Customer Reviews

Berlin: A Novel

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

This story is very, very choppy. Story after story of dead women. Obsession with violent sex, negative view of women. Not a very well put-together novel. Was disappointed because the author has talent describing characters, but then leaves you flat. Kept waiting for it to get better. Never did and ending was bland. I will not even pass this book on to any one.

A super complex who done it which takes place at the end of WWII in occupied Berlin.Alot like Alan Furst Genre, perhaps more realistic if that is possible.A Great read for History/mistery buffs.

I bought this book to take with me on a vacation. I was rather disappointed. The author used quite an imagination when describing the victim's roles in German society. I find it hard to believe, for example, that an escort girl can become a wife of a concentration camp commandant. Of course, the Nazis sometimes closed their eyes to their officers pre-Nazi past, but this is too extreme. Also extreme how she joined French Resistance. Seriously, that was too much.

The author must be commended, though, on his description of sexual trysts. At least they seemed authentic. As opposed to the description of his characters.

Novel takes place at end of WWII and involves serial killings. All are investigated by joint German/American authorities. The victims' lives are interwoven and makes for a fascinating read. An excellent novel translated from the original German.

Either the writer is an untrained and unskilled beginner with only rudimentary language skills, or the translator is all of the above. Or both. The writing is clumsy, and the exposition is stilted, stunted, and generally incompetent. The psychology behind the killings is childish and ill-formed, and the characters are cartoonish. Other than that, this book is a complete waste of time.

I have read many books about WWII but I have enjoyed lately the ones written with a German's aspect telling of how life was under Hitler --- prior to & the wartime years. IF this part of history interests you, this is a must read.

This is an amazing book. In authoritative detail the author tells what it was like in Berlin as the war came to an end, but in addition to that, he spins a nifty tale of a serial killer on the loose. This is a book within a book. You have the tales of the murder victims told in great detail as they coped with life in pre-war, wartime and immediate post-war Berlin. And then you have the serial killer. There also is a third theme: the competition between the American occupiers and the German criminal investigators who had little affection for each other as they try to solve a crime. Frei has written a masterpiece of a story that, in addition to being a good whodunit, gives a riveting look at life in occupied Berlin.