Dead Meat [Import] [Paperback]

Philip Kerr (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Vintage; New Ed edition (1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 009977271X
• ISBN-13: 978-0099772712
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,586,947 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Philip Kerr was born in Edinburgh in 1956 and read Law at university. Having learned nothing as an undergraduate lawyer he stayed on as postgraduate and read Law and Philosophy, most of this German, which was when and where he first became interested in German twentieth century history and, in particular, the Nazis. Following university he worked as a copywriter at a number of advertising agencies, including Saatchi & Saatchi, during which time he wrote no advertising slogans of any note. He spent most of his time in advertising researching an idea he'd had for a novel about a Berlin-based policeman, in 1936. And following several trips to Germany - and a great deal of walking around the mean streets of Berlin - his first novel, March Violets, was published in 1989 and introduced the world to Bernie Gunther.
"I loved Berlin before the wall came down; I'm pretty fond of the place now, but back then it was perhaps the most atmospheric city on earth. Having a dark, not to say black sense of humour myself, it's always been somewhere I feel very comfortable."
Having left advertising behind, Kerr worked for the London Evening Standard and produced two more novels featuring Bernie Gunther: The Pale Criminal (1990) and A German Requiem (1991). These were published as an omnibus edition, Berlin Noir in 1992.
Thinking he might like to write something else, he did and published a host of other novels before returning to Bernie Gunther after a gap of sixteen years, with The One from the Other (2007).
Says Kerr, "I never intended to leave such a large gap between Book 3 and Book 4; a lot of other stuff just got in the way; and I feel kind of lucky that people are still as interested in this guy as I am. If anything I'm more interested in him now than I was back in the day."
Two more novels followed, A Quiet Flame (2008) and If the Dead Rise Not (2009).
Field Gray (2010) is perhaps his most ambitious novel yet that features Bernie Gunther. Crossing a span of more than twenty years, it takes Bernie from Cuba, to New York, to Landsberg Prison in Germany where he vividly describes a story that covers his time in Paris, Toulouse, Minsk, Konigsberg, and his life as a German POW in Soviet Russia.
Kerr is already working on an eighth title in the series.
"I don't know how long I can keep doing them; I'll probably write one too many; but I don't feel that's happened yet."
As P.B.Kerr Kerr is also the author of the popular 'Children of the Lamp' series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Is it Mystery, Russian Sociology or Political Science?, December 26, 1996

By A Customer

This review is from: Dead Meat (Mass Market Paperback)

Phillip Kerr is starting to look like the Robert DeNiro
of writing. In his previous book, he immersed himself in
every possible detail of pre- and post-war Germany, with his
mysteries unfolding within the thread of Nazism. Now, in
Dead Meat, he dissects post-Soviet Russia, with the optimism,
fatalism and corruption that riddle the society. Kerr has
captured the Russian psyche perfectly, while winding the plot
around the killing of a crusading journalist. How does a Brit
learn so much about what hides within the heart of today's
Russia?

I recommend this book for both the mystery and the sociology
behind it.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars on the shelf with Martin Cruz-Smith, January 20, 2009

By 

Christopher A. Meli (New Canaan, CT USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dead Meat (Mass Market Paperback)

Similar to another review here: if you like Martin Cruz-Smith's Renko novels, you'll like this. The writing and the black post-Soviet humor shouldn't be missed. Right behind Berlin Noir: March Violets; The Pale Criminal; A German Requiem as far as the Kerr books that I've read.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Adds a whole new meaning to the expression-fell off the truck, December 28, 2005

By 

Grey Wolffe "Zeb Kantrowitz" (North Waltham, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Dead Meat (Hardcover)

Kerr has written a provocative post-communist book that truthfully factors in the destructiveness of 70 years of Red Rule and the destitution of a super-power. He has captured the nuance of Russian Slang and the private language used in the criminal/police world. Lastly, the twists and turns of the plot are all plausible while at the same time comical for their surreal and absurd situations.

Unfortunately, Kerr has never touched this subject or characters again. If you love this book, and you will, "Wolves Eat Dogs" by Martin Cruz Smith, is a great companion novel.