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The Informer: A Novel
Berlin in 1930 is a city of dark paranoia and covert power struggles, where violence can erupt at any moment. The Brownshirts dominate the streets, but the Red Front is building its insurgence.
Gaelle, a beautiful but desperate young prostitute with a scar across one side of her face, trades in something far more powerful and dangerous than sex: information. To possess her, men will do more than pay: they will tell her secrets. What Gaelle wants is protection.
Felix, a sixteen-year-old boy with a lame foot, negotiates Gaelle’s price, accompanies her in limousines when she feels threatened, and reminds her to take care of herself. But can he really keep her from harm?
Armina Treffen is an investigator for the Berlin Police. Several women’s bodies have been found in the park, murdered in the same manner, and Armina, too, seeks Gaelle’s confidence to help her catch a serial killer.
Even as Gaelle tries to protect herself by possessing information, she becomes more entangled in a complex web of politics and murder in a city in which men will go to any length to maintain the power of silence.
In this taut literary thriller, acclaimed author Craig Nova masterfully captures the menace and malice of pre-war Berlin through the eyes of characters dealing with forces far beyond their control.
Gaelle, a beautiful but desperate young prostitute with a scar across one side of her face, trades in something far more powerful and dangerous than sex: information. To possess her, men will do more than pay: they will tell her secrets. What Gaelle wants is protection.
Felix, a sixteen-year-old boy with a lame foot, negotiates Gaelle’s price, accompanies her in limousines when she feels threatened, and reminds her to take care of herself. But can he really keep her from harm?
Armina Treffen is an investigator for the Berlin Police. Several women’s bodies have been found in the park, murdered in the same manner, and Armina, too, seeks Gaelle’s confidence to help her catch a serial killer.
Even as Gaelle tries to protect herself by possessing information, she becomes more entangled in a complex web of politics and murder in a city in which men will go to any length to maintain the power of silence.
In this taut literary thriller, acclaimed author Craig Nova masterfully captures the menace and malice of pre-war Berlin through the eyes of characters dealing with forces far beyond their control.
306 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
May 17, 2010
I liked this book -- it appeals to the part of me that loves intelligence in the written word. As a work of historical fiction, it is very well written.
The Informer is set in Berlin at the end of Germany's Weimar Republic (1918-1933) and Germany's politics are fractured among the lines of three main political groups: the Communists, the various right-wing groups (including but not limited to the Nazis), and the prevailing Socialist government. On the streets these divisions often play out as brawls and skirmishes between rival factions, each with its gang of thugs, and this fracture continues on up into city and governmental bureaucracies where thuggery is more or less official yet clandestine. Everything is played according to where one's loyalties lie.
Without going into the plot, at the center of this well-written novel is Gaelle, the disfigured 22 year old prostitute and "The Informer" of the story. Gaelle is protected as well as pimped out by Felix, a 16 year old boy who lives on the streets with his ears to the ground. She often supplements their earnings by selling secrets she learns from clients, which works well for the two of them until she happens upon some intelligence regarding a man who works at the Soviet Embassy and spies on the Red Front for the Brownshirts. While all of this is happening, Armina Treffen, a police officer in Inspectorate A (a division of the kriminalpolizei that investigates homicide), is seeking a serial killer who is stalking young women in the Tiergarten park area. Armina is a professional and cares about her work, but she has her own personal issues which are compounded by the politics of her boss Ritter, which hamper her work on the case.
The Informer is not your average "Berlin noir" type of novel like Jonathan Rabb's series (beginning with Rosa), nor is it like Kerr's Berlin novels, both of which are both more plot driven. It is more character driven, with its atmosphere of place and time acting as the headliner. From the very beginning, the book draws you into the "malice" (the author's word) pervading the streets and the very air, not to mention the uncertainty of what is to come. In this sense, the suspense aspect of the novel permeates throughout -- not so much as an aspect of the novel's plotline, but in terms of the future of the German people. There are several scenes in which the author offers a brief foreshadowing of the future -- a line of people at the local vet having their dogs killed as a solution to their inability to feed their pets because of the high rate of inflation, and the description of Armina going daily by the children from the "special" school -- both send a shiver up the reader's spine because we know exactly what these scenes allude to in only a matter of a few years hence.
The dustjacket blurb calls the book a "literary thriller," but the scales tip heavily in favor of the literary side, and to label this book merely a "thriller" is really to cheapen it. This is my first novel by this author, but definitely not the last. Highly recommended.
The Informer is set in Berlin at the end of Germany's Weimar Republic (1918-1933) and Germany's politics are fractured among the lines of three main political groups: the Communists, the various right-wing groups (including but not limited to the Nazis), and the prevailing Socialist government. On the streets these divisions often play out as brawls and skirmishes between rival factions, each with its gang of thugs, and this fracture continues on up into city and governmental bureaucracies where thuggery is more or less official yet clandestine. Everything is played according to where one's loyalties lie.
Without going into the plot, at the center of this well-written novel is Gaelle, the disfigured 22 year old prostitute and "The Informer" of the story. Gaelle is protected as well as pimped out by Felix, a 16 year old boy who lives on the streets with his ears to the ground. She often supplements their earnings by selling secrets she learns from clients, which works well for the two of them until she happens upon some intelligence regarding a man who works at the Soviet Embassy and spies on the Red Front for the Brownshirts. While all of this is happening, Armina Treffen, a police officer in Inspectorate A (a division of the kriminalpolizei that investigates homicide), is seeking a serial killer who is stalking young women in the Tiergarten park area. Armina is a professional and cares about her work, but she has her own personal issues which are compounded by the politics of her boss Ritter, which hamper her work on the case.
The Informer is not your average "Berlin noir" type of novel like Jonathan Rabb's series (beginning with Rosa), nor is it like Kerr's Berlin novels, both of which are both more plot driven. It is more character driven, with its atmosphere of place and time acting as the headliner. From the very beginning, the book draws you into the "malice" (the author's word) pervading the streets and the very air, not to mention the uncertainty of what is to come. In this sense, the suspense aspect of the novel permeates throughout -- not so much as an aspect of the novel's plotline, but in terms of the future of the German people. There are several scenes in which the author offers a brief foreshadowing of the future -- a line of people at the local vet having their dogs killed as a solution to their inability to feed their pets because of the high rate of inflation, and the description of Armina going daily by the children from the "special" school -- both send a shiver up the reader's spine because we know exactly what these scenes allude to in only a matter of a few years hence.
The dustjacket blurb calls the book a "literary thriller," but the scales tip heavily in favor of the literary side, and to label this book merely a "thriller" is really to cheapen it. This is my first novel by this author, but definitely not the last. Highly recommended.
April 1, 2010
The Informer is a thrilling and engaging novel in the tradition of Graham Greene and Alan Furst. With taut prose and a dark plot, Nova sets two characters - the scarred yet appealing prostitute, Gaelle, and the police inspector, Armina, on a collision course amid the backdrop of 1930s Berlin.
Nova masterfully develops in The Informer the intrigue and suspense that you expect from the best literary thrillers. Fans of Furst's spy novels as well as detective thrillers from the likes of Stieg Larsson (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), Henning Mankell (the Kurt Wallender mysteries), Per Wahlöö and Maj Sjowall (The Laughing Policeman) will feel right at home reading The Informer. Highly recommended.
Nova masterfully develops in The Informer the intrigue and suspense that you expect from the best literary thrillers. Fans of Furst's spy novels as well as detective thrillers from the likes of Stieg Larsson (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), Henning Mankell (the Kurt Wallender mysteries), Per Wahlöö and Maj Sjowall (The Laughing Policeman) will feel right at home reading The Informer. Highly recommended.
June 10, 2016
Interesting story focused around 2 women in pre-war Berlin. 1 a prostitute and the other a homicide cop. Well written in the sense that you can feel the city, smell it, sense the claustrophobic nature of an ever-increasing police state. I enjoyed the 2 main characters and the general story. The mood and the story itself are good.
I do not get, however, the reviews that say how well written the entire book is. In fact, I was sure I was reading a translation into English from whatever language it was originally written in. Every character begins sentences with the word "why". Every character. In fact, much of the dialogue was lazily written. This is my main quibble with the book.
The story started to tire near the end as well, as time and time again they think to themselves that this is where/when they will die. At first I felt this repetition helped to show their suffering and obsessive path towards their own individual demises. But after so many repetitions, it just got on my nerves.
I did enjoy the story, though. The first few chapters completely hooked me. I also am glad I read this right after "In the Garden of the Beasts."
I do not get, however, the reviews that say how well written the entire book is. In fact, I was sure I was reading a translation into English from whatever language it was originally written in. Every character begins sentences with the word "why". Every character. In fact, much of the dialogue was lazily written. This is my main quibble with the book.
The story started to tire near the end as well, as time and time again they think to themselves that this is where/when they will die. At first I felt this repetition helped to show their suffering and obsessive path towards their own individual demises. But after so many repetitions, it just got on my nerves.
I did enjoy the story, though. The first few chapters completely hooked me. I also am glad I read this right after "In the Garden of the Beasts."
April 13, 2010
One of my favorite genres set in one of my favorite periods. Characters seem just a bit distorted however yet they are strangely compelling. Very interesting to read about the "unterkreig" (my neologism) instead of "battles and leaders."
August 15, 2020
The Informer, by Craig Nova: a murder mystery set in a dark and corrupt 1930s Berlin, the main character, Gaelle, a beautiful and desperate prostitute with a scarred past, is entangled in a complex web of murder and deception that forces her into becoming an informer but to whom does she owe her loyalties: Herself? The victims? Her investigator friend, Armina Treffen? Or those pulling her strings? This is taut mystery with plenty of twists that will keep you reading on. I feel the author has portrayed the sinister Berlin world well and brings to life the passions and conflicts of his main characters. I enjoyed this book but felt some of the timelines jumped too much, particularly the ending which I felt was a bit contrived. Worth reading as a historical depiction of a tragic time and place.
June 28, 2018
I liked the author's style in this novel as he made the events come alive with vivid yet creative description. It displayed his skill as an author. It saved a very dark story and made it more intriguing than it would otherwise have been. My difficulty was in drawing some type of inspiration from the book - I usually look for that in books I read. There were a few things that offered some small hope but mostly conveyed darkness and futility with little moral truth. That is not what I typically read. It did entertain as a mystery-type novel and kept my attention, especially more so as I got deeper into the book.
May 31, 2018
This is my second time reading this book. I am impressed with his precise language, the different points of view, the plotting, and the atmosphere he creates. The ending kept it from being a five star rating. Although it was a fitting ending, it seemed forced and rushed. Still, if you are looking for a historical mystery, or a police procedural, or a book set in pre-war Berlin, I recommend The Informer.
September 7, 2021
2.5 stars. I have really enjoyed/admired Nova's writing in the past but I really struggled to stay engaged with this one. And not because it is in any way complicated or hard to follow. It just never really held me in the way the other stuff of his has. There were some really great passages scattered throughout but in many places the writing felt overwrought and heavy with poetics, with the elegiac quality of the prose seeming to work against the expected tension of the situation - an approach that worked really well in the futuristic dystopia of Wetware but didn't transpose effectively to the simmering paranoia and violent political turmoil of Weimar Germany.
March 12, 2010
The Informer by Craig Nova puts yet another notch on the belt of an author with an already stellar body of work that so many people have not yet been fortunate enough to discover. Currently, I am reading The Congressman's Daughter and recently, I finished his most recent novel before The Informer -- Cruisers -- and I can't help but be simultaneously addicted to the elegant restraint of his prose and the raw power with which he delves into the human soul.
In The Informer, Nova takes readers to Berlin in 1930 -- where politics are becoming increasingly polarized, the economy is in shambles, and information is constantly manipulated and distorted for individuals and groups to leverage power against one another (sound like the state of affairs in the U.S. today?)
The plot follows Armina, one of the few women working in Inspectorate A, the serious crimes division of the Berlin police department, as she traverses the dark underbelly of the city, confronting its bizarre inhabitants. As Armina investigates, she encounters Gaelle, a young prostitute with a scarred face and alluring eroticism that allows her to slip in and out of the lives of politically connected men—many corrupt, some sinister, all looking for power, money, and sex. Gaelle and her partner Felix, a boy hustler with a lame foot, know the value of a secret, and also its price, in the depraved, cosmopolitan city.
With the discovery of each new body, Armina identifies more closely with the murders, almost as if she is losing a part of herself with each crime. As she edges closer to the dangerous truth, the lines between true and false, friend and enemy, and good and evil begin to blur.
The Informer is at once startling and poignant. The characters invite you to wonder in the abysses of their souls. The setting is eerily reminiscent of that in which we live today. This book is one not to miss.
In The Informer, Nova takes readers to Berlin in 1930 -- where politics are becoming increasingly polarized, the economy is in shambles, and information is constantly manipulated and distorted for individuals and groups to leverage power against one another (sound like the state of affairs in the U.S. today?)
The plot follows Armina, one of the few women working in Inspectorate A, the serious crimes division of the Berlin police department, as she traverses the dark underbelly of the city, confronting its bizarre inhabitants. As Armina investigates, she encounters Gaelle, a young prostitute with a scarred face and alluring eroticism that allows her to slip in and out of the lives of politically connected men—many corrupt, some sinister, all looking for power, money, and sex. Gaelle and her partner Felix, a boy hustler with a lame foot, know the value of a secret, and also its price, in the depraved, cosmopolitan city.
With the discovery of each new body, Armina identifies more closely with the murders, almost as if she is losing a part of herself with each crime. As she edges closer to the dangerous truth, the lines between true and false, friend and enemy, and good and evil begin to blur.
The Informer is at once startling and poignant. The characters invite you to wonder in the abysses of their souls. The setting is eerily reminiscent of that in which we live today. This book is one not to miss.
September 2, 2010
Craig Nova's THE INFORMER is a haunting, evocative novel set in Berlin in the early 1930s. The story moves between three main characters: a disfigured prostitute named Gaelle; her physically handicaped pimp Felix; and Armina, a female police investigator who is trying to stop a serial killer who is preying on women. Set against the backdrop of pre-war Germany, there is an undeniable spookiness to the plot, which is greatly enhanced by Nova's vivid and sensual prose. The images--dead bodies, fight scenes, a greehouse filled with orchids--are stunning. This book is dark and foreboding, unpredictable, and highly engaging.
September 22, 2010
A strange but highly compelling book set in Berlin right before the war. In this decadent place, Gaelle is a marked woman. She has a burn mark on half of her face. This has led to major psychological problems. She rejects her family, as she feels they have rejected her, and becomes a street walker. This too gives her no peace. She finds out information, and has to decide if she should tell or keep it quiet. Her choice becomes her death sentence.
October 21, 2010
My first Craig Nova book but not the last. A little difficult to follow in the beginning and some big time jumps at the end, but the characters were great. I thought Gaelle was going to be the main character, but I was wrong. Very interesting and nicely detailed novel. Not a really complicated plot, but interesting nonetheless.
July 1, 2012
I had hoped that given the time period and location (1930 Berlin) this would be a compelling mystery thriller. Unfortunately, the plot meandered and the characters and setting were poorly drawn. I was very disappointed.
September 26, 2012
Story about a serial murderer in 1930 Berlin and a woman detective. Finishes in 1945 Berlin. I enjoyed the story, but the writing style was terse - felt like it was translated from German. Not inclined to read anything else by this author.
June 6, 2013
Love this historical period. I found the plot interesting but the dialogue didn't ring true to me. The book had many accolades but I just don't think people communicated in such an abbreviated manner.
April 3, 2010
This was just not my cup of tea - espionage in 1930 Europe. Didn't care for the characters and the plot was not something I was interested in. Read about 3/4 of it and gave it up :(
May 15, 2010
I agree with Michael Thomas in HeadButler:
http://www.headbutler.com/books/ficti...
http://www.headbutler.com/books/ficti...
September 9, 2011
It was good, but I got distracted and had to return it to the library
August 2, 2011
Good mystery! This is a thematic thriller set in pre-world war II. Good characterizations and plot.
April 14, 2011
very hard to follow the story line.
May 3, 2011
Interesting book, well written but dragged at times. Had to stick with it. Glad I did.
July 24, 2011
Well written, beautiful descriptive passages. Dark. A good read.
February 11, 2012
I've read some reviews that criticize lack of character depth, blah blah blah. This story was dark and tragic. Loved it!
March 22, 2014
Well written and contains a lot of fun factual info. Nice time piece as well.
September 25, 2014
I'm not sure what to rate this book because I never finished it. Maybe I'm just stupid, but I found the novel confusing and kind of boring with all the party politics.
January 23, 2015
Interesting story. Well written. Depressing
July 19, 2015
I wanted to like it but the dialogue seemed so unbelievable. And the ending was just "meh".
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews