Customer Reviews

City of Shadows: A Novel of Suspense

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I found City of Shadows to be magnetic, haunting and tightly constructed. The dialogue is well crafted, the plot, in the shadow of what was about to occur, frightening, and the unexpected twists and surprises, plentiful.

Berlin in the 1920's, once a magnificent city, had been disgraced. Germany, late to come to the industrial revolution, had been promised an overwhelming victory in the Great War three years earlier, only to have a crushing military and social defeat. The humiliating Treaty of Versailles, which Germany was forced to sign in order to surrender, was to the German people not merely an acknowledgement of defeat but rather an admission of wrong.

Inflation was rampant. A cup of coffee was 1000 marks at breakfast, 1800 by lunch. In the streets, the socialist thugs fought bloody battles with the communist thugs. The Catholics distrusted the Protestants; the farmers distrusted the laborers. Germany needed a hero. Would they get one? No. They got the devil himself. But in the meantime . . . .

Franklin begins a tale of murder, conspiracy, romance, anti-semitism, integrity and redemption. Prince Nick, a displaced Russian, owns a series of cabarets in Berlin, catering to the diverse tastes and odd 'late night' habits of his clientele. He hires Esther Solomonova, a Jewish refugee from the Russian Revolution, once lovely, extremely intelligent, multi-lingual, but terribly scarred from her experiences during the fall of the Romanov Empire when the Czar and his entire family were gunned down by the Bolsheviks.

Rumors (existing to this day) abound that one of the Romanov children escaped death when her siblings fell upon her. She later lived, hidden by revolutionaries still loyal to the Czar.

Always on the lookout to make more money, inflation or not, Nick finds an inmate in a local Bedlam-like hospital who has a strange past. We learn that this woman, whom Nick names 'Anna Anderson,' was an intended but yet unexplained target of a murderer, and Nick concludes, against the analysis of Esther, that this is the missing Princess Anastasia, daughter of the late Czar. Nick's goals are to make money over the unveiling of the 'lost Princess.' Esther's goals are . . . . something else.

While all of that may seem slow, it is anything but that. Franklin introduces Inspector Siegfried Schmidt, the last man in the German Police Department with integrity. Schmidt is an old fashioned 'procedure man, piecing together information, meeting Esther, being drawn to her and her odd assortment of friends. He too feels that the search for the reason as to why Anna Anderson was targeted for murder, will shed light on subsequent crimes. Murders continue as the Nazi Party rises. There's a well crafted juxtapositioning of the evil of the Nazi's and the investigation of the murderer.

Caberet bartenders, muscular doormen, women impersonators, crazy Russian villagers, socialist thugs, good cops, bad cops, and love permeate all of the chapters. The characters come alive, and like Parker's Boston, Elizabeth George's London and George Pelecanos' Washington, Berlin becomes vibrant with colors and sounds, and Franklin uses her as an odd but meaningful character as well. Additionally, I never saw the ending coming. Franklin keeps a good secret.

5 stars. An excellent read. Larry Scantlebury

While I enjoyed the book, and found that it had an engaging plot and some interesting historical background, I also found the plot predictable. I saw the twist coming for half the book, and many of the other scenes were also somewhat awkwardly drawn.

The most bothersome to me, though, were the anachronisms in the book. They were small things, really, but they were so jarringly out of place that, after seeing them, I began to question whether the author's research had sound historical footing. In broad strokes it did, but she seems to regard this period of time through a very 21st century lens. Even the interactions between characters is more in tune with our own times than with the era of which she writes.

The anachronisms that stood out included specific references. First, Nick went to the airport to fly to Paris in 1922. Passenger air service was VERY rare at that time, and most of it was for long flights to colonies and protectorates in Africa, India, etc. Air transport was established for mail at this time, but passenger travel through Europe would certainly have been by train, even for the wealthy.

Esther also says that her memories are like a movie with its soundtrack, running through her mind over and over. Talkies had not yet come out in 1922. The first commercial sound picture was in 1923, but the first to be released for viewing was in 1927 - no one would have had the language to reference a "sound track" back in 1922.

Again, these are small items, but they were so obvious to me - and I am not a historian - that I have to wonder about many of the other details that she leans on for her story. I love good historical fiction because it gives me a window into a time that I can't otherwise visit. But if that fiction doesn't have a firm foundation, it's no longer giving me a clear view.

As with many historical novels I've read, this spurred me to do a bit of online research to learn more about this very difficult period in history.

This morning, with great reluctance, I turned the last page of Ariana Franklin's City of Shadows which is just about the best mystery ever. History, politics and unexpected love woven into one my best ever mystery reads. Finest kind to be sure. The author's unique voice, deep knowledge, sly wit, cleverness of phrase and sterling plotting ensures outstanding readability.

It's 1922 Berlin and Germany is reeling with inflation, anti-Semitism is on the rise, the population is experiencing unemployment of grand proportions, the citizens are literally starving and Adolph Hitler has begun his methodical rise to power.

Esther Solonomova, a Jew, is given a job as secretary to the owner of several Berlin nightclubs. Prince Nick is a fake but with all the troubles Germany is experiencing, who cares? Nick is always looking for a way to make money. He learns of an inmate in a local insane asylum who maintains that she is the Grand Duchess Anastasia, the only surviving member of the Russian royal family.

Nick takes the woman from the asylum and names her Anna Anderson. With the help of Esther and another of his employees, he begins the preparation that will ultimately have Anna lay claim to the Russian throne as the only surviving heir.

But a mysterious man attempts, once every six weeks, to murder Anna. This Nazi murderer continues to fail, but over a span of years people surrounding Anna begin to die. It is up to Esther and Inspector Schmidt to solve the mystery.

Ariana Franklin's City of Shadows is a gripping story, based on fact. The writing is taut, the storyline is fascinating and the tension is perfect (building slowing but surely to a surprising end). I felt as if I had been transported to the Berlin of the 1920s and 1930s. City of Shadows is a magnificent novel.

Armchair Interviews says: City of Shadows is one of the best reads of 2006.

This book has it all. A strong atmospheric setting, entwined with wonderful characters, and a plot that challenges the good guys to find a merciless killer before he finds them.

Set in pre World War II Berlin, this novel will give you a peek at what fueled the political movement that grew in power and became Nazi Germany. It also provides another view of the Anastasia story, and has a suprise ending that few will be able to guess before reading the last 5 pages.

This clever thriller will absolutely leave you breathless.

This might be one of the best works of historical fiction I've ever read! Excellent character development, and a complete suprise ending that left me stunned! Terrific book and can't wait to read her new one!

I won't waste space going over the plot, as others have already covered it well. This book is just plain brilliant. As with the movie THE SIXTH SENSE, all the clues needed to figure out the true central mystery are there -- but you only realize that once the answer is revealed. The characters are vivid, and the sense of menace as the shadow of National Socialism stretches over Germany is chilling. A keeper, and a book that belongs in the collection of any Anastasia aficionado.

Outstanding historical fiction. Excellent thesis. Good use of an age old mystery: Did Czar Nicholas' daughter Anastasia survive the massacre at Ekaterinburg in 1918? Mix that mystery into the cauldron of pre-World War II Germany and you have a wonderful story of love, hate, murder, politics, and a good old fashion who-done-it. One note though, the tale starts slow as novelist Ariana Franklin builds the foundation. The first 100 pages requires the reader to stick with it. You will be more than rewarded with a quick middle and an action packed finish with a marvelous ending. Ms. Franklin's use of history is to be applauded. She is historically accurate and weaves the depressing pre-WW II European era into a tale of suspense while educating the reader on the hows and why Nazism was allowed to flourish.
Character development was superb. All characters were allowed to developer at an excellent pace. As previously alluded to, the beginning of the book was a bit of a slog but necessary to set the table. Once the foundation is laid the book moves quickly. The two main characters, police Inspector Schmidt and Esther Solomonova are a delight and rich in personality. Anna Anderson, the Anastasia pretender, is very interesting and at times over-the-top, but is necessary to highlight the excesses of the times. Other characters are very well done and add to the story. All in all a study in the difficult times and complex personalities preceding WW II in Europe.
NO gratuitous violence or sex. Some strong language but needed to define the times.
Recommendation: Must read, especially if you are interested in pre-WW II Europe or the Anastasia mystery. Don't give up during the first 100 pages, the ending will more than makeup for it, AND DO NOT PEAK AT THE LAST 10 PAGES or you will ruin the story!!!

It's not giving anything of the plot away to say that this book revolves around the woman named Anna Anderson, who claimed to be Anastasia, the only surviving child of Nicholas and Alexandra. This is a gripping tale, right from the beginning in Berlin in 1920 when a young woman is thrown from a bridge into a canal, and continuing until the early part of 1933 when Hitler becomes German Chancellor. The cast of characters is riveting, including an honest but world-weary German police inspector, a phony Russian prince who owns a series of sleazy nightclubs, a stripper, a female inpersonator, and a Jewish woman with an unknown past. This is a plot which moves along like a runaway freight train, pulling the reader in to keep turning pages to discover what happens next. There is a twist ending, but the author plays fair with her readers: there are a few clues to it scattered throughout the book, which I only recognized after the twist was revealed. I know that this author has a new book published, and I am eagerly looking forward to reading it!

Rich characters and a well written backdrop provide an almost frighteningly realistic view of pre-war Germany. It was fascinating to get deep into Berlin and witness exactly how the Nazis pulled the wool over German citizens. All the while telling an absorbing story of the Grand Duchess Anastasia. Shrouded in mystery and set in a turbulent historical period, it does not disappoint.