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49 of 51 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Not Furst, Not Kerr, Not Downing, Not Good, March 10, 2010
The writing is not very good. Perhaps that is the fault of the translation. The plot interests somewhat, but the author commits gaffes of fact that make the historical context unbelievable. One example: on 19 April,1945 a young woman books passage on a Lufthansa flight from Lisbon to Berlin! Even assuming that Lufthansa (or any other private airline) was in fact in regular international service during the last month of the war in Europe, the skies between Lisbon and Berlin were rather unfriendly then, filled with American and British fighter planes that roamed at will shooting up anything that moved on the ground or in the air. Particularly in the air and particularly airplanes with swastika insignia. The author attempts credulity by having the airliner attacked but once, by a British Mosquito fighter bomber, which the airline pilot skillfully eludes by flying at tree top level. In truth, even the worst Mosquito pilot, flying an aircraft that could outpace any civilian passenger plane then in existence, would have made mincemeat of the Lufthansa. In another passage, Red Army troops show up (in 1945) wielding "Kalashnikovs," an automatic weapon not invented until 1947. One could go on and on. Historical fiction has to be historical, to begin with, and this one doesn't even come close. Wait for the next Furst.
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21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Atmospherically rich thriller, July 4, 2009
This thriller is set in post-WW II Berlin and is full of rich atmospherical detail that transports the reader right into the middle of what life was like back then. The delicate balance between the German population and the allies, the difficulties of everyday life and its scarcities, the detailed and accurate descriptions of the neighborhood where the murders take place - all that helps to create the background for an intriguing thriller that takes a slightly different approach to its genre than most: Instead of solely focussing on solving the murders of several women, the author also gives us the detailed life stories of the victims which makes for a much more involved reading experience. By the time a woman gets murdered by the unknown perpetrator, the reader knows her and has developed an emotional bond with her. Thus making her murder that much more painful. The reader inevitably develops a much greater interest in finding out who the perp is than if the emphasis were simply on the Whodunit. Besides nail-biting suspense I have also loved learning so much about this era of German history and how people coped with daily life back then. I tremendously enjoyed the read - no wonder this thriller was such a bestseller in Germany.
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12 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Shockingly good!, March 18, 2008
I love a great detective story, and this is one. But what separates this story from most novels is the emphasis Frei places on the CRIME VICTIMS. Four or five blonde women are found murdered in post-war Berlin. A spree-killer is on the loose. The novel centers on the German policeman (and his family) and an American policeman, stationed in the occupied city, who team up to find the killer. But, not neglected are the women who were murdered. All were "fleshed out". All the women had played a role, some large and some small, in anti-Nazi activities during the war. All were on the verge of life-changing events that were cut still by the murderer's chain. Along with the crime story is an often-humorous story of the German policeman's 15 year old son, playing the angles to try to buy a well-cut suit that will win him the heart - and body - of a hot-to-trot girl. (The tailor's daughter). As the author's note says that author Frei was born in 1930, I wonder if this part was "his" story. This is a very good book.
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