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Rosa: A Novel (Detective Inspector Nikolai Hoffner) Paperback – January 3, 2012

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Jonathan Rabb (Author)
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Jonathan Rabb (Author)
4.6 out of 5 stars 42 customer reviews
Book 1 of 3 in the Berlin Trilogy Series
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Product Details

  • Series: Detective Inspector Nikolai Hoffner (Book 1)
  • Paperback: 416 pages
  • Publisher: Picador; Reprint edition (January 3, 2012)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 9781250008725
  • ISBN-13: 978-1250008725
  • ASIN: 1250008727
  • Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.9 x 8.5 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (42 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #522,396 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsMurder, history, mystery written in compelling style
By Laurel Johnson on March 4, 2005
Format: Hardcover
Rosa was my first experience with Jonathan Rabb's work, although it is his third book. His gift for detail is unerring, which makes this complex mystery all the more appealing. Simply stated, I could not easily lay this book aside until the last page.

The place is post World War One Berlin. Rabb brings this metropolis to life with deft touches, shedding light in each dark corner, every nuance that gave Berlin its flavor at the time. Rabb doesn't simply tell the wonderful and gritty details. He takes his readers there so we can live it, experience the snow and mist, explore the scents and sounds. His skill with descriptive prose adds resonating depths his readers might not have experienced otherwise.

Detective Inspector of the Kriminal Polizei -- the Kripo -- Nikolei Hoffner, is in pursuit of a serial killer whose madness borders on genius. Hoffner and his assistant, Hans Fichte, methodically follow every small clue, groping in the dark, until they find Rosa's body. Rosa Luxemburg is a socialist revolutionary and enemy of the Reichstadt. Hoffner knows immediately that, as a victim, she is out of place. That initial thought draws Hoffner and Fichte into a provocative conspiracy involving the Political Police, the black market, secret Aryan societies, and scientific developments overseen by a young Albert Einstein.

Nikolei Hoffner is a magnificent character, a troubled and brilliant man who seeks the truth with dogged determination. We walk in Hoffner's shoes as he dissects cryptic clues and searches Berlin's underbelly for his killer. The truths he uncovers and losses he experiences are horrible, beyond even his comprehension.

Rabb totally immerses readers in place and time and his character development is brilliant.Read more ›
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5.0 out of 5 starsPost WWI Berlin, Rosa, Revolution & A Thrilling Mystery!!
By Jana L.Perskie HALL OF FAMETOP 500 REVIEWERVINE VOICE on May 14, 2005
Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase
Berlin in January 1919 was bitterly cold and damp. The Great War was over and Germany was in the throes of defeat, its citizens impoverished, with ersatz everything for sale and no money to purchase anything. The gallant young men who had marched off to fight for God, Kaiser and Fatherland a mere five years before, were dead, maimed and/or disillusioned, bitter and unemployed. A generation of young women would never marry, their potential spouses buried beneath the winter snow. When the Kaiser abdicated, Fredrich Ebert, the leader of the Social Democratic Party, established the Weimar Government in time to sign the humiliating Treaty of Versailles, which forced Germany to pay billions in gold marks - reparation money it did not have. Inflation was rampant.

Tremendous fear of communism permeated the country. Many thought that Russia's Bolshevik Revolution would spread across the border, so most Germans were content to turn a blind eye to the loss of certain liberties, constitutional rights, and accepted the "strong-arm tactics" which prevailed against anyone who threatened the country's stability. The "Spartacus League," (Spartakusbund), German communists named after the slave who lead a rebellion against the Romans, was founded by Rosa Luxemburg, during WWI to counter the German Social Democrats' support of the war. Luxemburg, a Marxist politician, socialist philosopher, and revolutionary, along with her colleague, Karl Liebknicht, challenged Reichschancellor Ebert's government, as did the far right-wing Free Corps (Freikorps). Miss Luxemburg's failure to organize a coherent political opposition to the Social Democratic leadership proved fatal both to the outcome of the German revolution and to her own life.Read more ›
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5.0 out of 5 starsFantastic Read
By M. Richter on July 3, 2005
Format: Hardcover
One of the best novels I've read in a long time. Great story, great characters, great writing. I felt as if I were literally transformed back to 1919 Berlin. The entire plot was so compelling, fast-paced, original. The author obviously did his homework -- I believed all of his possible historical scenarios could have actually taken place as opposed to that Da Vinci garbage which was just ridiculous and kept taking me out of the story. You feel Rabb's expertise on every page. I hope he does a sequel -- I'd love to watch Hoffner crack another fascinating mystery.
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5.0 out of 5 starsRestoring historical fiction's good name.
By A Reader from Somerville on July 4, 2005
Format: Hardcover
Jonathan Rabb's latest novel arrives just in time to rescue us from the historical-fiction-lite style of Dan Brown and his imitators. Rosa is everything a historical novel should be, and I think it deserves to be mentioned among the very best works in the genre. Rabb makes 1919 Berlin come alive, and with a light touch. The details are never forced, and the history is never pedantic--which is no small feat when one considers that Rosa takes place against an incredibly complex historico-political landscape.

The best thing about the novel, though, are its characters. Rabb writes beautifully, and his characters have real depth and humanity. He never settles for a stereotype or cardboard cut out. (The main protagonist, Nikolai Hoffner, for example, is reminiscent of Graham Greene's tortured, flawed, well-meaning anti-heroes.) As a result, Rosa is so much more than the recent crop of historically-inflected campfire-stories like the Da Vinci Code. It is just compelling, well-written fiction.

Without question, fans of historical fiction should check out Rosa. But I would also recommend it to those looking for good, new literary fiction who may not otherwise venture into historical fiction. The review of Rosa in Harper's Monthly placed the book in the company of the works of Malraux, Raymond Chandler and Robert Musil. I think that readers of Rosa will agree that such comparisons are apt.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsA brilliantly conceived plot with intricacies of detail and mystery...

This is classic noir but also a historical novel of post-Great War Berlin in 1919. A brilliantly conceived plot with intricacies of detail and mystery which keep the reader... Read more

Published 1 month ago by daniel murtaugh
5.0 out of 5 starsA fantastic journey.

This isn't a novel, it's a literary steak dinner with all the trimmings. Historical fiction rarely takes on such grand and smooth complexity. Read more

Published 1 month ago by YoungInSavannah
4.0 out of 5 starsExcellent detective novel set in post-WW1 Berlin

I'm a fan of Philip Kerr's Bernie Gunther novels which are set 10-25 years in the future of Rabb's Berlin setting and similarly feature a Kripo detective. So far, so similar. Read more

Published 2 months ago by S. J. Buck
5.0 out of 5 starsRosa

This is a convoluted, murky police procedural/ murder mystery set in Berlin during 1919. Particularly enjoyed the historical detail, and the darker, seedier atmosphere of this... Read more

Published 3 months ago by Cphe
5.0 out of 5 starsGREAT FAST-paced read!

Historical fiction. Excellent read. Great story line and characters.
Highly recommend. Enjoy......

Published 11 months ago by EYESMILE
4.0 out of 5 starsFour Stars

great read. recommended

Published 16 months ago by Ann
4.0 out of 5 starsgood story...

Enjoyed the book. Characters and background were interesting and relatable. I like the era and the politics of pre-war Germany. Read more

Published 18 months ago by Capt. Chas
3.0 out of 5 starsVery bleak, but well written and researched

*2.5 stars

ROSA is one of those books that has such a dense atmosphere, you feel as though you are carrying around a heavy gray cloud while you read it. Read more

Published 19 months ago by myz
3.0 out of 5 starsThree Stars

No coment

Published 19 months ago by victor
5.0 out of 5 starsextremely interesting

Found this title by accident, and being Kerr's fan, I must say I am not disappointed. Much darker, though. A true noir for the fans. Read more

Published 23 months ago by Bea

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