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The Pale Criminal

Bernie Gunther Thriller 2

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About this listen

 'One of the greatest anti-heroes ever written' LEE CHILD

A series of horrific ritual murders leads Bernie Gunther to an occult conspiracy at the very heart of the Nazi Party - hard-boiled noir thriller for fans of Raymond Chandler and John le Carré

Five German schoolgirls are missing. Four have been found dead. But unlike the undesirables who make up the majority of dead and missing people in Hitler's Berlin, these girls were blonde and blue-eyed - the Aryan flower of German maidenhood - and their gruesome deaths recall ritual killings.

Busy with a blackmail case, Bernie is reluctant when he is asked to rejoin the Berlin police in order to track down the murderer. But when the person doing the asking is none other than head of the SD, Reinhard Heydrich, it's not exactly a request he can turn down. As Bernie gets closer to the truth, he realises that at the heart of this case is much more than one lone madman - in fact, there is a conspiracy at work more chilling than he could ever have imagined.

(P) 2021 Quercus Editions Limited©2016 Thynker Limited Crime Espionage Historical International Mystery & Crime Modern Detectives Mystery Private Investigators Spies & Politics Thriller & Suspense Fiction Murder

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excellent story framed by unsettling historical context and a timely reminder of Nazi Germany and the genesis of World War 2. highly recommended warning from history

Great story

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A gripping detective story in the vein of the tough P.I.s like Hammer or Marlowe. However being set in pre-war Germany, this unusual backdrop, with the presence of such well-know Nazi figures, sets the story apart from the normal detective thrillers. and gives it an air of reality. This is the second Bernie Gunther novel, and is possibly even more enjoyable than the first. Here Bernie is given no option but to return to working as a policeman to solve the murders of young girls in Berlin, but is still up to all his old tricks as a private detective, and as full of irreverence as usual, even against the Nazi leadership.

Gripping story

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The fact that the narrator, being male, also voiced female characters. This did not work very well in my opinion

The mix between fiction and historical non-fiction

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Amazing narration by Jonathan Keeble as always. Bernie Gunther is a very believable character. Looking forward to the next installment.

Great storyline

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the atmosphere of Berlin in the 1930s as well as the reading performance are fantastic

another brilliantly well read book

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