Synopses & Reviews
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.
Review
"Kerr knows his World War II history....It's this knowledge coupled with a complicated story and believable portrayals of those larger-than-life characters (although I doubt FDR would use the f-word) that make Kerr's new novel a fascinating and intelligent thriller." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Review
"A scandalous yet plausible scenario... a thriller [in which] the historical dice are well-shaken." Los Angeles Times
Review
"[Kerr] quantum leaps the limitations of genre fiction. Most thrillers insult your intelligence; Kerr assaults your ignorance." Esquire
Review
"This is an excellent crossover suggestion for history buffs and a fine choice for those who enjoy the informative thrillers of Robert Harris or Robert Littell." Booklist
Synopsis
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.
Synopsis
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."
About the Author
Philip Kerr is the author of such thrillers as The Second Angel and A Philosophical Investigation, and the New York Times bestselling young adult novel The Children of the Lamp. Hailed by Salman Rushdie in The Independent as "a brilliantly innovative thriller writer," he lives in London.