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49th out of 50 books
—
6 voters
Rosa (Berlin Trilogy #1)
"In the last days of the First World War, socialist revolution swept across Germany, sending Kaiser Wilhelm into exile and transforming Berlin into a battleground. But for Detective Inspector Nikolai Hoffner and his young assistant, Hans Fichte, the revolution is a mere inconvenience. Four women from the slums of Berlin have turned up dead, all with identical markings etch...more
Paperback, 416 pages
Published
February 28th 2006
by Three Rivers Press
(first published 2005)
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A very satisfying mix of darkly atmospheric police procedural and historical fiction in the tradition of Alan Furst or John Le Carre. The novel is set in Berlin in 1919 in the aftermath of WWI and immediately following the failed attempt at Marxist revolution against Germany's new Weimar government by Karl Liebknicht,Rosa Luxemburg, and their followers. The bodies of Liebknicht and others were found brutally murdered by paramilitary thugs, but Luxemburg's body didn't turn up for five months. Rab...more
Finally got around to picking this (and Second Son) up. I enjoyed this immensely, much more than Shadow and Light, but I do plan to go back and re-read S&L as I'm more in tune with Rabb's writing and the overall arc of the Berlin trilogy. Parts of this didn't appeal to me - I'm not so much a noir fan, and the grittiness turned me off - but that's a case of personal preference as opposed to any fault of the author.
Rabb loads the piece (as he did with Shadow and LIght) down with historical ex...more
Rabb loads the piece (as he did with Shadow and LIght) down with historical ex...more
A fictional yarn about life in Berlin at the beginning of the end of peace. It features a serial killer, vast political corruption, a master detective, a secret society pulling the strings, and Rosa Luxemburg. Rosa was a real figure in history, a Jewish socialist agitator in Germany between the wars, fighting for all the workers to unite against those who would have them fight each other in war after war. She was found floating in a canal in Berlin and became a hero of the resistance. This myste...more
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Rosa is a very intriguing historical mystery set in Berlin 1919. Nikolai Hoffner, a brilliant and brilliantly-flawed Inspector with the criminal police (as opposed to the political police) becomes embroiled in a serial killer case that begins to roll out into a broader crime involving the constant shift of political power in the post-WWI Germany. The biggest strength of this book is the character of Hoffner. He is perceptive, intuitive, cynical, and dryly funny. His personal life is on the verge...more
“Rosa” puts me in the peculiar position of giving 4 stars to a book I didn't really enjoy reading (or rather listening to on CD–had I actually had to pick it up every night, I probably could not have brought myself to do so.) Jonathan Rabb is a clunky prose stylist, and he can't resist telling you what a character is feeling precisely before that character speaks and REVEALS what he's thinking: in other words, Rabb tells and then shows, which makes for a much longer and more enervating book than...more
The title refers to the socialist revolutionary Rosa Luxemburg; indeed, the action in this book takes place just after her death in 1919.Obviously, she is not the main character, but her death is a central element in this most ingenious novel.
Nikolai Hoffner is an inspector in post-war Germany's Kriminalpolizei(Kripo), and he leads the investigation of a series of bizarrre murders in which the killer engraves patterns in his victims' backs with a knife after he kills them. One of the bodies tha...more
Nikolai Hoffner is an inspector in post-war Germany's Kriminalpolizei(Kripo), and he leads the investigation of a series of bizarrre murders in which the killer engraves patterns in his victims' backs with a knife after he kills them. One of the bodies tha...more
This is more of a 1919-set standard police procedural than the stunningly-written historical fiction I wanted it to be (but really, if I want each piece of historical fiction I read to be written as well as Rose Tremain's, I should just be reading Rose Tremain), but there is plenty of the requisite Weimar-y atmosphere, and the conspiracy that buttresses all this is satisfyingly vast. It's cabbage-scentedly dour, but Rosa never once made me cringe, so I'm calling this a positive experience.
A first-rate historical thriller, on a par with Phillip Kerr, Martin Cruz Smith, and even the great Alan Furst. With Rosa, in fact, Jonathan Rabb shows himself to be, in my view at any rate, more politically sophisticated than all of his peers, with the possible exception of Kerr. He paints a dark and foreboding portrait of Berlin just after the first World War and the violent suppression of the ill-starred Spartacist uprising. It is a world of semi-secret right wing paramilitary organizations,...more
I give this a reluctant 4th star because the stop in the middle was, to me, quite final. Even though I knew there was more. The history is presented very well and the characters are quite good. I found myself drowning in explication (wrong word) at the denouement. I mean, it was borderline believable, but hard for me to read.
Nevertheless, I did like the book and will try another Rabb soon.
Pretty well recommended as historical detective fiction.
Nevertheless, I did like the book and will try another Rabb soon.
Pretty well recommended as historical detective fiction.
Overall disappointing. It was good enough to keep me reading to the end, but not enough to make me want more. The detective story was adequate if veering toward the absurd at the end; but I never felt that the "historical" dimension of the story was believable. The action takes place in Berlin after the 11/11/18 armistice but before the Treaty of Versailles: Germany just lost a long and costly war, changed its form of government, had just rebuffed a communist revolt and was still under a militar...more
"Readers who like police procedural mysteries with a foreign and/or historical flavor will find all three genre in this treatment of a series of brutal murders as investigated by Berlin's Detective Inspector Nikolai Hoffner. Social Revolution in Germany in the early years of the 20th Century serves a backdrop and gives a gritty, authentic tone to the story. Then read the riveting sequel Shadow and Light."
DB/Reference Emerita
DB/Reference Emerita
Aug 03, 2012
Wordsmith
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Political, Jewish, Revolutionary, Sexual, German Thriller Lovers
"A murdered revolutionary . . .
A vicious serial killer . . .
A city in chaos . . .
All lead to Rosa. "
~from Rosa by Jonathan Rabb
This is another hardcover I have sitting upon one of my real wooden shelves. A well-written thriller weaving fact and fiction into the threads of this tightly constructed story, which is backdropped by the mysterious disappearance of revolutionary Rosa Luxembourg.
A vicious serial killer . . .
A city in chaos . . .
All lead to Rosa. "
~from Rosa by Jonathan Rabb
This is another hardcover I have sitting upon one of my real wooden shelves. A well-written thriller weaving fact and fiction into the threads of this tightly constructed story, which is backdropped by the mysterious disappearance of revolutionary Rosa Luxembourg.
In this remarkable thriller, Jonathan Rabb presents a strikingly real solution to an actual unsolved historical mystery, all the while painting a vivid, unforgettable picture of a dark city in chaos at a time of great political uncertainty.
Listen to Rosa on your smartphone, notebook or desktop computer.
Listen to Rosa on your smartphone, notebook or desktop computer.
A mystery of serial murders set at the end of the first World War, the revolution in Germany that ushers in the Weimar Republic and ends imperial government, and the early days of what will become the Nazis are woven together by Rabb for a compelling read.
Book clubs that read texts focused on various forms of needle work take note: lace making is important to this story (how, I won't say). This is far from the cozy mystery genre, though, moving between police procedural and historical mystery.
Book clubs that read texts focused on various forms of needle work take note: lace making is important to this story (how, I won't say). This is far from the cozy mystery genre, though, moving between police procedural and historical mystery.
Something of a disappointment, as I am interested in the German revolution (or attempt anyway) after WW I and in Rosa Luxemburg. But I found the story-line convoluted and complex - got lost too many times. Still, good evocation of the historical times and some of the people who mattered. Also, difficult father-son relationship well portrayed.
I don't like depressing and noir which this book was. that setting did lend itself to the times and even the dark characters were in that mode. Was an interesting take on what happened after the murders of the communist leaders including Rosa Luxenberg. Three stars because it was not my type book.
Well-researched detective novel constructed around the communist/socialist revolution that took place in Germany immediately following WW I. Based on the story of Rosa Luxembourg, even Albert Einstein makes a cameo appearance. Elaborate, if sometimes confusing and overly complex plot lines, I will try another of his soon. Ranks with Alan Furst in conveying a sense of what the world was like then through a compelling story line.
A mystery about the time right after WW1 when Germany is in turmoil after the Kaiser fled into exile, and the detective has to track down a killer leaving bodies around Berlin during a time of a social revolt, but also has to track down a politico using the bodies for his own end.
I don't usually hate books. But I think I hate this one. It took me forever to read because everytime I turned on the Kindle I fell asleep. Also, the story was boring and the ending was unexciting for what is supposed to be a thriller. The writing was ok. And the protaganist is relatable. For this reason I wavered between 1 and 2 stars. But I had to go with 1 because I kept falling asleep. As stubborn as I am I was able to read this book to completion, but I've got to think that many people just...more
This book took me forever to read and I think only the inertia of February blahs prevented me from flipping to the end. However, flipping to the end would not have helped. This is a slow story. Well written. Lots of period detail, but I just never warmed to it.
Right after the first World War a communist revolution occured in Germany. The murder of one of its ideological leaders, Rosa Luxemburg is woven into the fictional serial killings of other women which compounds the work of the detectives assigned to the case.
This fast paced, intriguing, historical murder mystery is based on the true person of socialist/communist Rosa Luxemburg whose demise has never been resolved in the chaotic events of Berlin following the end of World War I. The author has taken this event and created his story of what might have happened. Between the serial murders, the political situation and an interesting police detective, this novel is fascinating. I can only assume that his analysis of rapidly unfolding situation in Germany...more
Really liked this one. Set in post-WWI Berlin, and involving the historical fact of the 4-month disappearance of the corpse of Rosa Luxemburg. Rabb constructs a fascinating tale around this, rich and complex. Most absorbing.
Dense, brooding and dark. Well written and interesting although I got rather confused with the large number of characters and it crawled somewhat towards the end. It felt overlong.
I really enjoyed getting some history along with a murder mystery. Even though I majored in Modern German History in college, I didn't really know all that much about the years right after WWI. Although the main character was a bit of a cliche--a savvy but disillusioned police detective--his moral crisis was handled very well and quite realistically. There was a lot to savor in this novel. I wasn't sure if I would buy the alternative to history (actually, a possible explanation for why Rosa Luxe...more
It takes place in an interesting time period -- Germany, post WWI -- but I never warmed up to the story or to the characters.
Good mystery--if Zane read mysteries, this would work for him--fictionalized version of what happened to Rosa Luxembburg.
Interesting story based on real history. But story is developed far too slowly. Just about gave up on it.
Jun 19, 2009
Fran Caparrelli
added it
great historical fiction set between WW1 and WWII.The main character flaws does not stop you from liking him.
Excellent noir type novel set in Germany after WWI.Great historical research.
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Jonathan Rabb grew up knowing he would be an academic. The son and grandson (on both sides) of historians, Rabb’s world shook at its very core when he opted to try his hand at political theory. As an undergraduate at Yale, Rabb divided his time among Locke and Hobbes and Hegel while spending his more reckless hours singing with the Whiffenpoofs and galloping across stage in such roles as Harry the...more
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