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Berlin Tales #1
Berlin Vertigo
Berlin. 1928. A golden era where darkness is brewing.
Set in the jazz-age decadence and freewheeling spirit of Weimar Germany, Thomas Strack suddenly finds himself embroiled in a murder.
But that’s not his only concern, for Thomas must quickly confront the idea that his reckless friend is the killer.
As he searches for the victim's identity, political tensions in the city run high, and he soon realises the death has dangerous connotations.
And if he doesn’t get to the heart of its secret, who exactly will pay the price and how?
Berlin Vertigo is a mystery novel about subterfuge, betrayal and friendship, that introduces the key players of the Berlin Tales series.
Set in the jazz-age decadence and freewheeling spirit of Weimar Germany, Thomas Strack suddenly finds himself embroiled in a murder.
But that’s not his only concern, for Thomas must quickly confront the idea that his reckless friend is the killer.
As he searches for the victim's identity, political tensions in the city run high, and he soon realises the death has dangerous connotations.
And if he doesn’t get to the heart of its secret, who exactly will pay the price and how?
Berlin Vertigo is a mystery novel about subterfuge, betrayal and friendship, that introduces the key players of the Berlin Tales series.
- GenresGermany
Kindle Edition
Published March 1, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
April 11, 2020
This story was inspired by the painting ‘Roof terrace at Potsdam’ by Lotte Laserstein, who’s called Jana Constein in this book. I had a look at the painting and It’s not doing anything for me and unfortunately, neither does this book.
The premise is exciting enough. Two young men from very different backgrounds are friends who spend a weekend in Potsdam to pose for the aforementioned painting. They go on a pub-crawl where they’re bothered by a young guy, a boy in fact, who begs a place to stay. Later, back in Kathe’s flat where they’re staying, they catch a thief (no-one else than the begging boy from earlier that night). Thomas witnesses how his friend throws the thief off the roof terrace but when they get down to the street, there’s no trace of him whatsoever. Thomas tries convincing his friend that it was an accident; that the boy obviously survived and that it was his own fault for stealing, … Thomas feels that his life has changed forever.
The rest of the book is boring. Nothing much happens until at the end, an explanation is given. The clue is well found but the middle section of this book soaked in a feeling of despondency, hopelessness and languor. All book long, nothing really happens at all. Most interesting are the daily routines of Thomas’ neighbours. The pages are filled with long tedious descriptions of a night out in Berlin with unnecessary details of that what’s seen, said and done. Normally I like detailed descriptions of people and places, but here they serve no goal but an exercise of style. I know this kind of writing was popular during the twenties and fifties of the last century but it’s not something I can appreciate.
I received a free ARC from the author and this is my honest review of it.
The premise is exciting enough. Two young men from very different backgrounds are friends who spend a weekend in Potsdam to pose for the aforementioned painting. They go on a pub-crawl where they’re bothered by a young guy, a boy in fact, who begs a place to stay. Later, back in Kathe’s flat where they’re staying, they catch a thief (no-one else than the begging boy from earlier that night). Thomas witnesses how his friend throws the thief off the roof terrace but when they get down to the street, there’s no trace of him whatsoever. Thomas tries convincing his friend that it was an accident; that the boy obviously survived and that it was his own fault for stealing, … Thomas feels that his life has changed forever.
The rest of the book is boring. Nothing much happens until at the end, an explanation is given. The clue is well found but the middle section of this book soaked in a feeling of despondency, hopelessness and languor. All book long, nothing really happens at all. Most interesting are the daily routines of Thomas’ neighbours. The pages are filled with long tedious descriptions of a night out in Berlin with unnecessary details of that what’s seen, said and done. Normally I like detailed descriptions of people and places, but here they serve no goal but an exercise of style. I know this kind of writing was popular during the twenties and fifties of the last century but it’s not something I can appreciate.
I received a free ARC from the author and this is my honest review of it.
January 24, 2022
The search for a series to love as much as Philip Kerr's Bernie Gunther goes on. This book is interesting to me as I have written a trilogy of novels inspired by external sources, the movies Cabaret, Chinatown, and Groundhog Day. Here the inspiration is a painting.
It's a page-turner, and there's nothing wrong with that in my opinion, and the pre-WW2 scenes in Potsdam and Berlin are well-drawn. The plot is a little thin and relies on one of the characters expecting another to act decisively. He doesn't and this leads to the mystery at the heart of the story being extended further than it would have been in real life.
The writing is mostly straightforward but at times the metaphors and similes are forced and occasionally the dialogue is written as if it is a bad translation of the German original.
It was good for a holiday read but I'm not sure I'm hooked enough to try the next in the series.
It's a page-turner, and there's nothing wrong with that in my opinion, and the pre-WW2 scenes in Potsdam and Berlin are well-drawn. The plot is a little thin and relies on one of the characters expecting another to act decisively. He doesn't and this leads to the mystery at the heart of the story being extended further than it would have been in real life.
The writing is mostly straightforward but at times the metaphors and similes are forced and occasionally the dialogue is written as if it is a bad translation of the German original.
It was good for a holiday read but I'm not sure I'm hooked enough to try the next in the series.
December 21, 2021
I've read a number of excellent book series, set in 1920s and 1930s Germany, notably Philip Kerr's Bernie Gunther books, Jim McDermott's Otto Fischer series and the Babylon Berlin/Gereon Rath books (and TV series) by Volker Kutscher. All of these three sets of books mix fictional and real-life characters and are really evocative of those hedonistic, volatile times.
Berlin Vertigo portrays itself in the same mould, but really it isn't. It is a shallow story at best and although it promises intrigue and interest, it delivers neither. The writing style is simplistic and the text is littered with grammatical errors (call me pedantic, but I expect an author to know when to use 'a' or 'an'), occasions where the wrong word is used and even where words are omitted.
One star for the basic premise and one star for the setting (I'm being generous). It's not the worst book that I've ever read... but it's down there. I won't be buying the rest of the series.
Berlin Vertigo portrays itself in the same mould, but really it isn't. It is a shallow story at best and although it promises intrigue and interest, it delivers neither. The writing style is simplistic and the text is littered with grammatical errors (call me pedantic, but I expect an author to know when to use 'a' or 'an'), occasions where the wrong word is used and even where words are omitted.
One star for the basic premise and one star for the setting (I'm being generous). It's not the worst book that I've ever read... but it's down there. I won't be buying the rest of the series.
April 11, 2020
This is a very interesting story to read. I found the beginning chapters a bit flowery until the group left the train, then it hooked me. From kathes unit, to the men and the twists and turns where it became mysterious and intriguing. Couldn't get to the end quick enough. I am reading it again. Very interesting.
September 17, 2020
Very hypnotic
The writing is extremely evocative of the place and the characters. I wouldn’t call it a mystery novel so much as a character study that involved a mystery.
The writing is extremely evocative of the place and the characters. I wouldn’t call it a mystery novel so much as a character study that involved a mystery.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews