‘One of the greatest anti-heroes ever written’ LEE CHILD
The war may be over, but the remnants of the Nazis are still causing trouble for Bernie Gunther.
In post-war Vienna, the term ‘peace’ is relative – the Americans, British and Russians govern the city in an uneasy truce, and the main difference is that now it’s the Soviet secret police making people disappear rather than the Nazis. When Bernie is asked by a high-ranking Soviet official to clear an old Kripo colleague’s name of the murder of an American officer, he quickly realises he’s in over his head.
Bernie’s ex-colleague Becker was working for a secret society of Nazi hunters, tracking down and executing war criminals who faked their own deaths to escape the noose at Nuremberg. Infiltrating the group, Bernie finds himself face to face with men he thought he’d never see again. They’ve cheated justice once – now Bernie must see that they don’t get away a second time.
Perfect for fans of Raymond Chandler and John le Carré.
************************************
PRAISE FOR PHILIP KERR
‘Kerr leads us through the facts of history and the vagaries of human nature’ TOM HANKS
‘One of the greatest master story-tellers in English’ ALAN FURST
‘One of the most memorable and original characters’ THE SUNDAY TIMES
‘Bitterly, darkly funny’ SUNDAY HERALD
The war may be over, but the remnants of the Nazis are still causing trouble for Bernie Gunther.
In post-war Vienna, the term ‘peace’ is relative – the Americans, British and Russians govern the city in an uneasy truce, and the main difference is that now it’s the Soviet secret police making people disappear rather than the Nazis. When Bernie is asked by a high-ranking Soviet official to clear an old Kripo colleague’s name of the murder of an American officer, he quickly realises he’s in over his head.
Bernie’s ex-colleague Becker was working for a secret society of Nazi hunters, tracking down and executing war criminals who faked their own deaths to escape the noose at Nuremberg. Infiltrating the group, Bernie finds himself face to face with men he thought he’d never see again. They’ve cheated justice once – now Bernie must see that they don’t get away a second time.
Perfect for fans of Raymond Chandler and John le Carré.
************************************
PRAISE FOR PHILIP KERR
‘Kerr leads us through the facts of history and the vagaries of human nature’ TOM HANKS
‘One of the greatest master story-tellers in English’ ALAN FURST
‘One of the most memorable and original characters’ THE SUNDAY TIMES
‘Bitterly, darkly funny’ SUNDAY HERALD
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Reviews
Rooted in historical details, driven by a powerful narrative, this atmospheric novel traces a frightening course amid a multiplicity of ironie
Bernie's widening investigations steadily deepen the sense of political evil - except that now, unsettlingly, the Nazis have no monopoly on institutional terror
Philip Kerr is the contemporary master of the morally complex thriller
Kerr's novels are modern classics
Bernie Gunther is one of the more interesting and original private eyes in thriller fiction
His Raymond Chandleresque mysteries about a cynical Berlin cop reluctantly working for the Nazis are [Kerr's] masterpiece
Streets ahead of most other historical thrillers in its blend of wit, careful plotting and the kind of detail that brings the past to life
