Customer Reviews

Straight into Darkness (Audio)

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

First, if you're expecting the typical relatively soft mystery plot of Faye's regulars, Rina Lazarus and Peter Decker, they're not here!! This unusual novel features a troubling string of serial killings set in Munich Germany during the historical period in between the world wars (1920's). In addition to the unrest created by the murders, the political scene is one of total upheaval as Hitler's rise to power is well underway. Already Jews, homosexuals, Communists, and just about any other non-Aryan groups are under attack - both in word and deed. Moreover, political influence and corruption run amok at high levels of the police force and government. Despite all this, the protagonist, homicide inspector Axel Berg, uses all his mental prowess and persistence to close in on the killer; and at book's end, not only is the perpetrator totally unexpected, but so is Axel's outcome given his brilliant solution of the crimes.

While Kellerman is known for illuminating the orthodox practices of Judaism in her stories, this one focuses more on the grossly anti-Semitic climate of that period, obviously a precursor to the eventual holocaust of the ensuing decade. Details about the city and the events of that era reveal quite extensive research and travels, reflected early on in the author's acknowledgments. Our take was that while the story was darker than usual for this writer, the inherit suspense kept us reading rapidly, seeking the culmination of events and "whodunit". So while "Darkness" is indeed quite a departure from the norm for our likable author, we feel sure Kellerman fans will enjoy this outing, and that this her new novel will enjoy considerable success!

I have enjoyed all of Faye Kellerman's books in the past, but she is way off the mark here. Her characters are undeveloped and seem like cardboard cut-outs, rather than real people. Her treatment of 1929 Munich is trite and also comic bookish, with Hitler showing up all over the place very unplausibly. The plot consists of an unending stream of McGuffins, as Berg thinks this one did it, then that one did it. These red herrings are so poorly done and so continual that they become unbelieveable.

Better wait for the next Decker book, regardless of whether father or daughter.

Faye Kellerman has written some pretty decent mystery novels with her series about Peter and Rina Decker. Both characters are Orthodox Jews (as, I believe, is Kellerman) and the stories often deal with the conflicts between leading a good religious life and at the same time being able to cope with the demands of being involved with police work. With Straight Into Darkness, Kellerman takes a break from the Deckers to tell a tale of a dark period in both Jewish and world history, the rise of Hitler.

The novel follows Axel Berg, a homicide detective in 1929 Munich. It is a time and place where Hitler is not yet officially in power, but he is definitely a figure of note with a popular following through intimidation and hate speech. Berg loathes Hitler, but is more concerned with the death of Anna Gross. Her murder does not appear to be the standard act-of-passion sort, but instead something graver. Berg is pressured into getting immediate results, and Anna's Jewish husband Anton winds up being the scapegoat.

The killings continue and the Nazis (including Hitler himself) use the incidents to their own advantage, creating greater anti-Semitism and promoting violent riots. Berg has his leads, but in a pre-computer era, following up on these clues is slow and difficult. Furthermore, his boss Volker is pushing him to arrest someone, even another innocent like Anton.

As a mystery, this story is okay, but nothing special. What pushes this up from three to four star quality is the characterization and atmosphere. I won't say the characters are perfectly defined, but they are more complex than what Kellerman typically offers. Peter Decker may have his faults, but he is clearly a hero; Axel Berg is more complex and less heroic. The environment of 1929 Munich is well-described (is it historically accurate? I'm not positive, but it's probably close); furthermore, it is a setting and period that I rarely see depicted in fiction; most novels about Nazis seem to take place later, typically around WWII. Straight Into Darkness is not a perfect novel, but it is a worthy effort by Kellerman and a good fictional depiction of the rise of Nazism.

"Straight Into Darkness" is a terrific example of how fiction can sometimes be our best teacher of history.

Over the past 30 years or so, I've studied the rise of German fascism from many different perspectives, reading almost everything available on the topic. There are hundreds of excellent non-fiction accounts of this terrifying era, including such classics as "The Nazi Seizure of Power," "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich," and "The Hidden Hitler." Taken collectively, they explain how virulent racism, nationalism, economic insecurity and political upheaval combined to launch the NSDAP during the 1920s. Hitler, an evil genius at public speaking, was riding a wave that he did not actually create.

Faye Kellerman's new novel gives us a snapshot of that period by focusing on Munich in 1929. Her main character, Axel Berg, is a cynical police detective on the murder beat. When someone starts strangling and clubbing women to death, the case becomes a rallying point for Hitler and his brownshirt minions. From Berg's perspective, we can see how the Nazis used the media to whip up even greater fear among the populace -- so much fear that they would ultimately welcome a brutal clampdown on the so-called "degenerates" of Bavaria. Not just Jews, but also modern artists, thespians, musicians, democrats, gypsies, homosexuals, Russians and dozens of other "outsider" groups.

What's so remarkable about this novel is Kellerman's rigid refusal to turn her characters into black-and-white cutouts. She won't oversimplify human nature to make a political point. All of her main characters exhibit both good and evil, courage and selfishness, in a way that illustrates what was really happening on the ground level in 1929. It's a real triumph of mature storytelling.

Some of the vignettes in this novel are very violent and highly sexualized, so I wouldn't recommend this book to young people. That being said, this is certainly one of the best historical novels I've read in the last 10 years. Bravo, Ms. Kellerman.

If you grabbed this book because you were looking for something along the lines of Decker/Lazarus, you made a mistake.

The book is dark and brooding. Her hero is no saint, actually none of the characters are saints. Based on my grandparent's recollections of pre-WWII Germany, Kellerman described the atmosphere in Germany to a tee.

For me, the actual story was a side-line. But if you're interested in the History of Germany at it's most crucial time, then this book is for you.

Although the plot strains credulity, weighted as it is with Freudian baggage, the atmospherics and the characters are compelling. The events take place in Munich, 1929, and the city is in turmoil. Germany was recovering from the depression, goods were more readily available, the rich were - filthy, and Munich was a gem of a city. 1929 marked the end of Hitler's so-called "Wilderness Years;" the Nazi party had been rebuilt, membership had grown, and the elite, middle-class, and civil servants (including the police,) were buying in to the party philosophy, including the persecution of the "degenerate," Jews, Communists, Modern Artists, etc. Persecution was common, and paranoia was rampant. Faye Kellerman does a wonderful job of unveiling the nascent dystopia, and peopling it with characters struggling with the environment, and with their own moral frailties. There is no one to completely admire in this book, and whatever redemption is won is bitter at best.

There is so much of value in this book's milieu I could only wish the plot didn't hinge on a set of fairly uninteresting, stock serial killings. There is a richness to the story, it's just not in the crimes, or even their solution. Three stars because the plot didn't work for me.

I can appreciate that Mrs. Kellerman was inspired by her father's real-life role in the saga of World War II-era Germany while he was there serving in the U.S. army to pen "Straight Into Darkness".

Unfortunately I didn't find the plot gripping in the least.

Axel Berg is caught in the hysteria of pre-Hitler Munich, fending off the rising anti-Semitic nightmare that would soon dominate modern Germany, and struggling to solve the murder of the well-married Anna Gross at the same time. Eventually it is uncovered that there is a serial killer afoot as more corpses appear, the chase is on, all unfolding with the rise of the Nazi's looming, etc., etc. Oh, plus Axel is kind of a creep himself, keeping a whore on the side, acting smug most of the time, etc., etc....

Still, the authoress has failed to capture her storyline in the same reader-grabbing fashion as she's done with all the Decker/Lazarus novels. This book, while well-written overall, failed to satisfy on some elemental level.

I am eager for the return of her usual married sleuths.

I hardly ever do this, but I was so disappointed in this book, I had to speak up. The main plot might have been mildly interesting (the serial murders), but the characters surrounding it were so unpleasant and confusing, I really didn't care what the resolution was. There are so many books centered on that time in history and the brewing storm of WWII, I do appreciate the attempt to point up a situation that could have occurred at any historical era. It is unfortunate that this attempt grossly missed the mark. I won't give up on Ms. Kellerman, though, I will read whatever she puts out next.

Several young women ,dressed in evening clothes, have been murdered in Munich in the late 1920's. Inspecktor Axel Berg has been put in charge of the case. This is one of the few times in my life that I've given up on a book when I was only one third of the way into it. It was making me feel so awful that I had to seriously say to myself "why are you persisting to read this horrible stuff?" For my own peace of mind, I've chosen to stop and to try to eradicate the horror from my mind. I know that this all happened and of course, the dreadful, evil, world shattering consequences that came from this appalling era, but I can't see that the masochism which would cause me to read further, can do anyone any good. It's the time netween WW1 and WW2 in Munich, with Hitler's brownshirts beginning the take over of power from politicians and police, and his thugs being given carte blanche to torment and murder Jews, any Jews. I can't even work up any kind of empathy for our hero, a police inspector who is unfaithful to his wife, regularly beats his Jewish mistress, and is not above helping himself to money or goods from the evidence room. I've always enjoyed Faye Kellerman's work before and hope to do so again, but this book is just so filled with hatred and vile people, that I can't see the point of making myself feel wretched, just to finish it!

Perhaps author Faye Kellerman, herself, summarizes this book best: "Straight into Darkness" is... "a novel born of my passionate desire to connect to a hidden part of my father's life. Set between the two world wars, it is the tale of a serial killer in the city (Munich) that nurtured the ultimate serial killer (Adolph Hitler)." (Parentheses added. See back cover of the 2005 hardback edition. Note: All citations refer to this edition.) She strongly implies that part of her story is based on her family history.

Homicide inspector Axel Berg heads an investigative unit of the Munich police charged with finding a serial killer who begins his killing spree attacking beautiful young women and then expands rapidly into other types of victims. Berg has to contend with Nazi Brownshirt hooligans, the distraction of violent political rallies, superiors who want someone--anyone (although a Jew would be best)--charged, and his own, imperfect nature as he tries to bring what unbiased investigative attention he can to a case that rapidly becomes too political. Hitler, himself, ferments further unrest by adding anti-Semitism, paranoia, and threats. Others, as well, use the killings to further their own agendas in this volatile mix.

Kellerman presents Berg as a flawed man, subject to the customs and prejudices of the times. A man who beats his Jewish mistress and takes bribes, still he struggles to do the right thing. The investigation eventually becomes a welcome haven for him, as solving the baffling murders seems eminently more doable than allowing himself to look at what he can do, or even more frightening, what he cannot do, to save his family, his city, and his country from the slide "Straight into Darkness" that he sees all too clearly is to come.

Kellerman is relentless in not letting Berg off from responsiblilty, nor does she allow the other groups she chronicles to escape their share of the blame for this slide. She is particularly harsh with the prevailing attitudes. Examples: "I don't agree with everything he (Hitler) says, but not all of his rhetoric is drivel," and "I certainly don't agree with Herr Hitler's taste in art. Nor do I like the thugs and hoodlums that give the Nazis a bad name, but I do like what he has to say about honor and loyalty..." (See pages 55 and 215-216.)

Kellerman does a beautiful job of telling her tale and, for the most part, her writing enhances her narrative. She does write more believable dialogue for women than she does for men, who tend to sound alike, although her men's speech patterns may more realistically reflect the formalism and the German language patterns of the times. Kellerman's metaphors flow admiringly true: Example: "The air had been crisp and cool at that turning point when the bite of winter started sinking its fangs into the bone marrow." (See page 80.) She describes well the tribalisms (Example: Bavarians vs. Prussians.), rationalizations (Examples: Germany was betrayed, not defeated. Germany was treated unfairly. The Jews are to blame for economic setbacks.), and hardships Germany faced that gave Hitler his chance.

As one reads Kellerman's book, one cannot but wonder why the United States was better able to unite as a free nation, in spite of its disagreements, Civil War, and ethnic divisions. As its frontiers and ocean barriers contract, which formerly gave time and space to develop a national consensus or to run from one, and as divisions among its groups and peoples become more fixed and permanent, will we become more like the Germans of the 1920s? Kellerman gives us material for discussion.