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Reim #1
Stasi Vice: An East German crime novel
Lieutenant Reim of the Stasi is keen to avoid trouble. Reim enjoys his life in East Berlin and sees no need for his days behind a desk and nights in front of the bottle to change. But when a senior officer has a messy affair, it falls to Reim to do the clearing up. It should be a straightforward job. Lean on a few people to get them to shut up. Intimidate neighbours, bribe officials and appeal to the socialist conscience of Party members. But when Reim starts his interrogations, he realises his boss is hiding more than just a lover. Lieutenant Reim begins to investigate his superior—and what he uncovers puts his own life at risk. Cracking DDR crime from the author of the East Berlin Series
187 pages, Paperback
Published October 20, 2018
287 people are currently reading
162 people want to read
About the author
Max Hertzberg
13 books42 followersPreviously an academic researcher (evaluating Stasi and SED files on opposition movements and on security on the Berlin Wall). More recently a social change trainer and facilitator.
Often to be found living in Berlin, Max is currently travelling around Eastern Europe and Germany doing research for further novels.
Often to be found living in Berlin, Max is currently travelling around Eastern Europe and Germany doing research for further novels.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
August 23, 2019
I very much wanted to like this novel and this author, having just spent a week visiting Berlin.
Hertzberg almost pulls it off but - as another reviewer has suggested - it’s full of cliches and it feels like it’s written by a Western author who hated East Germany. Which I think it was. The constant use of phrases and terms from every Bond and Le Carré novel becomes tiresome.
The plot is quite tricky (not as thin as the same reviewer suggests) but not strong. Although an interesting story is built up, it all snaps into place in just a few pages: with one bound Jack was free. That was disappointing.
Yet curiously, I am left wanting to follow Reim to the next story, and I’m hoping Hertzberg’s storylines develop more strongly.
If you like Le Carré, you will probably be irritated by Herzberg. If you like Ellis Peters, then you’ll probably enjoy this. If you know Berlin, the mention of places on every page will also appeal (even if you need Google Maps alongside you).
This isn’t great detective fiction but it’s not poor; Hertzberg comes close to a great read, but not close enough.
Hertzberg almost pulls it off but - as another reviewer has suggested - it’s full of cliches and it feels like it’s written by a Western author who hated East Germany. Which I think it was. The constant use of phrases and terms from every Bond and Le Carré novel becomes tiresome.
The plot is quite tricky (not as thin as the same reviewer suggests) but not strong. Although an interesting story is built up, it all snaps into place in just a few pages: with one bound Jack was free. That was disappointing.
Yet curiously, I am left wanting to follow Reim to the next story, and I’m hoping Hertzberg’s storylines develop more strongly.
If you like Le Carré, you will probably be irritated by Herzberg. If you like Ellis Peters, then you’ll probably enjoy this. If you know Berlin, the mention of places on every page will also appeal (even if you need Google Maps alongside you).
This isn’t great detective fiction but it’s not poor; Hertzberg comes close to a great read, but not close enough.
August 13, 2021
What a riveting read!
This was my first Max Hertzberg novel, but won’t be my last.
I find that the ending is always the part of a novel that the author seems to struggle with; not with Stasi Vice. The pace throughout the book just builds and builds, right up to the last page.
What a riveting read!
Regards,
Peter
This was my first Max Hertzberg novel, but won’t be my last.
I find that the ending is always the part of a novel that the author seems to struggle with; not with Stasi Vice. The pace throughout the book just builds and builds, right up to the last page.
What a riveting read!
Regards,
Peter
August 8, 2019
The plot is flimsy, to say the least, and the characters are stereotypical. This is a book full of clichés and, when you finally finish it, you feel as if you'd like your money back.
November 23, 2019
Couldn't agree more with Phil Hendrick.
Feels almost like a waist of time.
Feels almost like a waist of time.
November 2, 2020
A limp story partly salvaged by basis within East Germany
Rather casual plot with underformed characters. Too much emphasis on details of travel. There is a twist, but it neither surprised nor excited me.
Rather casual plot with underformed characters. Too much emphasis on details of travel. There is a twist, but it neither surprised nor excited me.
April 23, 2022
Easy-reading, entertaining East German mystery
Karl Peter Reim is the hard-boiled detective in the East German secret police, called the Stasi. He is charged (somewhat inexplicably) by his boss to find out what people are saying about an affair the boss is having. Reim reluctantly sets out on the case which is unexpectedly surprising along the way.
Reim is an well-developed complex character. Kind of an anti-hero type. He likes his job, but he’s a tough guy who likes “leaning” on people to get them to talk. He likes cultivating contacts, which means blackmailing them to get info. He’s not a nice guy. No surprise he has a disastrous marriage and doesn’t seem too happy on a personal level. Yet his job in the Stasi makes him tick.
Increasingly, I enjoy this genre of East European mysteries, and this one fits the type well. Hertzberg delivers and easy-reading, entertaining yarn. I’ll continue to follow Reim’s exploits.
Karl Peter Reim is the hard-boiled detective in the East German secret police, called the Stasi. He is charged (somewhat inexplicably) by his boss to find out what people are saying about an affair the boss is having. Reim reluctantly sets out on the case which is unexpectedly surprising along the way.
Reim is an well-developed complex character. Kind of an anti-hero type. He likes his job, but he’s a tough guy who likes “leaning” on people to get them to talk. He likes cultivating contacts, which means blackmailing them to get info. He’s not a nice guy. No surprise he has a disastrous marriage and doesn’t seem too happy on a personal level. Yet his job in the Stasi makes him tick.
Increasingly, I enjoy this genre of East European mysteries, and this one fits the type well. Hertzberg delivers and easy-reading, entertaining yarn. I’ll continue to follow Reim’s exploits.
August 14, 2019
If you enjoy Deutschland 83/86 chances are you will take to this.
While Deutschland 83/86 were often engaged overseas and in West Germany this focuses on more local East German matters, but still exploring a system the reader knows is doomed but the participants do not (bar the end of D86). But throughout it is the vagaries of the human condition that prevail. I kept thinking of the Berlin trilogy Game, Set and Match, happening, mostly, but metres away across the “anti-fascist protection barrier”. Many of the same attitudes towards the system, superiors and the East German public also reminded me of the opening chapters of Fatherland, albeit the same city if the Nazis had remained in power. If such matters interest you read Stasi Vice.
While Deutschland 83/86 were often engaged overseas and in West Germany this focuses on more local East German matters, but still exploring a system the reader knows is doomed but the participants do not (bar the end of D86). But throughout it is the vagaries of the human condition that prevail. I kept thinking of the Berlin trilogy Game, Set and Match, happening, mostly, but metres away across the “anti-fascist protection barrier”. Many of the same attitudes towards the system, superiors and the East German public also reminded me of the opening chapters of Fatherland, albeit the same city if the Nazis had remained in power. If such matters interest you read Stasi Vice.
October 16, 2019
Pretty good; 3.5 stars. Another in the several police series in which a reasonably honest cop works in a dictatorship (eg Kerr’s Bernie Gunther books). Something tricky is going on in the STASI and Reim starts pulling on strings, finding his boss playing both sides of the street. One narrative problem is that the GDR is so grey and bureaucratic that there’s a lot of dealing with files and the procedures for getting anything done. The ending comes out of left field and the business of the fallen envelope is too lucky.
August 23, 2020
Stasi Vice is a decent thriller set in East Berlin 1983. Reim (the hero - main character) sets off on what can only be described as a 'Cook's tour' of the city on a mysterious mission ordered by his boss, a Stasi major.
It's fairly pedestrian for most of the time with much repetition but, as the end approaches, it becomes quite interesting and the climax is fairly exciting. Enough, it seems, to persuade me to read the next in the series.
David Lowther. Author of The Blue Pencil, Liberating Belsen, Two Families at War and the Summer of '39, all published by Sacristy Press
It's fairly pedestrian for most of the time with much repetition but, as the end approaches, it becomes quite interesting and the climax is fairly exciting. Enough, it seems, to persuade me to read the next in the series.
David Lowther. Author of The Blue Pencil, Liberating Belsen, Two Families at War and the Summer of '39, all published by Sacristy Press
July 21, 2021
I read this book because I like Berlin having visited many times and thoroughly enjoyed all the Bernie Gunter novels, Volker Kutscher novels featuring Gereon Rath and David Young's books about the Stasi. It's an odd book like nothing I have read before. The basic plot is fair enough but it is a short novel with very little in the way of characterisation. Max Hertzberg obviously knows a lot about the Stazi, I would like to have had a bit more detail regarding the people appearing in the novel. I think the Glossary at the end was probably the most interesting part.
January 23, 2021
It is a very short novel but the tension builds constantly.
We see life through the eyes of a stasi officer. He is trying to sort out a mess for his boss but who is fooling who? He hopes to play people off to give him an edge but finds it's him who has been played.
The writing style means you only find things out when the detective does. There is a lot of internal monologue.
For a first novel it grabbed my attention and I will read more.
We see life through the eyes of a stasi officer. He is trying to sort out a mess for his boss but who is fooling who? He hopes to play people off to give him an edge but finds it's him who has been played.
The writing style means you only find things out when the detective does. There is a lot of internal monologue.
For a first novel it grabbed my attention and I will read more.
September 9, 2021
I didn't know what to make of this book at first, I felt as though it wasn't in the same league as David Young's series of crime books set in East Germany which had a strong Stasi theme throughout. The main character reminded me of Michael Caine but as the story progressed I really got into the plot and characters and found it a very good easy read. I will certainly be reading the rest of the books in this series.
October 7, 2020
I rated this book the same as Mr. David Lowther (see below) for much the same reasons he did. The subject matter is interesting, and the descriptions of life in East Berlin (GDR) gives the reader a pretty dim view of communist socialism. I can't say I want to spend any more time with 2nd Lt Reim, but I might come back to book 2. For right now-- one and done!
March 11, 2021
Very good slow start which slowly unravels towards an interesting climax
The books starts slowly and with twists and turns the stasi detective slowly figures out what is happening around him. Interesting read!
The books starts slowly and with twists and turns the stasi detective slowly figures out what is happening around him. Interesting read!
January 23, 2023
Well researched and breezy read
Liked character development and plot twists. Need to have background knowledge of Stasi inner workings. Enjoyed detailed description of daily life in the GDR
Liked character development and plot twists. Need to have background knowledge of Stasi inner workings. Enjoyed detailed description of daily life in the GDR
June 15, 2024
2.75, rounded up I guess.
It was OK - a bit rough around the edges and read like a noir film. Not bad, but not great. I originally had my eye on this series because I like historical fiction and I'm fascinated by the time period and locale.
I bought the whole series so we'll see how it goes.
It was OK - a bit rough around the edges and read like a noir film. Not bad, but not great. I originally had my eye on this series because I like historical fiction and I'm fascinated by the time period and locale.
I bought the whole series so we'll see how it goes.
August 29, 2019
Continues the intriguing theme. I enjoy this man's writing
September 8, 2019
Very enjoyable - looking forward to the rest of the series.
DDR crime - shades of Kerr's Gunther.
Very good!
DDR crime - shades of Kerr's Gunther.
Very good!
October 30, 2019
Interesting take on the crime novel. This one set in East Germany prior to the fall of the regime. Great plot with a surprising twist at the end.
May 14, 2020
Really atmospheric read. Well developed characters and a quality story with layers of interest and intrigue.
Just bought the next two in the series.
Just bought the next two in the series.
August 26, 2020
Fresh Voice- this guy can write.
A very well-done novel. I will definitely read the others in the series and recommend these books to all who like a sharp voice and twisted mystery.
A very well-done novel. I will definitely read the others in the series and recommend these books to all who like a sharp voice and twisted mystery.
January 5, 2021
interesting to think about the East German side of things. unfortunately a disappointment and plot is ultimately a disappointment.
March 29, 2021
ridiculous story and uninteresting characters
April 3, 2022
This is a very valiant effort, and one feels with a little more effort to tighten up the plot this could have been much better. The attention to the smaller details of life in the GDR is a highlight.
February 19, 2024
It was okay. I enjoyed all the references to East Germany. More noir than I expected. Too many loose ends, but it was a quick read.
June 5, 2024
Book felt like it never reached it's full potential. The plot was relatively flat and unengaging.
May 17, 2025
liked it a lot. very creative and unusual
June 29, 2022
Difficult to follow
It was hard at the beginning with the names and the titles and the streets and locations, but I was eventually able to follow Reim in his investigation.
I liked Reim but I could tell what was happening and where the story was going. And frankly I was a bit disappointed with the ending.
Good story and good book but I will not go to #2.
It was hard at the beginning with the names and the titles and the streets and locations, but I was eventually able to follow Reim in his investigation.
I liked Reim but I could tell what was happening and where the story was going. And frankly I was a bit disappointed with the ending.
Good story and good book but I will not go to #2.
September 21, 2021
Author, Max Hertzberg, used his experience as a Stasi officer in the now defunct GDR to build a detailed and, to me, fascinating account of the travails of a young intelligence ministry officer, Hans-Peter Reim. Stasi Vice is the first of a series in which the hard-boiled, hard drinking Reim schemes, cheats and twists the bureaucratic security apparatus to satisfy an "operational objective" which he has made a personal obsession.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews