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15th out of 116 books
—
99 voters
A Quiet Flame (Bernard Gunther #5)
by
Philip Kerr
Philip Kerr returns with his best-loved character, Bernie Gunther, in the fifth novel in what is now a series: a tight, twisting, compelling thriller that is firmly rooted in history.
A Quiet Flame opens in 1950. Falsely fingered a war criminal, Bernie Gunther has booked passage to Buenos Aires, lured, like the Nazis whose company he has always despised, by promises of a ne...more
A Quiet Flame opens in 1950. Falsely fingered a war criminal, Bernie Gunther has booked passage to Buenos Aires, lured, like the Nazis whose company he has always despised, by promises of a ne...more
Published
(first published January 1st 2008)
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I got this as a giveaway and I'm glad I did because how did Philip Kerr slip under my thriller radar?
Our protagonist here is a private detective by the name of Bernie Gunther, an ex-cop with a wise-cracking, sarcastic sense of humor. It took a little while but once I saw what his personality was like I got more into the book.
An old case from Berlin turns around and bites Bernie in the ass years later in Argentina. The story was interesting and well-written with believable twists and set at a goo...more
Our protagonist here is a private detective by the name of Bernie Gunther, an ex-cop with a wise-cracking, sarcastic sense of humor. It took a little while but once I saw what his personality was like I got more into the book.
An old case from Berlin turns around and bites Bernie in the ass years later in Argentina. The story was interesting and well-written with believable twists and set at a goo...more
Book 5: Bernie Gunther Goes To Argentina (and meets the rich and infamous along the way)
So Bernie's fifth outing followed quickly on the heels of the very excellent return to form of The One from the Other and ended up being the worst of the lot (so far.) This was a direct sequel to the fourth book, the only time that elapsed was the journey across the Atlantic, with Bernie arriving in Buenos Aires alongside his bunk mate Nazi War Criminal Eichmann in the opening chapter. This time he is investi...more
So Bernie's fifth outing followed quickly on the heels of the very excellent return to form of The One from the Other and ended up being the worst of the lot (so far.) This was a direct sequel to the fourth book, the only time that elapsed was the journey across the Atlantic, with Bernie arriving in Buenos Aires alongside his bunk mate Nazi War Criminal Eichmann in the opening chapter. This time he is investi...more
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I don't read Bernie Gunther novels for any purpose other than to have fun. But A QUIET FLAME introduced me to a new subject, the persecution of Jews by the Peronist government of Argentina. It is a sobering subject, which remains controversial and incompletely documented to this day.
In A QUIET FLAME, Bernie has escaped to Argentina to avoid prosecution for his activities as an SS officer during the war. While in Argentina, he is drafted by the local authorities to investigate the disappearance...more
In A QUIET FLAME, Bernie has escaped to Argentina to avoid prosecution for his activities as an SS officer during the war. While in Argentina, he is drafted by the local authorities to investigate the disappearance...more
I just LOVE Philip Kerr's books! I love Bernie Gunther, I love Kerr's dry wit, his observations on life, his plots, his sub-plots, his other characters, and the endless witty comments. Whenever the story starts, you get sucked in like a vacuum cleaner and you are swept along, powerless to fight back. I don't normally pay full price for a book but with Kerr, I lose the will to argue with myself - it's pointless. My wallet falls out my pocket and I am paying for the book before I know what is happ...more
This book left me wondering if there was such a thing as a Nazi Chronotope. Specific locations and specific times will always have the shadow of nazi history over them and this book - one in a series - possibly illustrates this idea. Bernie Gunther is a German detective and an ex-Nazi (albeit a reluctant one) who finds himself in Argentina (Nazis and Post-WWII South America), sharing the company of a variety of fleeing Nazis, but also being enlisted by the Argentinian police to investigate a mur...more
This was my first read on Bernie and Philip Kerr, when my prof gave this to read after our discussion on historical fiction.
The book is about post war german life in argentina. The book travels between berlin of 1932 and Argentina in 1950 in alternate chapters allowing Bernie to travel onto the past pre-hitler germany and his post-war refuge period in argentina, both the times he was investigating missing persons/murder under mysterious cobweb of ulterior political motives. Its berine's humour...more
The book is about post war german life in argentina. The book travels between berlin of 1932 and Argentina in 1950 in alternate chapters allowing Bernie to travel onto the past pre-hitler germany and his post-war refuge period in argentina, both the times he was investigating missing persons/murder under mysterious cobweb of ulterior political motives. Its berine's humour...more
Another in the series of novels by Philip Kerr featuring his fictional detective Bernie Gunther. These novels are not only excellent mysteries, but they are interwoven with historical events. In this case the focus is on the Nazis who escaped Germany after the WW II and fled to Argentina on false passports often with the aid of the Vatican. The prose is rich as well: “Another German was already staying there. His face was red and puffy and there were bags under his eyes like a naval cook’s hammo...more
At the end of If the Dead Rise Not, Bernie Gunther was escaping to Argentina. In A Quiet Flame he has arrived, though not quite left Berlin behind. The story alternates between Germany in 1932 and Argentina in 1950. As with all Philip Kerr's work, the research has been formidable, the personal traits of Peron and Evita vouched for in an after note. But the downside is a plethora of authentic but small, irrelevant details (Augustin Magaldi came on Radio El Mundo singing Vagabundo. This had been a...more
This series is about Bernie Gunther, a cop in 1930s-40's Berlin who was never a Nazi, always doing what he could from the inside to thwart their efforts. This 5th book is set in Buenos Aires, in 1950, when Evita Peron and her husband gave safe haven, and new identities, to between 5,000 and 8,000 Nazi war criminals, including Goebbels, Himmler, and Mengele (the guy doing medical experiments at Auschwitz.
(In an earlier book, Bernie quit the force and has become a private investigator.)
From a Wal...more
(In an earlier book, Bernie quit the force and has become a private investigator.)
From a Wal...more
A Quiet Flame begins with Bernie Gunther -- familiar from the excellent Berlin Noir-trilogy, as well as The One from the Other -- arriving in Argentina in 1950, smuggled out (along with Adolf Eichmann) by the Nazi-resettlement service, ODESSA. His cover is that he is a doctor, but he spills the beans early on, admitting to Juan Perón (whom he meets shortly after his arrival) that he was, in fact, a cop and detective. His reputation precedes him, and he is immediately lured to work for the secret...more
Kerr, Philip. A QUIET FLAME – A Bernie Gunther Novel. (2008). *****. This is the fifth novel featuring Bernie Gunther. I haven’t read the fourth, but the first three comprise what is known as the Berlin Noir Trilogy, and should not be missed. They were: “March Violets,” The Pale Criminal,” and “A German Requiem.” Gunther is now in Argentina, living under an assumed name among other German exiles – most of whom are war criminals. They have been given protection by the Peron government in exchange...more
This book is the latest installment of Kerr's German detective, Bernie Gunther. The Gunther stories began with Kerr’s excellent “Berlin Noir” – which is a collection of three mystery stories set at different points in Bernie’s life (starting from the early 1930s and going through the end of WWII). Now, as a German trying to make his way through the Third Reich, Bernie’s got some tough choices to make – and they're not always good ones. He’s a wise-cracking former policeman who’s fond of booze an...more
Something of a disappointment following "The One form the Other".
To me it required a major leap of faith to believe that Gunther would be introduced to Peron and Evita within hours of arriving in Argentina - this isn't much of a spoiler as it happens in the first few pages, and those chapters are included in the paperback edition of the earlier book. In the other Bernie Gunther books, you can believe that a senior detective could well find themselves being useful to top ranking Nazis and so it a...more
To me it required a major leap of faith to believe that Gunther would be introduced to Peron and Evita within hours of arriving in Argentina - this isn't much of a spoiler as it happens in the first few pages, and those chapters are included in the paperback edition of the earlier book. In the other Bernie Gunther books, you can believe that a senior detective could well find themselves being useful to top ranking Nazis and so it a...more
A Quiet Flame is the fifth novel in the excellent Bernie Gunther Series by Philip Kerr. I've not read them in order, but I have enjoyed all of them. This one begins with Bernie arriving in Argentina in 1950. He was forced to flee Europe after being accused of war crimes. Of course, he was set up, but you don't have a story if he wasn't. This also reads like a Flashman novel in that Bernie meets Adolph Eichmann, Otto Skorzeny, Joseph Mengele, Juan & Evita Peron et al.. Like some of the other...more
pal de noël 2010... suite de la trilogie berlinoise...
présentation de l'éditeur :
1950. À la fin de La Mort, entre autres, embarqué sous un faux nom pour l’Argentine avec Adolf Eichman, Bernie Gunther va y retrouver le gratin des criminels nazis en exil. Ayant révélé sa véritable identité au chef de la police de Buenos Aires, il constate que sa réputation de détective l’y a précédé. Une jeune fille est assassinée dans des circonstances atroces, et Bernie se dit que cette affaire ressemble étrange...more
présentation de l'éditeur :
1950. À la fin de La Mort, entre autres, embarqué sous un faux nom pour l’Argentine avec Adolf Eichman, Bernie Gunther va y retrouver le gratin des criminels nazis en exil. Ayant révélé sa véritable identité au chef de la police de Buenos Aires, il constate que sa réputation de détective l’y a précédé. Une jeune fille est assassinée dans des circonstances atroces, et Bernie se dit que cette affaire ressemble étrange...more
Perhaps the weakest Bernie Gunther mystery to date. The flashback style felt especially forced, for some reason. A few good lines, but once again, the web that ensnares Bernie just seems far too convoluted. Maybe I'm just not subtle enough, but the long range goal seems so unlikely in hindsight that it bugs me.
In this one, Bernie has just got off the boat in Argentina, where he was bound at the end of the previous book. He meets the Perons, both Evita and Juan, gets involved in counter spying on...more
In this one, Bernie has just got off the boat in Argentina, where he was bound at the end of the previous book. He meets the Perons, both Evita and Juan, gets involved in counter spying on...more
This another Bernie Gunther thwiller . The 4 others that i have read were great, fast paced with crackling dialogue and all set in pre war and post war Germany . Bernie is the detective trying to do the right thing in a vicious Nazi state and after the war trying to dig up the remains and trace the nazis who escaped .
This novel takes him to Peron ruled Argentina which welcomed ex Nazis and gave them a hiding place and a new life . The plot also interweaves an unsolved child murder case of Bernie...more
This novel takes him to Peron ruled Argentina which welcomed ex Nazis and gave them a hiding place and a new life . The plot also interweaves an unsolved child murder case of Bernie...more
If you like espionage novels (as I do), especially those set before, during or right after WWII you might just love Philip Kerr. In particular I'm enamored of his Bernie Gunther series.
The'Berlin Noir' trilogy was my introduction to Bernie, a smart, sympathetic detective in Berlin's pre-war police force, and a man who--though contemptuous of the Nazis--can't seem to keep out of their way. Through his eyes we see history in the making, as he brushes up against the roiling politics and decadent c...more
The'Berlin Noir' trilogy was my introduction to Bernie, a smart, sympathetic detective in Berlin's pre-war police force, and a man who--though contemptuous of the Nazis--can't seem to keep out of their way. Through his eyes we see history in the making, as he brushes up against the roiling politics and decadent c...more
Bernie Gunther emigrates to Buenos Aires like a lot of other Nazi's, most of whom are bad Nazi's, not like Bernie, who was a reluctant SS member. He's on the boat with Eichmann, who made an appearance in an earlier volume, and by the time we're done, we have a full calvacade of the Boys of Brazil, only it's Argentina. Not to mention Juan and Eva Peron, a lot of Germans and Jews, and some tango dancers. Kerr is a master plotter, which means I kept turning the pages, which I'd do anyway because by...more
This isn't the best Bernie Gunther, but Philip Kerr sets a very high standard. A Quiet Flame is mainly set in post-war Argentina, and sees him involved with fugitive Nazis and the not-much-better Peronists, but there are some early flashbacks to Berlin in 1932-33 which are a little confusing for once.
This is number five in the series, so I've finally untangled the mess I got into by reading them in the order 1,2,3, then 6 - not that it turned out to be too much of a problem in the end.
I suppose...more
This is number five in the series, so I've finally untangled the mess I got into by reading them in the order 1,2,3, then 6 - not that it turned out to be too much of a problem in the end.
I suppose...more
Book 5 in the Bernard Gunther series
This fiction examines Directive 11, a secret order issued in 1938 that bared Jews from entering Argentina and the consequences that derived from it. It also explored the rumour and the strong possibility that a concentration camp existed in a remote part of the country. At the time thousands of Argentina's Jewish citizens had simply disappeared, never to be seen again. Coincidently, in later years, Argentina became a safe haven for Nazis in hiding.
" A Quiet F...more
This fiction examines Directive 11, a secret order issued in 1938 that bared Jews from entering Argentina and the consequences that derived from it. It also explored the rumour and the strong possibility that a concentration camp existed in a remote part of the country. At the time thousands of Argentina's Jewish citizens had simply disappeared, never to be seen again. Coincidently, in later years, Argentina became a safe haven for Nazis in hiding.
" A Quiet F...more
I enjoyed Dashiell Hammett's stories about the Continental Op, though I enjoyed them once and might never read them again. From my point of view this book takes a lot from the Continental Op stories without adding anything of its own except for some glimpses into the Weimar Republic of the early 30's and Peron's Argentina of 1950. I finished the book, always hoping it would give me something of value, but in the end I just didn't care about the characters, the situation, or the story.
The book wa...more
The book wa...more
Phillip Kerr’s book starts out like a typical noir style murder mystery. There’s a cynical, wise cracking homicide detective investigating a murder that leads him into the seedy areas of the city. But there’s a lot more going on in this story than just your average murder mystery. Bernie Gunther is a homicide detective on the Berlin police department in the 1930’s just as the Nazi party is starting to come into power. Before he can solve his case the Nazis take over and Germany is changed forev...more
Ex-Berlin detective and unenthusiastic Nazi SS officer Bernhardt Gunther finds himself in Juan Peron's 1950 Argentina. Zelig-like he's met all the top Nazis in Germany and now it's his turn to meet the leadership of the country and all the top former Nazis hiding in Argentina. He asked by Peron's secret service to find a missing child who might have been murdered and eviscerated and asked by a beautiful Argentinian Jew-Catholic to find her disappeared Uncle and Aunt.
I liked Kerr's Berlin Noir se...more
I liked Kerr's Berlin Noir se...more
Just read the first few pages, and already I'm thrilled to be with Bernie again. There are two more books ready after this one. What a comfort.
And so I finished it, and loved Bernie all the more as he now gets closer to my age without loosing his razor blade personality. Of course, in this one he shows caution with that mouth of his, but not always.
Bernie gets off a ship with Eichman, and is immediately taken in by the 'old comrades' and also by a colonel in the secret police to help him find a...more
And so I finished it, and loved Bernie all the more as he now gets closer to my age without loosing his razor blade personality. Of course, in this one he shows caution with that mouth of his, but not always.
Bernie gets off a ship with Eichman, and is immediately taken in by the 'old comrades' and also by a colonel in the secret police to help him find a...more
There was so much to enjoy about this book, however 'enjoy' makes the title sound a lighthearted read: it isn't. Bernie is a wise-cracking 'tec now in Buenos Aires, after working as a police detective in 1930's Berlin and fighting in the Ukraine in the war. An unlikely set up, but it allows the author to take us, via Bernie, through the Weimar Republic, Juan and Evita Peron's regime in Argentina and the shady world of the escaped Nazi war criminals. Oh and plenty of other crimes and nasty pieces...more
The more I read by Philip Kerr, the more I enjoy. This is the fifth Bernard Gunther novel, a complicated detective, with solid links to German history from World War I to the 1960s. It is a series that retells the world of Nazi Germany and the ripples that Nazi Germany sent into the world. A Quite Flame is set in Argentina among the expatriate Nazis who washed ashore in the Odessa operation. There are some truly intriguing suggestions here about Nazi loot, Argentinian crimes against humanity and...more
Excellent thriller with a basis in truth as revealed in the authors note at the end.
Bernie Gunther is a brilliant creation and this post- war thriller that alternates between Argentina in the 1950s and Berlin in 1932 is one of the best of an already outstanding series. World weary wisecracks, menacing Nazis (many, real historical figures), hoods,
Broads- it has it all in spades.... Sam spade or raymond chandler but Kerr retains his own distinctive, intelligent control over a fast paced and atmosp...more
Bernie Gunther is a brilliant creation and this post- war thriller that alternates between Argentina in the 1950s and Berlin in 1932 is one of the best of an already outstanding series. World weary wisecracks, menacing Nazis (many, real historical figures), hoods,
Broads- it has it all in spades.... Sam spade or raymond chandler but Kerr retains his own distinctive, intelligent control over a fast paced and atmosp...more
It's an odd thing to mention in a review but I love the physical aspect of this paperback book. It feels very European with a very flexible glue spine and a great feeling cover. The paper is just really nice.
As for the book, the topic is depressing---Nazis!---and Kerr writes so well that you think you're there in the midst of the action. And the corruption of Berlin during the wanning days of the Weimar Republic as well as the intrigue of the Peron years in Argentina.
Kerr's book, A Quiet Flame,...more
As for the book, the topic is depressing---Nazis!---and Kerr writes so well that you think you're there in the midst of the action. And the corruption of Berlin during the wanning days of the Weimar Republic as well as the intrigue of the Peron years in Argentina.
Kerr's book, A Quiet Flame,...more
Sep 19, 2011
Stein Roar
added it
Bernie Gunther har sammen med blant annet Adolf Eichmann komt seg fra Europa til Argentina. Året er 1950, og Gunther blir vel tatt i mot i det nazivennlige Peron-Argentina. Gunther blir hyret inn av det hemmelige politiet for å etterforske et mord på en ung jente. Mordet er nesten identisk med to mord i Tyskland i 1932. Gunther etterforsket det ene som ble begått i Berlin. Som vanlig vikler Gunther seg inn i storpolitikken, og det vrimler av gammelnazister i Argentina. Det blir en spennende og i...more
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Kerr has published eleven novels under his full name and a children's series, Children of the Lamp, under the name P.B. Kerr.
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