Berlin Kripo days. The link character reminds Bernie of a dramatic case from 1939 when an architect was shot dead on the balcony of Hitler’s Berghaus in Obersalzberg. Afraid that a sniper could just as easily shoot the Leader himself, Bernie is ordered by Heydrich to investigate and solve the case as quickly as possible.
Prussian Blue is as good as expected from this author, a substantial, thoroughly satisfying read. I found myself wanting to savour it, but instead devouring it. I empathised strongly with Bernie’s own disquiet: is protecting Hitler tantamount to being a Nazi oneself? Could he have acted differently and if so, could much evil have been avoided? No easy answers here – Bernie is branded a fascist by a number of his Stasi opponents – yet, Mielke and his fictional minions behave in much the same way as the Nazis of earlier years. Once again, Philip Kerr explores in his fiction many of the lesser known characters and dilemmas thrown up by the Nazi era.
Prussian Blue is as good as expected from this author, a substantial, thoroughly satisfying read. I found myself wanting to savour it, but instead devouring it. I empathised strongly with Bernie’s own disquiet: is protecting Hitler tantamount to being a Nazi oneself? Could he have acted differently and if so, could much evil have been avoided? No easy answers here – Bernie is branded a fascist by a number of his Stasi opponents – yet, Mielke and his fictional minions behave in much the same way as the Nazis of earlier years. Once again, Philip Kerr explores in his fiction many of the lesser known characters and dilemmas thrown up by the Nazi era.
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