Germany, 1949: Amid the chaos of defeat, it's a place of dirty deals, rampant greed, fleeing Nazis, and all the intrigue and deceit readers have co...
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Jun 04, 2011
Patrick
rated it: 
Bernie Gunther, private investigator, is the literary heir to Philip Marlowe, and that's a good thing. While the plot in this novel feels a bit contrived, the hardboiled dialog is often fun, and after writing four novels about Bernie Gunther, Kerr knows his main main inside and out.
It's the character of Gunther that makes this Chandler-style noir worth reading. He's cynical about religion, amoral when it suits, and German to the core, but he hates Nazis. As a policemen in Berlin bef More...
It's the character of Gunther that makes this Chandler-style noir worth reading. He's cynical about religion, amoral when it suits, and German to the core, but he hates Nazis. As a policemen in Berlin bef More...
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Jan 19, 2012
Mark
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I was absolutely riveted to this book from beginning to end. I picked it up, expecting to only read a few pages before bed. I ended up staying awake and finishing the book all the way through in 5 hours. I just couldn't put it down, even if my life depended on it.[return][return]Bernie Gunther is kind of like 24's Jack Bauer. He's a complete nutcase but you're always cheering for him. Whenever he starts to get his revenge or bust a few heads, you'll shouting at him to hit harder! It's very satis
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Mar 08, 2009
Mike
rated it: 
I recall loving Bernie Gunther, and recommend the first three books often. (But it's been now some years since I read them. Buyer beware.) The collision of a noir vision (an endemic social corruption, a bitterly-funny protagonist bleakly trying to just get by and occasionally drawn into the moral morass) with the historical context of those early novels (pre-/WWII Nazi Germany) always seemed an outrageous high-concept stunt, leaning toward a slick exploitation, and yet damn if Kerr didn't do it
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Jan 18, 2012
Nick
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Another in Philip Kerr’s Bernie Gunther series. Briefly, Bernie Gunther is a private detective on the mean streets of the Third Reich. There’s an interesting moral question that pops up immediately, something along the lines of: in a thoroughly corrupt place where the laws are made by an evil regime to suit its own purposes, what does a law-abiding man do, and what’s the point of being one – what’s the point of ferreting out one crime when so many are being committed by those who are supposed to
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Nov 13, 2010
Artemis
rated it:
Not another thriller I said to myself. Have read a few lately and sick and tired of them ... full of sadism and and excuses for gore ... Picked up this one resigned to being fed up and putting down for a future date when I'd weaned off my current distaste and boredom of thrillers. It took me a while to get into it, but this is different ... clever, laugh-out-loud funny, well researched, interesting. Some of it became obvious or predictable half-way through but didn't diminish the enjoyment. Chan
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Aug 02, 2010
Rowland
rated it:
Philip Kerr began his writing-career with three impressive novels about German policeman and private investigator Bernie Gunther set around World War II. Then came the intriguing A Philosophical Investigation, but after that he went (or tried to go) commercial, with largely unfortunate and forgettable results. Turning back to Bernie Gunther is a calculated risk, but certainly the re-appearance of this character is more welcome than anything else Kerr might have turned to.
A long Prol More...
A long Prol More...
Aug 18, 2009
K. M.
rated it: 
Heard about this author on NPR and became interested in this strange genre of early aftermath of war Germany mystery and thriller literature. I couldn't get the more famous Berlin Noir series by the author at any local bookstores so gave this one a try.
I wanted to quit about half way through. The Gunther character is so painfully implausible.
The necessity to have the dry sarcasm in almost every exchange is what we might expect from a detective in a Law & Order episode or Ha More...
I wanted to quit about half way through. The Gunther character is so painfully implausible.
The necessity to have the dry sarcasm in almost every exchange is what we might expect from a detective in a Law & Order episode or Ha More...
Apr 25, 2009
Tim
rated it:
Choosing this book was one of those pleasant instances of serendipity. I was browsing in my favourite bookshop and picked up an earlier collection by the same author. The milieu intrigued me, but I decided to try a more recent novel and selected this one. A good choice - this book is in a real sweet spot for me. Decent writing, detective/noir genre, and something new (for me at least), a post-WWII German setting.
The jacket reviews compare Kerr to Chandler, and I think Kerr is pretty More...
The jacket reviews compare Kerr to Chandler, and I think Kerr is pretty More...
Aug 19, 2010
F.R.
rated it:
I can remember seeing the name Phillip Kerr a lot in the Nineties, he wrote these technological thrillers which amassed a great deal of publicity, even if they didn’t seem to get huge readership. Well, it seems that Mr Kerr has dropped the technological, and is now writing thrillers set in the past – more specifically, post-war Germany.
Setting a detective story in Germany after the war is actually a really good idea, as there are lots of potential clients with great secrets which can More...
Setting a detective story in Germany after the war is actually a really good idea, as there are lots of potential clients with great secrets which can More...
Dec 01, 2010
Sam
rated it:
Picked this up free in my local Waterstones with the current Books Quarterly magazine and to be honest I wasn't expecting much. However I was very much surprised by this book. The book kicks off with a visit to Palestine by Bernie Gunther, then a Berlin cop who has been drafted into the SS (as the police and other forces were merged into either the Gestapo or the SS) where he is asked to spy on the people he's travelling with. This intro shows the complexity of politics at the time and sets t
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Apr 13, 2011
Melissa
rated it:
The fourth Bernard Gunther novel (the first being available in one volume called Berlin Noir) takes place after WWII primarily in Munich and Vienna as Bernie Gunther reopens his private detective practice. The real adventure begins when a beautiful woman asks Gunther to determine if her husband is dead or alive--she's a Roman Catholic who would like to remarry, and the husband is an SS bad guy.
As fate would have it, the woman isn't who she claims to be and Gunther is caught up in a More...
As fate would have it, the woman isn't who she claims to be and Gunther is caught up in a More...
Feb 18, 2011
Ben
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Written almost 20 years after the 'Berlin Noir' trilogy 'The One from the Other' marks the return of Philip Kerr's private investigator Bernie Gunther. Set four years after the end of the Second World War it sees Gunther mixed up with Israeli revenge squads and shadowy organisations aiding fleeing Nazi war criminals. Kerr weaves in the murkily hypocritical choices faced in rebuilding a post-war Germany and the plot just about stays the right side of plausible but it seems a slightly looser aff
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Sep 18, 2011
Steve
rated it:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Jul 24, 2009
Cait
rated it:
This book is described as "Chandler-esque" and I can see why - it has many hard-boiled elements to it. The main character was in the police before WWII, but during the war his unit became part of the SS. A number of times he feels the need to point out that he was never a member of the Nazi party. After the war, he dabbles with keeping his wife's hotel (conveniently placed next to Dachau) before giving up and entering the private detective business. There's a gorgeous blonde, a bloody
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Apr 08, 2009
New York Nick
rated it:
I picked this one up on a lark and really enjoyed it. The story centers around a German private detective who is living through the Nazi uprising in Berlin and subsequent war. The story begins prior to the war and our hero, Gunther, has yet to be called to arms. Gunther is an outspoken anti- Nazi, but he is forced to join Hitler's war effort or face death. Up to this point I was getting a fast talking flat foot vibe from the text. But once the story folded over to the post war the context became
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Feb 03, 2011
bookstothesky
rated it:
I am impressed with Kerr's ability to take evidence of various historic events/attrocities and weave them together into the ending he developed for this book. About midway through the book I was looking a little askanse at some of the things that on the face of the story looked like rather unbelievable coincidence that I felt Bernie should be a little suspicious of, but Kerr very ably tied things together such that what should have been totally unbelievable became reasonably believable from Ber
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Jul 02, 2010
Rachel
rated it:
I've read all the Bernie Gunther books and out of order. no matter, some details aside, I think that i have pieced the story together and enjoyed every page I read.
The usual labyrinthine plot, with great twist and turns. Brill hardboiled dialogue (loved Bernie's assessment of American beer as 'fortified mineral water'!!!), a femme fatale, a mass of amorality and immorality for our own (compromised) hero to navigate. You know it's not going to go well when it opens in a litle Bavar More...
The usual labyrinthine plot, with great twist and turns. Brill hardboiled dialogue (loved Bernie's assessment of American beer as 'fortified mineral water'!!!), a femme fatale, a mass of amorality and immorality for our own (compromised) hero to navigate. You know it's not going to go well when it opens in a litle Bavar More...
Mar 02, 2011
Toni
rated it:
Book 4 in the Bernie Gunther series
The novel follows the “Berlin Noir Trilogy”, with a detective story set in post war Germany. It contains a wealth of historical details spun into a complex plot. It covers the reconstruction period of Germany and its new threat, the rapid growth of communism.
The story starts with a prologue set part in Berlin and part in Palestine in the late 30’s. Gunther is sent to Palestine with two mandates, one to facilitate a dealing that would al More...
The novel follows the “Berlin Noir Trilogy”, with a detective story set in post war Germany. It contains a wealth of historical details spun into a complex plot. It covers the reconstruction period of Germany and its new threat, the rapid growth of communism.
The story starts with a prologue set part in Berlin and part in Palestine in the late 30’s. Gunther is sent to Palestine with two mandates, one to facilitate a dealing that would al More...
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Jan 23, 2012
Joan
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Bernie Gunther is a good German.
He also possesses a wry sense of humour, a well-honed sense of justice and a firm understanding of retribution. He is also a survivor and understands these very characteristics are what one needs to survive in World War II Germany.
Kerr does not meditate on the horrors of war, but presents them in clear, simple prose which makes them all the more horrifying.
It is always a pleasure to spend time with Bernie regardless of what is goin More...
He also possesses a wry sense of humour, a well-honed sense of justice and a firm understanding of retribution. He is also a survivor and understands these very characteristics are what one needs to survive in World War II Germany.
Kerr does not meditate on the horrors of war, but presents them in clear, simple prose which makes them all the more horrifying.
It is always a pleasure to spend time with Bernie regardless of what is goin More...
Nov 23, 2008
Arthur
rated it:
Bernie Gunther, good guy German detective, in post-war Germany. The action takes place in 1949 Munich, Vienna and the Bavarian Alps. Germany is starting to rebuild from the war. Bernie starts off inheriting a hotel in Dachau. The book never gets very far from concentration camps and Nazi atrocities.
By the standards of most crime writing, this is a pretty good book, but the writing is a little flat by comparison to the superb Berlin Noir series. The simile's are not as startling and t More...
By the standards of most crime writing, this is a pretty good book, but the writing is a little flat by comparison to the superb Berlin Noir series. The simile's are not as startling and t More...
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Jun 07, 2009
Susan
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Bernie Gunther returns. I read the Berlin Trilogy and loved them, and was diappointed when Kerr stopped writing the series, so I'm happy to see Gunther return. While set in post-, rather than pre-war Germany, Bernie's still the hard-boiled guy with high moral standards, in spite of spending his war years fighting for the hated Nazis. Full of twists and turns, I thought this a great read. Mysteries, by their very nature, are rarely great fiction, but Kerr writes a well written, well plotted tale,
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Oct 06, 2010
Brad
rated it:
It is 1949 and Bernie Gunther has set up a new detective agency in Munich. Soon, he is drawn unwittingly into a plot to smuggle Nazi war criminals out of the new Federal Republic of Germany. There is the usual sex and violence. And Bernie's inimitable wit is outdone only by his cynicism as he foils both his Nazi enemies and an Israeli death squad that has mistaken him for an infamous former concentration camp doctor.
Bernie Gunther fans will enjoy The One from the Other greatly. It i More...
Bernie Gunther fans will enjoy The One from the Other greatly. It i More...
Feb 08, 2012
David P
rated it:
I really can't rate this book highly enough. The author's knowledge of pre-and post war Germany is amazing for someone who does not, as far as I can see, have any direct connection with the Country. The way, through his wonderful creation, Bernie Gunther, he investigates the competing pressures on ordinary people, their beliefs and prejudices, is terrific. It is never going to be a comfortable read for anyone who prefers nice clear lines between Good & Evil - I do myself on many ocassions - but
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Feb 06, 2012
Steve
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“The One from the Other” is book 4 of what began as a well-known set of books called the Berlin Noir Trilogy, which Philip Kerr wrote 1989-1991.
The books center on Bernie Gunther, a private detective in Germany. All three books plunge us into involved murder mysteries, which are good enough on their own. Then you add the historical context, with all of these things happening in Nazi Germany in the background, and the books become (at least to me) utterly fascinating.
We first More...
The books center on Bernie Gunther, a private detective in Germany. All three books plunge us into involved murder mysteries, which are good enough on their own. Then you add the historical context, with all of these things happening in Nazi Germany in the background, and the books become (at least to me) utterly fascinating.
We first More...
Aug 27, 2009
Goldallen
rated it: 
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Mar 25, 2010
Jonathan
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While on vacation, I read The One From The Other by Philip Kerr. Following the action of the brilliant Berlin Noir (Kerr's first books - March Violets, The Pale Criminal and A German Requiem), it continues the adventures of Bernie Gunther, a down in his luck investigator in pre-World War II Germany. He rubs shoulders with many of the evil men who were soon to make their dark mark on the world. The One From The Other picks up Bernie's life after World War II, where he is running a bed and breakfa
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Apr 02, 2009
Bibliophile
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Oct 06, 2009
Gordon
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Yet again, Bernie Gunther triumphs. This time in Argentina after the war which gives the book a different flavour from those set in Nazi Germany. Fortunately, some of those dastardly characters (inc Eichmann) have followed him to keep the atmosphere up.
I am a bit confused though. Mr Kerr's latest book "If the Dead Rise Not" is set in pre-war Germany. Why all this jumping around in time. Do writer's not believe in linear time-lines these days?
Don't suppose it'll More...
I am a bit confused though. Mr Kerr's latest book "If the Dead Rise Not" is set in pre-war Germany. Why all this jumping around in time. Do writer's not believe in linear time-lines these days?
Don't suppose it'll More...
Oct 28, 2011
John
rated it:
I just can't get enough of the Bernie Gunther series. These are pretty dark, though, and I wouldn't jump in to the series with this one.
This one isn't a mystery in the same way as the earlier books; Bernie himself is at the center of the case. Some parts of the plot are predictable and unfold like a classical tragedy. Bernie also seems naive about human nature in a way that wasn't true in the earlier books. This sets up the next book well, while tying up loose ends in the final few pag
This one isn't a mystery in the same way as the earlier books; Bernie himself is at the center of the case. Some parts of the plot are predictable and unfold like a classical tragedy. Bernie also seems naive about human nature in a way that wasn't true in the earlier books. This sets up the next book well, while tying up loose ends in the final few pag
Sep 08, 2011
Den fjerde boken om Bernie Gunther er ikke noe dårligere enn de tre foregående, snarere tvert i mot. 40-tallet går mot sin slutt, Gunther og kona har flyttet fra Berlin til Dachau. Han driver konas slektshotell ved siden av konsentrasjonsleiren. Det går ikke bra, og Gunther tar opp igjen sitt gamle yrke i München. Det blir en spennende og interessant historie. Det er tidligere nazister og deres utreise til Amerika som blir temaet. Igjen er virkelige personer involvert i plottet, blant annet Eich
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