Straight into Darkness [Hardcover]

Faye Kellerman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 22, 2005

In 1920s Munich, the body of Anna Gross, a young society wife, has been found in the English Gardens, still clothed in finery. Soon a second body is discovered, also a woman of high society. When a third body is found, homicide detective Axel Berg realizes he’s dealing with unprecedented evil. Is the murderer politically motivated? Is he a lone madman? Or worse, is the killer possessed by both political and personal demons? Detective Berg soon finds himself entangled in a web of dangerous intrigue, surrounded by potential enemies. As Munich slips further into turmoil, overrun by political factions and the rise of Hitler, a dedicated policeman can never know who to trust--and one simple mistake could be deadly.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Kellerman, perhaps best known for her Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus novels, takes a hiatus from things contemporary in this ambitious historical mystery, in which politics, prejudice, and revenge form the backdrop for murder. The time is 1929, the place is Munich, and Hitler and his thugs and sycophants are gathering momentum for the horrors to come. Kommunisten, Social Democrats, gays, and, especially, Jews are the targets of Brown Shirts, who are increasing in number and viciousness. Even Munich's Homicide Unit has its Nazi sympathizers. Inspektor Axel Berg, however, isn't one of them. He hopes to steer clear of politics, especially on the job. But when the murders of three women and a young child spawn rumors of a serial killer, the pressure to find a scapegoat (the Jewish husband of one of the victims will do as a start) intensifies, and Berg finds himself fighting not only for fairness for the accused but also for his own career. This is a complicated novel, and its mystery occasionally flounders under the weighty political backdrop. But suspense gradually mounts, and the ironic ending is worth the wait. As for Berg, he is one of Kellerman's richest creations--an intriguing protagonist, flawed yet compassionate and heroic, forced to confront enormous odds in brutal times. Stephanie Zvirin
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author

FAYE KELLERMAN is the author of the bestselling Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus novels, as well as a thriller, Moon Music, and a historical novel, The Quality of Mercy. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, Jonathan Kellerman, and their children. --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 432 pages
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing; 1ST edition (August 22, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446530409
• ISBN-13: 978-0446530408
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (41 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,583,948 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Faye Kellerman is the author of twenty-six novels, including nineteen New York Times bestselling mysteries that feature the husband-and-wife team of Peter Decker and Rina Lazarus. She has also penned two best selling short novels with her husband, New York Times bestselling author Jonathan Kellerman, and recently has teamed up with her daughter, Aliza, to co-write a teen novel, entitled PRISM. She lives in Los Angeles, California, and Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Complex serial murder mystery set in political turmoil of 1920's Munich., August 28, 2005

By 

Gerald M. Bull "Jerry Bull" (Fairview, TN United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Straight into Darkness (Hardcover)

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!

25 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Oy Vey!, October 6, 2005

By 

Samuel J. Schleman (Malvern, PA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Straight into Darkness (Hardcover)

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.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Kellerman goes historical, July 21, 2006

By 

mrliteral - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

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This review is from: Straight into Darkness (Hardcover)

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.