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The Pocket Handkerchief (A Mulholland / Strand Magazine Short)
Philip Kerr
Mystery & Thrillers / Horror / Science Fiction & Fantasy
From New York Times bestselling author Philip Kerr, comes a story of a young man growing up in colonial America.
Prague Fatale: A Bernie Gunther Novel
Part #8 of "Bernie Gunther Mystery" series by Philip Kerr
Mystery & Thrillers / Horror / Science Fiction & Fantasy
The latest New York Times bestseller from the author of the Berlin Noir trilogy and the New York Times bestseller Field Gray brings Bernie Gunther back—to a house party from hell First introduced in Philip Kerr's celebrated Berlin Noir trilogy, Bernie Gunther is an honest cop living in the most ruthless of times. Prague Fatale is Bernie's latest outing, and it's a tantalizing locked-door mystery-cum-political-thriller that's poised to build on Field Gray's success, confirming Kerr as a master of espionage literature. It's 1941 and Bernie is back from the Eastern Front, once again working homicide in Berlin's Kripo and answering to Reinhard Heydrich, a man he both detests and fears. Heydrich has been newly named Reichsprotector of Czechoslovakia. Tipped off that there is an assassin in his midst, he orders Bernie to join him at his country estate outside Prague, where he has invited some of the Third Reich's most odious officials to celebrate his new appointment. One of them is the would-be assassin. Bernie can think of better ways to spend a beautiful autumn weekend, but, as he says, "You don't say no to Heydrich and live." Review“The allure of these novels is that Bernie is such an interesting creation, a Chandleresque knight errant caught in insane historical surroundings.” —John Powers, Fresh Air, NPRGerman private detective Bernie Gunther would have been respected by Philip Marlowe and the two of them would have enjoyed sitting down at a bar and talking. —Jonathan Ames, Salon.com"Prague Fatale is classic Philip Kerr, a first-person noir detective story worthy of Dashiell Hammett or Raymond Chandler in every regard, seamlessly transplanted to war-era Europe. Every time I finish another Gunther novel, I think, “This is as good as it gets.” Then inevitably, the next one comes along and is even better!"--Bruce Tierney, BookPage.com“Bernie Gunther, the indomitable Berliner at the heart of this great series, is a man pummeled by history. . . . The great strength of Field Gray is Kerr’s overpowering portrait of the war’s horrors, [and] the glue holding it all together is Bernie himself, our battered, defiant German Everyman.”—Patrick Anderson, The Washington Post“A wily if unreliable narrator, Bernie may be forgiven for holding his cards so close to his chest as he tries to do the right thing in so many wrong places. Shades of the moral ambiguity of some of Graham Greene’s and John le Carré’s more memorable characters are here, as is the spirit of Raymond Chandler’s knight-errant, Philip Marlowe. Kerr’s ability to blend the elements of mystery and spy thriller into a satisfying package makes Field Gray the best in a long line of great entries in the series.”—Paula L. Woods, Los Angeles Times"In Prague Fatale, [Bernie Gunther] is back in the early days of the Second World War, dealing with a case that combines espionage, terrorism and a locked-room mystery [. . .] Philip Kerr does his usual fine job of setting the scenes and portraying the personalities of the era. His Nazis are note-perfect creations, as are the other characters, fictional and historical, of Second World War-era Europe, all of it flavoured by the wisecracking, tough-talking Gunther, who has been called the Sam Spade of Germany. Kerr knows his modern German history, and is gifted at storytelling, and Gunther is a dark anti-hero for the ages."--H. J. Kirchhoff, The Globe and Mail"[Philip Kerr] is an absolute master of the genre."--The Courier-Journal“[Prague Fatale] is clever and compelling, proving once again that the Bernie Gunther books are, by a long chalk, the best crime series around today.” –The Daily Beast"Inside this mesmerizing novel, set mainly in a country house outside Prague, is a tantalizing locked-door murder mystery that will thrill fans of Philip Kerr's Bernie Gunther novels."--Carol Memmott, USA TodayAbout the AuthorPhilip Kerr is the author of seven previous Bernie Gunther novels, most recently Field Gray, which was a New York Times bestseller and a Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2011. Its predecessor, If the Dead Rise Not, was a finalist for the Shamus Award for Best Hardcover Fiction. As. P. B. Kerr, he is the author of the young adult series Children of the Lamp. Kerr lives in London.
(1993) Dead Meat
Philip Kerr
Mystery & Thrillers / Horror / Science Fiction & Fantasy
EVERYONE IS GUILTY OF SOMETHING... In comtemporary Russia the old ghosts have been laid to rest, but the stench of corruption is just as strong as ever. Now a top-level Moscow investigator, dispatched to St. Petersburg, is about to discover just how deep the decadence runs--in both the corridors of power and the labyrinth of the human heart. The man from Moscow has been teamed up with Grushko, a palm-reading local detective with Elvis Presley hair. Together they embark on a investigation into the brutal murder of a famous and controversial journalist. To Grushko, an expert in the ruthlessness of the rising Russian Mafia, the killing has all the earmarks of a professional hit. But in the new Russia appearances have almost as little value as the new ruble. Soon the focus of the investigation will fall on the journalist's widow, a pinup beauty whom one detective will find impossible to trust...the other to resist.
A German Requiem: A Bernie Gunther Novel
Part #3 of "Bernie Gunther Mystery" series by Philip Kerr
Mystery & Thrillers / Horror / Science Fiction & Fantasy
The disturbing climax to the Berlin Noir trilogy Philip Kerr's Bernie Gunther novels have won him an international reputation as a master of historical suspense. In A German Requiem, the private eye has survived the collapse of the Third Reich to find himself in Vienna. Amid decaying imperial splendor, he traces concentric circles of evil and uncovers a legacy that makes the wartime atrocities seem lily-white in comparison.From Publishers WeeklyIn the wreckage of postwar Berlin, PI Bernie Gunther--in his third appearance--accepts coal for payment and reluctantly takes on a case for Russian Col. Palkovich Poroshin, one of the despised "Ivans." Asked to prove black marketeer Emil Becker innocent of the death of U.S. Counterintelligence Corps Capt. Edward Linden, Gunther leaves Berlin (and his unfaithful wife) for Vienna, where the incarcerated Becker insists he had been set up while delivering SS files to Linden at the behest of a stranger named Konig. Gunther's search for Konig attracts the attention of the CIC's John Belinksky, who also believes Becker was framed. After saving Gunther from some drunken Russians, Belinsky asks Gunther to infiltrate the ranks of a super-secret group of ex-Nazis whose leader may be former Gestapo head Heinrich Muller. Obviously, the Nazi-hunting CIC wants Muller badly, but Belinsky drops a bombshell that brings into question his own role in the investigation. Unleashing a series of stunning revelations, Kerr ( The Pale Criminal ) discloses the reasons for the Russians' interest in Linden and for the many deaths involved in Gunther's case. Rooted in historical details, driven by a powerful narrative, this atmospheric novel traces a frightening course amid a multiplicity of ironies. Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Library JournalThis is Kerr's third Bernie Gunther mystery in as many years. As in the others, Gunther must solve his case against a backdrop of war-ravaged Germany. Kerr's plot is formulaic, but his main character--with his SS background and rabid hate for the Soviet occupying forces--rises above stereotypical detectives. Kerr adds to his character with a light touch of subtle, wry humor; yet he relies on contrivances to piece together the puzzle. Still, Kerr has a good premise for a detective series and a lot of promise as a writer. Despite its faults, Requiem is worth a read. Bernie Gunther might be the next Doc Adams.- Martin J. Hudacs, Solanco H.S., Quarryville, Pa.Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
The Pale Criminal: A Bernie Gunther Novel
Part #2 of "Bernie Gunther Mystery" series by Philip Kerr
Mystery & Thrillers / Horror / Science Fiction & Fantasy
Hailed by Salman Rushdie as a "brilliantly innovative thriller-writer," Philip Kerr is the creator of taut, gripping, noir-tinged mysteries that are nothing short of spellbinding. In this second book of the Berlin Noir trilogy, The Pale Criminal brings back Bernie Gunther, an ex-policeman who thought he’d seen everything on the streets of 1930s Berlin—until he turned freelance and each case he tackled sucked him further into the grisly excesses of Nazi subculture. Hard-hitting, fast-paced, and richly detailed, The Pale Criminal is noir writing at its blackest and best.Review"...a superb tour of Berlin on the edge of an abyss and a cynical, dashing leading man. —St. Louis Post-Dispatch "Echoes of Raymond Chandler but better on his vivid and well-researched detail than the master." —Evening StandardAbout the AuthorPhilip Kerr is the author of many novels, but perhaps most important are the five featuring Bernie Gunther—A Quiet Flame, The One from the Other, and the Berlin Noir trilogy (March Violets, The Pale Criminal, and A German Requiem). He lives in London and Cornwall, England, with his family.
Metropolis
Philip Kerr
Mystery & Thrillers / Horror / Science Fiction & Fantasy
"The Bernie Gunther series is one of the great triumphs of modern noir, and it will be sorely missed." —Booklist (starred review)New York Times-bestselling author Philip Kerr treats readers to his beloved hero's origins, exploring Bernie Gunther's first weeks on Berlin's Murder Squad.Summer, 1928. Berlin, a city where nothing is verboten. In the night streets, political gangs wander, looking for fights. Daylight reveals a beleaguered populace barely recovering from the postwar inflation, often jobless, reeling from the reparations imposed by the victors. At central police HQ, the Murder Commission has its hands full. A killer is on the loose and though he scatters many clues, each is a dead end. It's almost as if he is taunting the cops. Meanwhile, the press is having a field day. This is what Bernie Gunther finds on his first day with the Murder Commisson. He's been taken on beacuse the people at...
Berlin Noir
Philip Kerr
Mystery & Thrillers / Horror / Science Fiction & Fantasy
Ex-Policeman Bernie Günther thought heıd seen everything on the streets of 1930ıs Berlin. But then he went freelance, and each case he tackled sucked him further into the grisly excesses of Nazi sub-culture. And even after the war, amidst the decayed, imperial splendour of Vienna, Bernie uncovered a legacy that made the wartime atrocities look lily-white in comparison . . .'Exceptionally good.' The Times'taut, brutal, coarse, believable and gripping stuff.' Sunday Telegraph 'Echoes of Raymond Chandler but better on his vivid and well-researched detail than the master.' Evening Standard'Full marks . . . Kerrıs complex intrigue allows space for brilliantly provoking political asides.' Sunday Times'Beautifully written.' Scotsman
A Five Year Plan
Philip Kerr
Mystery & Thrillers / Horror / Science Fiction & Fantasy
SUMMARY: Five years in a Miami prison for a crime he didn't commit gave Dave Delano a long time to think. Not that Dave is so innocent. He knew that by failing to finger mobster Tony Nudelli for murder he would take a complicity rap -- and $250,000 in hush money. But when his cellmate tips him off to boatloads of laundered mob money being ferried overseas in the hulls of U.S. yachts, Dave devises a flawless plan to net himself $30-$40 million -- and a new life.A hopeless romantic, FBI Agent Kate Fury joined the bureau in search of action, excitement, and occasional danger. Instead, the most hazardous thing she's done is forget the safety catch on her Lady Smith & Wesson. So when Colombian cocaine is suspected of being smuggled to Europe in a hollowed-out yacht hull, she's determined to make the biggest collar of her career.Yet neither Dave nor Kate are prepared for each other, and their shipboard meeting is pure combustion -- in a novel full of hidden identities, misunderstood motives, and major mayhems that goes full-throttle right to its shocking climax.
Hitler's Peace
Philip Kerr
Mystery & Thrillers / Horror / Science Fiction & Fantasy
A stunning World War II "what if" thriller in which the fate of Europe-and of its remaining 3 million Jews-hangs in the balance. Autumn 1943. Since Stalingrad, Hitler has known that Germany cannot win the war. The upcoming Allied conference in Teheran will set the ground rules for their second front-and for the peace to come. Realizing that the unconditional surrender FDR has demanded will leave Germany in ruins, Hitler has put out peace feelers. (Unbeknownst to him, so has Himmler, who is ready to stage a coup in order to reach an accord.) FDR and Stalin are willing to negotiate. Only Churchill refuses to listen. At the center of this high-stakes game of deals and doubledealing is Willard Mayer, an OSS operative who has been chosen by FDR to serve as his envoy. He is the perfect foil for the steamy world of deception, betrayals, and assassinations that make up the moral universe of realpolitik. A cool, self-absorbed, emotionally distant womanizer with a questionable past, Mayer has embraced the stylish philosophy of the day, in which no values are fixed. In the course of the novel, his beliefs will be put to the ultimate test. But as compelling as Mayer is, the key players in this drama-FDR, Stalin, Churchill, and Hitler, as well as Himmler, Bormann, Molotov, and Schellenberg (with marvelous walk-ons by Kim Philby, Anthony Blunt, and Evelyn Waugh)-are astonishingly true-to-life. Hitler's Peace is Philip Kerr in top form. With his sure hand for pacing, his firm grasp of historical detail, and his explosively creative imagination about what might have been, he has fashioned a totally convincing thinking man's thriller in the great tradition of Eric Ambler and Graham Greene.
A German Requiem
Philip Kerr
Mystery & Thrillers / Horror / Science Fiction & Fantasy
The disturbing climax to the Berlin Noir trilogyPhilip Kerr's Bernie Gunther novels have won him an international reputation as a master of historical suspense. In A German Requiem, the private eye has survived the collapse of the Third Reich to find himself in Vienna. Amid decaying imperial splendor, he traces concentric circles of evil and uncovers a legacy that makes the wartime atrocities seem lily-white in comparison.
The Pale Criminal
Philip Kerr
Mystery & Thrillers / Horror / Science Fiction & Fantasy
Hailed by Salman Rushdie as a "brilliantly innovative thriller-writer," Philip Kerr is the creator of taut, gripping, noir-tinged mysteries that are nothing short of spellbinding. In this second book of the Berlin Noir trilogy, The Pale Criminal brings back Bernie Gunther, an ex-policeman who thought he'd seen everything on the streets of 1930s Berlin—until he turned freelance and each case he tackled sucked him further into the grisly excesses of Nazi subculture. Hard-hitting, fast-paced, and richly detailed, The Pale Criminal is noir writing at its blackest and best.
Greeks Bearing Gifts
Philip Kerr
Mystery & Thrillers / Horror / Science Fiction & Fantasy
Knowing New York Times-bestselling author Philip Kerr's delight in subterfuge and obfuscation, readers can rest assure that nothing is what it seems when Bernie Gunther discovers war criminals living freely in Europe.It is 1956 and Bernie Gunther has a new name (Christoph Ganz), a clean passport, a chip on his shoulder, and a menial low-paying job in Munich. And then an old friend arrives to repay a debt. He encourages Bernie to take a job as a claims adjuster in a major German insurance company.Which is why Bernie, as Christoph, finds himself in Athens investigating a claim by Siegfried Witzel, a brutish former Wehrmacht soldier who served in Greece during the war. Witzel's supposed losses are immense, and, even worse, they may have originally belonged to Greek Jews deported to Auschwitz. But when Bernie tries to confront Witzel, he finds that somebody else has gotten to him first. What he has now is a dead man: both his eyes have been...
False Nine
Philip Kerr
Mystery & Thrillers / Horror / Science Fiction & Fantasy
The beautiful game just got deadly.Scott Manson needs to leave London. His job managing London City football team is over, and it cuts deep to watch them play on without him.But changing your life isn't as simple as all that. When Scott takes up a new position in Shanghai, he gets caught up in an elaborate sting mounted by a rival team. And when he quits that for a job in Barcelona, it turns out his new employers only want him for his detective skills: their star player is missing, and they need to find him fast.As Scott tracks the player from Paris to Antigua, he uncovers corruption, kidnapping - and murder...
Prussian Blue
Philip Kerr
Mystery & Thrillers / Horror / Science Fiction & Fantasy
From New York Times–bestselling author Philip Kerr, the much-anticipated return of Bernie Gunther, our compromised former Berlin bull and unwilling SS officer. With his cover blown, he is waiting for the next move in the cat-and-mouse game that, even a decade after Germany's defeat, continues to shadow his life. The French Riviera, 1956: The invitation to dinner was not unexpected, though neither was it welcome. Ernst Mielke, deputy head of the East German Stasi, has turned up in Nice, and he's not on holiday. An old and dangerous adversary, Mielke is calling in a debt. He intends that Bernie go to London and, with the vial of Thallium he now pushes across the table, poison a female agent they both have had dealings with. But chance intervenes in the form of Friedrich Korsch, an old Kripo comrade now working for Stasi and probably there to make sure Bernie gets the job done. Bernie bolts for the German border. Traveling by night, holed up...
The Winter Horses
Philip Kerr
Mystery & Thrillers / Horror / Science Fiction & Fantasy
From Philip Kerr, the New York Times bestselling author of the Bernie Gunther novels, comes a breathtaking journey of survival in the dark days of WWII, perfect for fans of The Book Thief, Milkweed, and The Boy in the Striped Pajamas.It will soon be another cold winter in the Ukraine. But it's 1941, and things are different this year. Max, the devoted caretaker of an animal preserve, must learn to live with the Nazis who have overtaken this precious land. He must also learn to keep secrets--for there is a girl, Kalinka, who is hiding in the park.Kalinka has lost her home, her family, her belongings--everything but her life. Still, she has gained one small, precious gift: a relationship with the rare wild and wily Przewalski's horses that wander the preserve. Aside from Max, these endangered animals are her only friends--until a Nazi campaign of extermination nearly wipes them out for good.Now Kalinka must set out on...
A Quiet Flame: A Bernie Gunther Novel
Part #5 of "Bernie Gunther Mystery" series by Philip Kerr
Mystery & Thrillers / Horror / Science Fiction & Fantasy
Bernie Gunther returns to trail a serial killer in 1950's Buenos Aires When he introduced Bernie Gunther in the original Berlin Noir trilogy, Philip Kerr immediately established himself as a thriller writer on par with Raymond Chandler. His new Bernie Gunther novels have won him comparisons with Alan Furst, John le Carré, and Graham Greene. A Quiet Flame finds Gunther in Argentina, circa 1950, where he- falsely accused of Nazi war crimes-has been offered a new life and a clean passport by the Perón government. But the tough, fast-talking detective doesn't have the luxury of laying low when a serial killer- whose crimes may reach back to Berlin before the war-is mutilating young girls. Taut, gritty, and loaded with evocative historical detail, A Quiet Flame is among Kerr's best work yet. From Publishers WeeklyStarred Review. At the start of Kerr's stellar fifth Bernie Gunther novel (after The One from the Other), the former Berlin homicide detective seeks exile in Argentina in 1950, along with others connected to the Nazi past (one of his fellow ship passengers is Adolf Eichmann). A few weeks after Gunther arrives in Buenos Aires, a local policeman, Colonel Montalbán, asks his help in solving the savage murder of 15-year-old Grete Wohlauf. Montalbán has noticed similarities between this crime and two unsolved murders Gunther investigated in 1932 Germany. Another teenage girl's disappearance heightens the urgency of the inquiry. In exchange for free medical treatment for his just diagnosed thyroid cancer, Gunther agrees to subtly grill members of the large German community. A secret he stumbles on soon places his life in jeopardy. Kerr, who's demonstrated his versatility with high-quality entries in other genres, cleverly and plausibly grafts history onto a fast-paced thriller plot. (Mar.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Review
The Lady from Zagreb
Philip Kerr
Mystery & Thrillers / Horror / Science Fiction & Fantasy
From New York Times–bestselling author Philip Kerr, the much-anticipated return of Bernie Gunther in a series hailed by Malcolm Forbes as "the best crime novels around today." A beautiful actress, a rising star of the giant German film company UFA, now controlled by the Propaganda Ministry. The very clever, very dangerous Propaganda Minister—close confidant of Hitler, an ambitious schemer and flagrant libertine. And Bernie Gunther, former Berlin homicide bull, now forced to do favors for Joseph Goebbels at the Propaganda Minister's command.This time, the favor is personal. And this time, nothing is what it seems.Set down amid the killing fields of Ustashe-controlled Croatia, Bernie finds himself in a world of mindless brutality where everyone has a hidden agenda. Perfect territory for a true cynic whose instinct is to trust no one.
Research
Philip Kerr
Mystery & Thrillers / Horror / Science Fiction & Fantasy
The rolling strip across the bottom of the screen shouts the news: BESTSELLING NOVELIST JOHN HOUSTON'S WIFE FOUND MURDERED AT THEIR LUXURY APARTMENT IN MONACO. Houston is the richest writer in the world, a book factory publishing many bestsellers a year - so many that he can't possibly write them himself. He has a team that feeds off his talent; ghost writers, agents, publishers. So when he decides to take a year out to write something of quality, a novel that will win prizes and critical acclaim, a lot of people stand to lose their livelihoods. Now Houston, the prime suspect in his wife's murder, has disappeared. He owns a boat and has a pilot's licence - he could be anywhere and there are many who'd like to find him. First there's the police. If he's innocent, why did he flee? Then again, maybe he was set up by one of his enemies. The scenario reads like the plot of one of Houston's million-copy-selling thrillers...
The Other Side of Silence
Philip Kerr
Mystery & Thrillers / Horror / Science Fiction & Fantasy
From New York Times–bestselling author Philip Kerr, the much anticipated return of Bernie Gunther in a series hailed by The Daily Beast as "the best crime novels around today." Once I'd been a good detective in Kripo, but that was a while ago, before the criminals wore smart gray uniforms and nearly everyone locked up was innocent." Being a Berlin cop in 1942 was a little like putting down mousetraps in a cage full of tigers.The war is over. Bernie Gunther, our sardonic former Berlin homicide detective and unwilling SS officer, is now living on the French Riviera. It is 1956 and Bernie is the go-to guy at the Grand-Hotel du Cap-Ferrat, the man you turn to for touring tips or if you need a fourth for bridge. As it happens, a local writer needs just that, someone to fill the fourth seat in a regular game that is the usual evening diversion at the Villa Mauresque. Not just any writer. Perhaps the richest and most famous living writer in...
If the Dead Rise Not: A Bernie Gunther Novel
Part #6 of "Bernie Gunther Mystery" series by Philip Kerr
Mystery & Thrillers / Horror / Science Fiction & Fantasy
"Every time we're afraid we've seen the last of Bernie Gunther, Philip Kerr comes through." -The New York Times Book Review Hailed as "one of the greatest series of crime novels in the world" (El Pais, Spain), Philip Kerr's Bernie Gunther novels continue to garner fantastic acclaim both here and abroad. This time, it's 1954 and Bernie has resurfaced in Havana. Life is relatively peaceful, but the world-weary ex-cop discovers that he cannot outrun his past when he collides with an old lover-and a vicious killer-from his life in Berlin. Alternating between the flamboyant corruption of Batista's Cuba and Nazi Germany during the buildup to the 1936 Olympiad, If the Dead Rise Not is another stunning example of Kerr's virtuoso talent.From Publishers WeeklyStarred Review. Both newcomers and established fans will appreciate Kerr's outstanding sixth Bernie Gunther novel (after A Quiet Flame), as it fills in much of the German PI's backstory. By 1934, as the Nazis tighten their grip on power, Gunther has left the Berlin police force for a job as a hotel detective. His routine inquiry into the theft of a Chinese box from a guest, a German-American from New York, becomes more complex after he learns that the identical objet d'art was reported stolen just the previous day by an official from the Asiatic Museum. The case proves to be connected with German efforts to forestall an American boycott of the 1936 Olympics, and provides ample opportunities for Gunther, whom Sam Spade would have found a kindred spirit, to make difficult moral choices. Once again the author smoothly integrates a noir crime plot with an authentic historical background. Note that the action precedes the events recounted in the series' debut, March Violets (1989). (Mar.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From Bookmarks MagazineFavorably compared to the World War II espionage novels of Alan Furst (The Foreign Correspondent, The Spies of Warsaw) and the work of hard-boiled legends Raymond Chandler and Ross Macdonald, Philip Kerr reprises the Bernie Gunther saga with true fidelity to his detective's noir roots. The Berlin Noir novels (March Violets, The Pale Criminal, A German Requiem), a trilogy published nearly 20 years ago, are known in crime circles but woefully neglected by mainstream readers. With If the Dead Rise Not--and despite the unevenness of the book's two parts, which critics felt slightly impaired the novel as a whole--Kerr continues to develop Gunther's character in one of the great historical crime series.
Prayer
Philip Kerr
Mystery & Thrillers / Horror / Science Fiction & Fantasy
From New York Times-bestselling author Philip Kerr comes an amazing departure: an intense psychological thriller, sure to garner even more acclaim for this powerhouse author on the rise. Gil Martins, an agent with the FBI’s Domestic Terrorism Unit in Houston, confronts the violence generated by extremism within our nation’s borders every day. He sees hatred and destruction wrought by every kind of “ism” there is, and the zealots who kill in their names. Until now, he has always been a part of the solution—however imperfect—a part of justice. But when Gil discovers he played a key role in wrongly condemning an innocent man to death row, it shakes his faith—in the system, in himself, and in God—deeply. It even estranges him from his wife and son. Desperate, Gil offers up a prayer. To know God is there, not through a sign or physical demonstration but through the strength to cope with his ever-growing, ever-creeping doubts.His problems become more than personal as things heat up in Houston. A serial killer terrorizing the morally righteous turns out to have religious motivations, upping the case from homicide to domestic terrorism. A number of prominent secular icons die or are grievously injured abruptly and under suspicious circumstances, the latest of which is a New Atheist writer who’s fallen into an inexplicable coma. Left and right, it seems Gil can’t escape the power of God and murder.As Gil investigates both cases, he realizes that there may be a connection—answering his prayers in a most terrifying way. **
A Man Without Breath
Part #9 of "Bernie Gunther Mystery" series by Philip Kerr
Mystery & Thrillers / Horror / Science Fiction & Fantasy
From the national bestselling author of Prague Fatale, a powerful new thriller that returns Bernie Gunther, our sardonic Berlin cop, to the Eastern Front.Berlin, March, 1943. A month has passed since the stunning defeat at Stalingrad. Though Hitler insists Germany is winning the war, commanders on the ground know better. Morale is low, discipline at risk. Now word has reached Berlin of a Red massacre of Polish officers in the Katyn Forest near Smolensk. If true, the message it would send to the troops is clear: Fight on or risk certain death. For once, both the Wehrmacht and Propaganda Minister Goebbels want the same thing: irrefutable evidence of this Russian atrocity. To the Wehrmacht, such proof will soften the reality of its own war crimes in the eyes of the victors. For Goebbels, such proof could turn the tide of war by destroying the Alliance, cutting Russia off from its western supply lines.Both parties agree that the ensuing investigation must be overseen by a professional trained in sifting evidence and interrogating witnesses. Anything that smells of incompetence or tampering will defeat their purposes. And so Bernie Gunther is dispatched to Smolensk, where truth is as much a victim of war as those poor dead Polish officers.Smolensk, March, 1943. Army Group Center is an enclave of Prussian aristocrats who have owned the Wehrmacht almost as long as they’ve owned their baronial estates, an officer class whose families have been intermarrying for generations. The wisecracking, rough-edged Gunther is not a good fit. He is, after all, a Berlin bull. But he has a far bigger concern than sharp elbows and supercilious stares, for somewhere in this mix is a cunning and savage killer who has left a trail of bloody victims.This is no psycho case. This is a man with motive enough to kill and skills enough to leave no trace of himself. Bad luck that in this war zone, such skills are two-a-penny. Somehow Bernie must put a face to this killer before he puts an end to Bernie.ReviewPraise for *A Man Without Breath“This is the most intelligent brand of crime fiction, and there is moral complexity here in spades.”—The Daily Beast“A Man Without Breath is a masterful accomplishment that delivers a gripping mystery wrapped around meticulously researched history…It brings the deadly past to life.”—The Arizona Republic“Kerr just keeps raising the ante with this series. And this is the best book yet.”—Dayton Daily News“One of these days World War II will come to an end, and then how will we manage without Bernie Gunther, the cynical Berlin cop who has somehow contrived to stay alive and retain some vestige of personal integrity in Philip Kerr’s harrowing historical thrillers?”—The New York Times Book Review“This ninth Bernie Gunther tale (after Prague Fatale) focuses on two months of 1943, mixing real-life characters with fictional ones. Kerr’s historical knowledge and writing skills merge these elements seamlessly in a gripping story of murder, but it is Bernie who holds it all together even as he questions the absurdity of attempting normalcy during war. Mystery, historical fiction, and military history buffs will join existing Bernie fans in welcoming this latest installment in the series.”—Library Journal“Captivating . . . Kerr makes everything look easy, from blending history with a clever and intricate whodunit plot to powerful descriptions of cruelty.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)“Kerr’s sketch of Goebbels dazzles. The author pulls the reader down into the dark underground of Der Führer’s rabbit hole of totalitarian horror . . . [A Man Without Breath] masterfully explores morality's shadowy gray edge.”—Kirkus*About the AuthorPHILIP KERR is the author of eight previous Bernie Gunther novels. Bestselling Field Gray was nominated for the 2012 Edgar Award for Best Novel. Kerr is also the much-loved author of the fantasy series Children of the Lamp. He lives in London.
Philip Kerr
Bernard Gunther 06 - If the Dead Rise Not (v5)
EDITORIAL REVIEW: Winner of the 2009 International Prize for Noir Fiction, awarded by RBA. Berlin, 1934: The Nazis have secured the 1936 Olympics. Hitler and Avery Brundage, the head of the U.S. Olympic Committee, have connived to soft pedal Nazi anti Semitism and convince America to participate. Bernie Gunther, a house detective at an upscale Berlin hotel, is swept into this world of international corruption and dangerous double dealing. Havana, 1954: the American Mafia is quickly gaining a stranglehold on the city's exploding gaming and prostitution industries. Bernie has now resurfaced in Cuba with a new life of relative peace. But he discovers that he truly cannot outrun the burden of his past: He soon collides with a vicious killer from his Berlin days, who is mysteriously murdered not long afterward, and an old lover, who may be the murderer. If the Dead Rise Not has twisted intrigue, tight plot, a hang by your thumbs ending. Spanish Description: Ganadora del Premio Internacional de Novela Negra RBA 2009. Berlin, 1934: Los nazis han logrado asegurar que los juegos olimpicos de 1936 se celebren en la ciudad pero enfrentan resistencia del exterior. Hitler y Avery Brundage, jefe del comite olimpico de los Estados Unidos, se confabulan para suavizar el antisemitismo nazi y convencer a los americanos a participar en los juegos. Bernie Gunther, el detective de planta de un hotel de lujo en Berlin, se ve arrastrado a este mundo de corrupcion y doble juego, atrapado en una guerra entre facciones del aparato nazi. Habana, 1954: Batista, apoyado por la CIA, toma el poder. Castro se encuentra tras las rejas y la mafia americana esta a un punto de asumir el control total de las lucrativas industrias de la prostitucion y los casinos. Bernie, quien ha sido expulsado sin ceremonia alguna de Buenos Aires, reaparece en Cuba para comenzar una vida nueva, regida por la rutina y la paz, pero descubre que no puede dejar atras su pasado. Estando en Cuba se topa con un asesino despiadado de sus dias en Berlin, a quien encuentran despues misteriosamente asesinado, y a una vieja amante, quien podria ser la asesina. Si los muertos no resucitan tiene todos los elementos que los admiradores de Philip Kerr esperan: intriga, una trama torcida y cerrada, liÂneas ingeniosas y un final tenso, pero aun mas significativo, un Bernie Gunther mas rico y sabio.
January Window
Philip Kerr
Mystery & Thrillers / Horror / Science Fiction & Fantasy
Everyone knows football is a matter of life and death. But this time, it's murder.Scott Manson is team coach for London City football club. He's also their all-round fixer - he gets the lads in to training, and out of trouble, keeps the wags at bay and the press in his pocket. The players love him, the bosses trust him.But now London City manager Joao Zarco is dead, killed at his team's beloved stadium at Silvertown Docks. Even Scott Manson can't smooth over murder... but can he catch the killer before he strikes again?Set in the glamorous but corrupt world of Premier League football, this is a gripping thriller from a bestselling crimewriter.
The Shot
Philip Kerr
Mystery & Thrillers / Horror / Science Fiction & Fantasy
Popular British author Kerr (A Five-Year Plan, etc.) skillfully weaves fictional intrigue and historical events in his new novel, a political thriller set in the early JFK years. At the center of the story is a Miami-based hit man who goes by the name of Tom Jefferson. He has been hired by mobster Sam Giancana and his Mafia buddies--who are eager to continue doing business in Havana--to kill Fidel Castro. But the plan hits a snag when, bragging about a deal the mob made with Joe Kennedy to provide Teamster support for his son's presidential campaign, somebody tells Tom about a tape that Giancana secretly made of JFK's trysts with Marilyn Monroe. Listening to the tape, Tom discovers that the woman in JFK's arms is not Monroe, but an eager JFK campaign worker named Mary Jefferson--Tom's wife. When Mary turns up dead, Tom disappears with the mob's cash to join rogue FBI agent Alex Goldman in devising a plan to shoot JFK in Harvard Yard. As Tom stalks JFK and the mob tracks Tom, Kerr produces enough double twists and triple crosses to keep even the savviest reader riveted. Although a surplus of period detail sometimes slows the novel's pace, Kerr's Cuba steams, his Vegas glitters and his New York buzzes in what is, overall, an engrossing and well-written conspiracy thriller.
Bernard Gunther 06 - If the Dead Rise Not (v5)
Philip Kerr
Mystery & Thrillers / Horror / Science Fiction & Fantasy
EDITORIAL REVIEW: Winner of the 2009 International Prize for Noir Fiction, awarded by RBA. Berlin, 1934: The Nazis have secured the 1936 Olympics. Hitler and Avery Brundage, the head of the U.S. Olympic Committee, have connived to soft pedal Nazi anti Semitism and convince America to participate. Bernie Gunther, a house detective at an upscale Berlin hotel, is swept into this world of international corruption and dangerous double dealing. Havana, 1954: the American Mafia is quickly gaining a stranglehold on the city's exploding gaming and prostitution industries. Bernie has now resurfaced in Cuba with a new life of relative peace. But he discovers that he truly cannot outrun the burden of his past: He soon collides with a vicious killer from his Berlin days, who is mysteriously murdered not long afterward, and an old lover, who may be the murderer. If the Dead Rise Not has twisted intrigue, tight plot, a hang by your thumbs ending. Spanish Description: Ganadora del Premio Internacional de Novela Negra RBA 2009. Berlin, 1934: Los nazis han logrado asegurar que los juegos olimpicos de 1936 se celebren en la ciudad pero enfrentan resistencia del exterior. Hitler y Avery Brundage, jefe del comite olimpico de los Estados Unidos, se confabulan para suavizar el antisemitismo nazi y convencer a los americanos a participar en los juegos. Bernie Gunther, el detective de planta de un hotel de lujo en Berlin, se ve arrastrado a este mundo de corrupcion y doble juego, atrapado en una guerra entre facciones del aparato nazi. Habana, 1954: Batista, apoyado por la CIA, toma el poder. Castro se encuentra tras las rejas y la mafia americana esta a un punto de asumir el control total de las lucrativas industrias de la prostitucion y los casinos. Bernie, quien ha sido expulsado sin ceremonia alguna de Buenos Aires, reaparece en Cuba para comenzar una vida nueva, regida por la rutina y la paz, pero descubre que no puede dejar atras su pasado. Estando en Cuba se topa con un asesino despiadado de sus dias en Berlin, a quien encuentran despues misteriosamente asesinado, y a una vieja amante, quien podria ser la asesina. Si los muertos no resucitan tiene todos los elementos que los admiradores de Philip Kerr esperan: intriga, una trama torcida y cerrada, liÂneas ingeniosas y un final tenso, pero aun mas significativo, un Bernie Gunther mas rico y sabio.
Dark Matter
Philip Kerr
Mystery & Thrillers / Horror / Science Fiction & Fantasy
I swore not to tell this story while Newton was still alive. 1696, young Christopher Ellis is sent to the Tower of London, but not as a prisoner. Though Ellis is notoriously hotheaded and was caught fighting an illegal duel, he arrives at the Tower as assistant to the renowned scientist Sir Isaac Newton. Newton is Warden of the Royal Mint, which resides within the Tower walls, and he has accepted an appointment from the King of England and Parliament to investigate and prosecute counterfeiters whose false coins threaten to bring down the shaky, war-weakened economy. Ellis may lack Newton's scholarly mind, but he is quick with a pistol and proves himself to be an invaluable sidekick and devoted apprentice to Newton as they zealously pursue these criminals. While Newton and Ellis investigate a counterfeiting ring, they come upon a mysterious coded message on the body of a man killed in the Lion Tower, as well as alchemical symbols that indicate this was more than just a random murder. Despite Newton's formidable intellect, he is unable to decipher the cryptic message or any of the others he and Ellis find as the body count increases within the Tower complex. As they are drawn into a wild pursuit of the counterfeiters that takes them from the madhouse of Bedlam to the squalid confines of Newgate prison and back to the Tower itself, Newton and Ellis discover that the counterfeiting is only a small part of a larger, more dangerous plot, one that reaches to the highest echelons of power and nobility and threatens much more than the collapse of the economy. Dark Matter is the lastest masterwork of suspense from Philip Kerr, the internationally bestselling and brilliantly innovative thriller writer who has dazzled readers with his imaginative, fast-paced novels. Like An Instance of the Fingerpost, The Name of the Rose, and Kerr's own Berlin Noir trilogy, Dark Matter is historical mystery at its finest, an extraordinary, suspense-filled journey through the shadowy streets and back alleys of London with the brilliant Newton and his faithful protégé. The haunted Tower with its bloody history is the perfect backdrop for this richly satisfying tale, one that introduces an engrossing mystery into the volatile mix of politics, science, and religion that characterized life in seventeenth-century London.
Research
Kerr, Philip
The rolling strip across the bottom of the screen shouts the news: BESTSELLING NOVELIST JOHN HOUSTON'S WIFE FOUND MURDERED AT THEIR LUXURY APARTMENT IN MONACO. Houston is the richest writer in the world, a book factory publishing many bestsellers a year - so many that he can't possibly write them himself. He has a team that feeds off his talent; ghost writers, agents, publishers. So when he decides to take a year out to write something of quality, a novel that will win prizes and critical acclaim, a lot of people stand to lose their livelihoods. Now Houston, the prime suspect in his wife's murder, has disappeared. He owns a boat and has a pilot's licence - he could be anywhere and there are many who'd like to find him. First there's the police. If he's innocent, why did he flee? Then again, maybe he was set up by one of his enemies. The scenario reads like the plot of one of Houston's million-copy-selling thrillers...
The Most Frightening Story Ever Told
Philip Kerr
Mystery & Thrillers / Horror / Science Fiction & Fantasy
Roald Dahl meets R. L. Stine in this spine-tingling and hilarious tale from a bestselling author. Billy Shivers doesn't have a lot of excitement in his life. He prefers to spend his days reading alone in the Hitchcock Public Library. So it is a bit out of character when he finds himself drawn to the Haunted House of Books, and a competition daring readers to survive an entire night inside. The Haunted House of Books is a cross between a bookstore and a booby trap. It's a creeky old mansion full of dark hallways and things that go bump in the night, and the store's ill-tempered owner, Mr. Rapscallion, only adds to the mystery. But the frights of the store itself are nothing compared to the stories it holds. These stories are so ghastly, so terrifying, so shocking that once you've read them, you'll never be the same. Does Billy dare begin? Do you?
March Violets
Philip Kerr
Mystery & Thrillers / Horror / Science Fiction & Fantasy
Hailed by Salman Rushdie as a "brilliantly innovative thriller-writer," Philip Kerr is the creator of taut, gripping, noir-tinged mysteries that are nothing short of spellbinding. The first book of the Berlin Noir trilogy, March Violets introduces readers to Bernie Gunther, an ex-policeman who thought he'd seen everything on the streets of 1930s Berlin—until he turned freelance and each case he tackled sucked him further into the grisly excesses of Nazi subculture. Hard-hitting, fast-paced, and richly detailed, March Violets is noir writing at its blackest and best.
Hand of God
Philip Kerr
Mystery & Thrillers / Horror / Science Fiction & Fantasy
City players know they aren't well-liked in Greece, but they never expected to face death on the football pitch.Scott Manson and London City are in Athens battling for the UEFA Champion's League title. The situation in Athens is tense, and some of City's players are so unpopular in Greece they've been assigned bodyguards.Karaiskakis Stadium is packed to the rafters when tragedy strikes. Christoph Bundchen collapses and dies mid-match. Is it a heart attack? Or something more sinister? The team have a crucial match in England - but they can't go home until the investigation is complete. The Greek authorities are dragging their heels... Can Scott Manson find the truth and get the team home in time?The second Scott Manson thriller from bestselling crimewriter Philip Kerr.











