Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Oy Vey!, October 6, 2005
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.
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34 of 40 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
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!
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Kellerman goes historical, July 21, 2006
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.
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