The Man from Berlin

Gregor Reinhardt, Book 1

De: Luke McCallin

Narrado por: John Lee

In war-torn Yugoslavia, a beautiful young filmmaker and photographer - a veritable hero to her people - and a German officer have been brutally murdered. Assigned to the case is military intelligence officer Captain Gregor Reinhardt. Already haunted by his wartime actions and the mistakes he's made off the battlefield, he soon finds that his investigation may be more than just a murder, and that the late Yugoslavian heroine may have been much more brilliant - and treacherous - than anyone knew. Maneuvering his way through a minefield of political, military, and personal agendas and vendettas, Reinhardt knows that someone is leaving a trail of dead bodies to cover their tracks. But those bloody tracks may lead Reinhardt to a secret hidden within the ranks of the powerful that they will do anything to keep. And his search for the truth may kill him before he ever finds it.

©2013 Luke McCallin (P)2014 Tantor

So-so

Any additional comments?

I was looking for a new detective novel and downloaded this one which promised to be excellent. The narrator is good, the story limps a little and didn't keep me riveted. So-so; not great.

Great Historical Thriller

Would you listen to The Man from Berlin again? Why?

I found this book after searching on my favorite narrator, John Lee. And was it worth it. A great idea to base a story on a German cop trying to maintain his integrity in the Nazi state during WW2.

Good Story

This might make a good movie. At times it had too much detail that the author enjoyed more than i did. Even so it was a wished for nazi era story that might have a little truth. Good plot with some surprises.

Very entertaining.

Loved this novel. John Lee is a wonderful performer. This was hard to pause listening, I would often listen at work when I could because I couldn't stop.

What a story!

Welcome to the club Mr. McCallin. You have earned shelf space with LaCarre, Furst, Kerr, and other scribes who dazzle us with stunning journeys through WW II and the lives of its heroes and villains.
You are a master craftsman of the art of intrigue. I was consumed by your use of character development, plot lines, atmospheric texture and ethos.
And if John Lee doesn't win an Oscar for his singularly spectacular narrative interpretation of this multi-character, trans European Tolstoy-esque Proustian joy ride I will eat my hat.
Cheers!

The Man From Transylvania

A very very poor man's Alan Furst. Overly simplistic story with a series of somewhat irrelevant twists. No real sense of jeopardy for the hero. Deeply unsatisfying ending.

By far the worst feature however is the reading. I normally do not mind John Lee as a reader, but his interpretation of a German officer and a Czech officer comes across like an episode of that classic 80s buddy cop show Dracula & Dracula.

Well written, but unconvincing...

The set up is not new : a very decent former police officer serves during the second ww in the German army during the occupation of Yugoslavia. The situation by itself contains tension between good and evil and the murders that follow add more spice to the story with their political and ethnic implications . The book is well written (and one can tell that the writer has spent time in Bosnia.)...but it is not fully convincing . Dialogues lack a bit of sharpness , the characters are a bit of stereotype and the story is at times convoluted and never gets you 100% involved.

Terrific story and narration..

What made the experience of listening to The Man from Berlin the most enjoyable?

fascinating from an historical point of view as well. Highly recommend.

What did you like best about this story?

No one thing...the protagonist is a great vehicle for the conflicts of the war and the moral difficulties for Germans of conscience.

Which character – as performed by John Lee – was your favorite?

the protagonist.

Too much soul searching. Ending was not credible.

Is there anything you would change about this book?

This is a good example of a story line that got so wound up in creating an exciting plot, that the author couldn't get out at the end. The ending had no credibility, which is too bad because the idea was a good one. The main character spends way too much time contemplating his inner strife.

What was most disappointing about Luke McCallin’s story?

See the above. The story is written to be the initial story for a series. This one tried to do too much. I won't go back for the rest of the series.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

No.

Solid 1st novel of WWII Nazi officer in Sarajevo

Very good first novel by this author. Read it. Here's why :

What attracted me to this book are the few but positive reviews and -- most importantly -- the fact that the story takes place in Sarajevo in 1943. It is an unusual (exotic?) combination of time and place for a novel about a murder investigation. I find many of the modern attempts at publishing historical novels end up featuring bland/overused stories disguised as something new, missing yet another opportunity to tell us what it was like during those days.

The Man From Berlin did not fufill my apprehensions : it was entertaining, original, fascinating and un-pretentious. The narrator did a very good job of speaking with just a touch of a German accent and his intonation fit the style. I learned a lot about the sad and complex history of the peoples of the Balkans. For instance I learned that Sarajevo, today the capital city of Bosnia & Herzegovina, was forced to be included in the short-lived Nazi puppet-state called "Independant State of Croatia" and that the Croat pro-Nazi party (the Ustaše) was in charge. A significant number of ethnic Croats were enrolled in German SS divisions made sure Germany's politics were carried out locally. While many atrocities were commited, the author wisely chose to mention it clearly and not dwell emotionally on the subject. The Nazis are favorite villains in fiction and I applaud Mr. McCallin for not feeding the trolls in this work. The subject of Jews cannot be avoided and the author did a very graceful job at casting an era-appropriate view of Hitler's most known ethnic policies.

There are many bad historical novels out there, and quite a few ordinary ones too. The Man from Berlin was a gamble for me. I will definitely be following this author in the future.