false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172986932m/236819.jpg 236819 9 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 <I>Berlin Noir</I> trilogy, <I>March Violets</I> introduces readers to Bernie Gunther, an ex-policeman who thought he'd seen everything on the streets of 1930s Berlin&#151;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, <I>March Violets</I> is noir writing at its blackest and best. 2127843 book 1989 March Violets total:128|5:24|4:58|3:34|2:8|1:4| 128 474 198 25 5 1 false false Sun Nov 30 18:30:22 -0800 2008 Sun Nov 30 18:31:29 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 1 false false Sat Nov 15 10:59:38 -0800 2008 Sat Nov 15 11:05:31 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 1 false false Thu May 21 13:38:22 -0700 2009 Fri May 22 15:42:32 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Nov 04 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Tue Aug 18 22:21:29 -0700 2009 Wed Nov 04 22:15:12 -0800 2009
I liked the story, writing is quite fun (but the overuse of similes got a little annoying).

This is a detective story that takes place in pre-world war II Berlin. The story is told from the po...more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Jun 29 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Jul 01 13:49:57 -0700 2008 Tue Jul 01 14:05:45 -0700 2008
But then I suspect the actual detec...more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Tue Mar 11 13:20:18 -0700 2008 Tue Mar 11 13:37:57 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Tue Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Sep 17 18:47:06 -0700 2009 Thu Sep 17 18:51:18 -0700 2009
I thought this was a bit overhyped. It's a solid but not spectacular version of the hard-boiled detective novel, set in 1936 in Nazi Germany.

The book has a kind of post-war sensibility imposed on a pre-wa...more...]]> 3 0 false false Thu Aug 20 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Aug 20 12:17:29 -0700 2009 Thu Aug 20 12:30:02 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Jun 05 14:19:12 -0700 2009 Thu Jul 16 07:15:48 -0700 2009 more...]]> 2 0 false false Wed Sep 23 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Sep 15 11:24:38 -0700 2009 Wed Sep 23 08:29:25 -0700 2009
Also, the English language needs a word that me...more...]]> 1 0 false false Sat Aug 22 08:18:20 -0700 2009 Sat Aug 22 08:20:55 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Sep 18 19:59:43 -0700 2009 Thu Oct 01 11:41:17 -0700 2009 1 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sun Mar 30 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Apr 06 09:25:34 -0700 2009 Mon Apr 06 09:28:38 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Fri Dec 19 14:19:33 -0800 2008 Fri Dec 19 14:20:45 -0800 2008 3 0 false false Thu Jun 19 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Jun 11 06:21:08 -0700 2008 Thu Jun 19 08:54:16 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Jun 19 01:59:52 -0700 2009 Fri Jun 19 02:00:34 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Fri Mar 13 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Mar 02 05:36:25 -0800 2009 Sun Mar 15 14:25:53 -0700 2009
Doorways: It's biggest doorway is plot but setting pulls a close second. The setting was the draw for me.]]> 1 0 false false Thu Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2004 Mon Sep 03 10:58:19 -0700 2007 Mon Sep 03 10:58:19 -0700 2007 more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Feb 28 00:00:00 -0800 2002 Thu Apr 23 10:47:51 -0700 2009 Thu Apr 23 10:48:25 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Sat Jun 21 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Jun 16 22:25:31 -0700 2008 Sat Jun 21 20:48:50 -0700 2008 It's not that it was poorly written, it was just ... too much. If you took the three main aspects of the story and separated them, each is good on its own. The twists and turns of the mystery are great. The writing is great. The information about 1930s G...more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=236819