Janelle C. (jscrappy) reviewed on 1/24/2008 + 59 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 3

A well-written thriller that takes place in Berlin immediately after Germany's surrender in 1945. The author masterfully sets the scene, showing you the devastated city through the shocked eyes of Jake Geisner, an American reporter returning to the city after four years away. Jake covers the Potsdam conference for Collier's magazine, searches for his former lover, and stumbles on a murder that takes him deep into the dark side of the occupation. The book explores some of the moral ambiguity of both sides of the conflict--both the victorious armies and the vanquished. The author has a real talent for characterization and detail, and you feel like you're really in the rubble of Berlin, looking around at the end of one war and the dawn of a new, Cold war. Incidentally, the book is nothing like the movie. The story details are very different, and the book is much more satisfying and complex.

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