Berlin

Auf Wiedersehen, Old Friend

Metropolis by Philip Kerr

April 15, 2019 by Jake Leave a Comment

The last week or so, I’ve written in different outlets about the impact Philip Kerr’s Bernie Gunther series has had on my reading journey and personal life. While acknowledging the many faults of these books, I love them in a special way. I think Kerr is great at capturing atmosphere and cynicism to produce some truly great crime reading. “Nazi Noir” is a burgeoning genre now but Kerr’s Gunther works were really the trendsetter. Knowing this would be the last one following Kerr’s untimely death, […]

eeeugh. gross in so many ways.

The Innocent by Ian McEwan

February 10, 2019 by andtheIToldYouSos 9 Comments

TRIGGER WARNING: sexual violence- and other terrible things What started out as a fairly mild story of a man who is a:not good at his job and b: not a terribly interesting person lurched suddenly downhill into a dirge of rape fantasy, sexual violence, murder, and dismemberment. “Eeeugh” was putting it lightly. I’m not one to tell you, dear reader, what to do- but I strongly suggest avoiding this garbage fire. I am normally drawn to post-war drama- especially involving espionage and intrigue- but I […]

Please don’t make me defend a Nazi sympathizer

March 17, 2016 by expandingbookshelf 3 Comments

In Dietrich & Riefenstahl, Karin Wieland compares the lives of two famous German movie personalities. On the surface, Marlin Dietrich and Leni Riefenstahl seem very similar. Born a year apart, both harbored big dreams. Both defied their parents, studied dance and worked as actors. Both took lovers and refused to live their lives the way others demanded. But when Hitler ascended to power, the two women reacted very differently. Dietrich became an American citizen and entertained Allied troops during the war, and Riefenstahl supported Hitler, […]

Horror Story on the Eve of Hitler’s Takeover

May 19, 2015 by Valyruh Leave a Comment

Grossman returns with a prequel to his horrifying The Sleepwalkers, which I’ve reviewed earlier. In Children of Wrath, the respected Berlin homicide detective and decorated WWI veteran Willi Kraus is just starting to feel the effects of the rising tide of anti-Semitism. It is 1929, and Hitler is still largely viewed as a vulgar upstart by the self-absorbed political aristocracy, but his power is nonetheless growing as the Great Depression begins to ravage the war-weary German economy. The Kripo, the bureau of criminal investigation where […]

Medical horrors on the eve of Hitler’s takeover

April 21, 2015 by Valyruh Leave a Comment

A murder mystery and quasi-historical novel in one, Grossman gives us Berlin on the verge of the Nazi takeover in 1932. A surgically altered corpse, missing sleepwalkers, a famous hypnotist and a Nazi doctor all enter the picture during the murder investigation undertaken by decorated German WWI veteran and celebrated homicide detective Willi Kraus. A widower with two sons, Kraus is also a Jew who is at first as blind to the ramifications of his investigation as he is to the rising tide of fascism. […]

Malin
on CBR Diversion – YAY for YA – Genre Discussion
In my book club, when we have pretty much come to the agreement that if the protagonists are still teenagers...
katie71483
on CBR Diversion – YAY for YA – Genre Discussion
Like so many others here, I'm a sucker for Tamora Pierce. Is Robin McKinley YA? Because I love her books,...
Tracy
on Interesting From an Intellectual Standpoint
I didn’t find it funny, and I’m not sure if my sense of humor doesn’t mesh with his or if...
Jen K
on CBR Diversion – YAY for YA – Genre Discussion
Oh, see I definitely read it as, “give your teens this magic school book instead.” Maybe because I remember The...
wicherwill
on CBR Diversion – YAY for YA – Genre Discussion
Interesting with Scholomance, I very much read it as the adult book for former YA magic school book readers

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