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Reim #3
Berlin Centre
A West German police officer defects to the GDR, bringing news of a mole in the Stasi.Lieutenant Reim leads the initial inquiry but is unconvinced by the defector’s claims.As rumours of a Western spy spread through Berlin Centre, Reim is sent to Bonn on a mission to catch a mole he doesn't want to find – does his reluctance to investigate have anything to do with the secrets he'd prefer remained hidden?Book 1 of the Bruno Affair trilogy, part of the Lieutenant Reim Series.
211 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 25, 2019
148 people are currently reading
54 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 - 8 of 8 reviews
January 8, 2024
Berlin Centre – Max Hertzberg.
Berlin Centre is the third of Max Hertzberg’s novels set in the mid eighties and following the adventures and misadventures of Stasi Officer Lieutenant Reim.
The novels are written in the first person and paint a picture of Reim as the world weary and cynical cop that we all know from a thousand novels and television series. As a morally ambiguous anti-hero Reim is very much in the mould of Phillip Kerr’s Bernie Gunther. Intriguingly we are never told whether Reim believes, or ever believed in the GDR experiment.
Hertzberg was previously a Stasi and East German Communist Party archivist, and his novels are filled with a host of colourful and believable details about life in East Germany. There is a helpful glossary for readers who are unfamiliar with Trabants, Doppelkorn and Stasi slang although I referred to it only rarely as the context usually made it unnecessary. A colleague comes to Reim with news of a rumour from a West German defector that there is a mole at the heart of the Stasi’s Berlin Centre, Reim agrees to investigate, but cautiously. He must navigate the bureaucracy and political intrigues of the Stasi itself and every move he makes must have a corresponding escape route of plausibility, deniability, or both. Above all he must trust nobody, ever, Reim’s investigation takes him for the first time into West Germany where things become unexpectedly complicated.
This is a good adventure story with enough action to keep most readers satisfied but the real strength of the novel is the very believable world that Hertzberg creates. It is a little like Deighton’s Game, Set and Match novels written from the other side and perfectly portrays the paranoia of living in a Stasi state, even if one is a Stasi officer.
Berlin Centre is the third of Max Hertzberg’s novels set in the mid eighties and following the adventures and misadventures of Stasi Officer Lieutenant Reim.
The novels are written in the first person and paint a picture of Reim as the world weary and cynical cop that we all know from a thousand novels and television series. As a morally ambiguous anti-hero Reim is very much in the mould of Phillip Kerr’s Bernie Gunther. Intriguingly we are never told whether Reim believes, or ever believed in the GDR experiment.
Hertzberg was previously a Stasi and East German Communist Party archivist, and his novels are filled with a host of colourful and believable details about life in East Germany. There is a helpful glossary for readers who are unfamiliar with Trabants, Doppelkorn and Stasi slang although I referred to it only rarely as the context usually made it unnecessary. A colleague comes to Reim with news of a rumour from a West German defector that there is a mole at the heart of the Stasi’s Berlin Centre, Reim agrees to investigate, but cautiously. He must navigate the bureaucracy and political intrigues of the Stasi itself and every move he makes must have a corresponding escape route of plausibility, deniability, or both. Above all he must trust nobody, ever, Reim’s investigation takes him for the first time into West Germany where things become unexpectedly complicated.
This is a good adventure story with enough action to keep most readers satisfied but the real strength of the novel is the very believable world that Hertzberg creates. It is a little like Deighton’s Game, Set and Match novels written from the other side and perfectly portrays the paranoia of living in a Stasi state, even if one is a Stasi officer.
October 4, 2019
Excellent Stazi espionage series
I read all three Reim novels. They were all well thought out, but "Berlin Center" was the best of all three. More nuance and Hertzberg really captures the paranoia and pathological secrecy operating with in the Stazi. I had no idea how Berlin Center would turn out and that's a sign of a good espionage thriller. Hertzberg, really knows his Berlin Geography.
I read all three Reim novels. They were all well thought out, but "Berlin Center" was the best of all three. More nuance and Hertzberg really captures the paranoia and pathological secrecy operating with in the Stazi. I had no idea how Berlin Center would turn out and that's a sign of a good espionage thriller. Hertzberg, really knows his Berlin Geography.
October 16, 2019
A mole hunt and a West German defector. The Reim books are about bureaucratic turf fighting as much as they are straight spy novels. There’s a fair amount of field action in this one as well as the usual file searching. Hertzberg is a good writer but the deadly conformity of the GDR makes this trilogy kind of flat - everyone is paranoid but the stakes are so low.
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January 12, 2020Slightly tortuous in places but good
A good read with a great twist. Just a bit too confusing at times (this may just be me, I realise! ) which is the reason for dropping a couple of stars. But good enough to keep me going to the end. I like the character of Reim and the setting and am looking forward to the next.
A good read with a great twist. Just a bit too confusing at times (this may just be me, I realise! ) which is the reason for dropping a couple of stars. But good enough to keep me going to the end. I like the character of Reim and the setting and am looking forward to the next.
July 1, 2020
I love this series but the atmosphere is so dark and oppressive, I wonder whether many others would appreciate it.
For the mass market, David Young's Stasi series is probably preferable...more of a commercial success, I assume. Those books are fine but I prefer the gritty realism of the Hertzberg series.
For the mass market, David Young's Stasi series is probably preferable...more of a commercial success, I assume. Those books are fine but I prefer the gritty realism of the Hertzberg series.
July 7, 2019
Brilliant
Hmm such a shame that the series has come to an end. Been a really enjoyable read. Definitely recommend to others.
Hmm such a shame that the series has come to an end. Been a really enjoyable read. Definitely recommend to others.
August 29, 2019
I enjoyed this so much that I bought the next two in the series two days later. Good fun seeing the world through the eyes of the Stasi
September 21, 2021
Berlin Centre, the third book of the Reim series offers the same clear fast-paced action, finely detailed setting, and the same inter-agency machinations as the first two books. Reim, though still ruthlessly opportunistic in preserving his own hide, shows for the first time a susceptibility, if only slight, to human compassion.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews