This is not a review really. In late 2007, I was having a discussion with a friend of mine about books, thrillers in particular. I mentioned the origianal Bernie trilogy. I explained how good they were and that even though Kerr has written some other fine books, this character was the best. The chat ended with I saying Kerr should bring him back. So you could imagine my surprise that night, on amazon.co.uk, I stumbled upon the listing for The One From The Other. My wife bought it for me that Christmas, I wondered whether I would enjoy this new story as much; it had been years since my reading of the trilogy. But it was lke meeting an old friend again.
While on vacation, I read The One From The Other by Philip Kerr. Following the action of the brilliant Berlin Noir, it continues the adventures of Bernie Gunther, a down in his luck investigator in pre-World War II Germany. He rubs shoulders with many of the evil men who were soon to make their dark mark on the world. The One From The Other picks up Bernie's life after World War II, where he is running a bed and breakfast just outside of Dachau, of all places.
One thing leads to another and he is quickly embroiled in the trials of the Red Jackets, war criminals held in prison. Soon he is beaten up and sucked into a bigger web of lies.
Once again, Kerr hits gold. Some of the ugly details of concentration camps and the pure evil of the SS can get a little hard to read. And I think the final web remains too big and random to have actually been planned, a common failure of many mysteries. I was never convinced there weren't much easier ways for the criminals to do what they wanted to do. But not enough to keep me from turning the next page as I blazed through it.
The abuse Bernie endures is gastly, but, in my opinion, very plausable after years of study of Nazi culture, three years living in Mainz, Darmstadt and Heidelberg, Germany as a US soldier (and photo journalist) during the Berlin Crisises of the early 1960's, and many return trips since then, a number of which have been among the "little old wine growers" of the Mossel. There was a lot going on at all levels and on all sides. Yes, there were many sides in play. Nearly anything was possible in those days.
There isn't a BG tale that I haven't enjoyed...each for a little different reason.
While I found the the ending a bit contrived..this was a twisting, turning plot that kept the reader guessing and page turning..at least it did me. Really enjoyed this book.
Comments
One thing leads to another and he is quickly embroiled in the trials of the Red Jackets, war criminals held in prison. Soon he is beaten up and sucked into a bigger web of lies.
Once again, Kerr hits gold. Some of the ugly details of concentration camps and the pure evil of the SS can get a little hard to read. And I think the final web remains too big and random to have actually been planned, a common failure of many mysteries. I was never convinced there weren't much easier ways for the criminals to do what they wanted to do. But not enough to keep me from turning the next page as I blazed through it.
While I found the the ending a bit contrived..this was a twisting, turning plot that kept the reader guessing and page turning..at least it did me. Really enjoyed this book.