Kindersucher

Willi Kraus #2

by Paul Grossman

Kinder des Zorns Willi Kraus ist der beste Ermittler in Berlin.
Als Jude jedoch wird er von seinen Vorgesetzten schikaniert. Als in Berlin immer mehr Kinder verschwinden und an dunklen Orten seltsame Knochen auftauchen, beginnt Kraus zu ermitteln.
Buchstäblich im Untergrund der Stadt findet er eine heiße Spur. Dann aber entzieht man ihm den Fall und protegiert einen anderen Polizisten, der sich als Anhänger einer neuen, angeblich patriotischen Partei erweist. Für Kraus wird die Luft im Präsidium immer dünner.
Juden gelten plötzlich wieder als Vaterlandsverräter. Doch dann wird der Mordfall immer monströser – und seinen Vorgesetzten bleibt nichts anderes übrig, als Kraus zurückzuholen.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Mystery, Thriller, Crime, Historical Mystery, Fiction, Germany

445 pages, Paperback

First published February 28, 2012

About the author

Paul Grossman is the critically acclaimed author of two novels, with a third on the way. The Sleepwalkers, was published in 2010. His second, Children of Wrath released in February, 2012. He is also a long-time teacher of writing and literature at the City University of New York. His works have been translated into German, Spanish, Italian, Hebrew and Portuguese.

Reviews

[Olga Kowalska (WielkiBuk) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brutal and shocking crime story with and intrigue that makes the reader scream with amazement. A great mix of true history and fiction, recreating the macro scale of nazi terror in micro scale of bestial murders. The great final is sooo good and every little piece of plot fits perfectly. Bloody, meaty, terrifying - one of the best that I've ever read.

[Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Where I got the book: review copy provided by the Historical Novel Society. This review first appeared on the HNS website.

This thriller, set in Depression-era Berlin, is the prequel to the action in The Sleepwalkers and features a younger Willi Kraus, married and father to two young boys, trying to negotiate the demands of marriage and fatherhood while fending off the anti-Semitism rife in the Kripo, Berlin’s criminal investigation department. Kraus is furious when he is taken off a serial murder case and assigned to a seemingly mundane matter of tainted sausages, but the two investigations are horribly linked.

The Children of Wrath contains many of the elements also found in The Sleepwalkers—the rise of the Nazi party, the decadence of 1930s Berlin and the strange cults and societies that flourished there—but Kraus’ relatively lowly position in the Criminal Police brings out the era’s pervasive anti-Semitism much more strongly as Kraus, who has an excellent war record and holds the prestigious Iron Cross, constantly has to prove himself in both his professional and his private life. Grossman endows Kraus with a dry sense of humor and a passion for justice that carry him well through the wide variety of settings and scenes afforded by a cosmopolitan city on the brink of economic disaster and political violence.

Grossman’s writing has a European feel that lends a distinctive voice to his detective’s viewpoint. The plot is fast-paced and intriguing with some nicely gruesome touches, leading up to a page-turning climax. The somberly reflective ending suggests that no more Willi Kraus books will be forthcoming, and I think that’s a great shame. Grossman has imagined a character who both belongs intimately to his time and location and is set apart from it by the tragedy of his age, and the result is fascinating.

[Andy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Decided to give this author another go, despite the second half of the first book in the series falling into “melodrama” mode after a very bright opening….

Will it be a short exit..?

Its certainly a slow start, and more political is this, highlighting the early signs of antisemitism in Germany of the late 20’s which began as barracking by some, pisstake by others & damn right hostility by a few (early days yet) and in the case of the MC saw major cases being taken away from him as he was slowly pushed sideways despite his excellent track record & prior fame for catching some big fish (criminality) in his career & also being a decorated war hero. You get to feel the slow creep within a society, one could liken it & see the same occurrences happening currently within communities.

Berlin, as in the first of the series, is painted vividly, a lot of detail relayed to the reader through the narrative, the author must know the city intimately & it’s vibe of the late 20’s is captured perfectly.
We’re coming up for the end of the decade in this one, in the lead up to Christmas of 1929 is where we find ourselves with two cases, one which was taken away from Willi Kraus due to his being Jewish, are they linked?

It was all going quite swimmingly & then it started to fall apart for me (melodramatic again, the MC becoming a bit glib) as the opening detail fell away into a diffo style of storytelling which did happen in the first of the books & we all know how that ended….. so I threw in the towel early this time

As we went over the 100pg mark, a mark must be awarded, two for me as it just didn’t capture me nor be able to deliver a consistent style of storytelling…. There again it might be jus my interpretation of his style.

[Bandit · Rating 5 out of 5]

Normally I stay away from series and, although my audio book standards are much more relaxed, this one I l downloaded deliberately on the strength of the first book in the series, which was so very good. With his sophomore entry the author travels back in time to 1929/1930, so this is in fact a prequel and as such can very much be experienced as a stand alone. Once again the intrepid detective Kraus (much less decorated as of yet and still married) after a grotesque anatomic discovery gets embroiled in horrific case of finding child abductor/murderer in the streets of an increasingly hostile anti Semitic Berlin. Once again the author combines historical fiction with police procedural with abnormal psychology to create a horrifying electric sort of thriller. And while the mystery and suspense of the book would have been enough in and of itself, it’s the character writing and the setting that really makes this a terrific read. The book starts with the last days of prosperity of the Weimar republic, but that optimism soon gives way to something much darker as the Nazi party stars its rapid ascent to power and even being the most famous Jewish detective may not be enough of a cushion for a society all too eager to take up the ugliest vilest revolting new values of the National Socialist party. Because, of course, being one’s worst version is so easy, it’s the goodness that takes work. And so one man will strive to be good and moral and save the children of those who may despise him for being other than. Makes for terrific dramatic narrative, certainly. Also, it stands to caution readers that the murders/murderers in this book are positively nightmarish, even for a seasoned genre reader, these descriptions and depictions are brutal. Appropriate for the time and place, darkness in the dark, but terrifying, really. If you’re good with that, this is a terrific book and made for a great listen, very dynamic, dragged me outside for walks for days. Why book 3 isn't available on audio and nether for that matter is the author's latest is a mystery and a cause for frustration. Well narrated audio version, somber tone to reflect the gravity of the story. Recommended.

[Tuck · Rating 3 out of 5]

author's 2nd book in this mystery 'series' of willi, a jew police detective in berlin . this book actually takes place BEFORE his 1 st book, so this is willi's big case, he 'saves' berlin from a monster mass murderer (244 victims) and let's just say, it's complicated, but set in 1929-30 berlin, nazis win 107 seats in parliament, jews getting cold shouldered, shut down, openly abused , the booming economy of 1929 tanks and lots of misery there too, . so, grossman's first novel mystery The Sleepwalkers willi busts some crazy mean ass nazi doctors doing unbelievable (but basically true, based on hist facts) murderous experiments, and was about 300 pages and quite good, all in all,
this one, 324 pages,about a murderous pre-nazi doctor (who actually said that race was a false construct, nazis killed him, later) and his crazy henchmen (3 siblings, one of which became the 'bitch of buchenwald, check her out, with her 'leather' lamp shades etc) and quite exciting too, but i thought was a bit too plotty, had all kinds of twisty trails off into various and sundry places and lots of super tense moments to squeezed willi;s heart, boiled his gut with acid, lit his veins on fire with adrenalin, exploded his head with stress, gripped his throat with anger, tingle his toes with climax , no not really i made that one up, but anyway, maybe should either 1. make these books 500 pages and fully explore the many branches of plot, or cut them to 200 pages and do without some branches.
good, fairly tame, historically fun and accurate, noirs, in the best tradition of philip kerr. A Man Without Breath
3 stars for this sophomore effort, 4 stars for his debut.

[Paul Pessolano · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Children of Wrath” by Paul Grossman, published by St. Martin’s Press.

Category – Mystery/Thriller

Paul Grossman introduced us to Detective Willi Kraus in his first book, “The Sleepwalkers”. As with “The Sleepwalkers” the story takes place in Germany during the rise of Adolph Hitler to power.

Willi is Jewish and is one of only two Jews that hold a prestigious position in the German Police Force. Willi finds himself battling not only a heinous crime but also the forces of prejudice.

Young male children are disappearing at an alarming rate and the only clue is a burlap sack that contains the bones of numerous boys. The bones have been cleaned and have teeth marks on them.

Willi determines that his leads take him to the underground sewer system that runs beneath the slaughter houses of Berlin. It is here that he confronts an evil that transcends even the horrors of war.

Willi must put his own children at risk as he tires to bring justice and peace to the Berlin community. Although Willi is a highly respected Detective he must fight prejudice on every level of his investigation.

A book that mixes the rise of the Nazi party, prejudice against the Jewish community, with an underlying mystery of horrific proportions.

Paul Grossman has put together two exciting mysteries and an unusual Detective in Willi Kraus, and best of all he is now working on his third Kraus mystery.

[Chuck · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a bad book in my opinion. It is a serial murder mystery which takes place in Berlin in 1929, the Nazis are beginning to make noise, and our hero is Sergeant-Detektiv Willi Kraus who happens to be a Jew. The path that Willi must follow in pursuit of the perps takes us through and lingers interminably in the livestock slaughter houses and meat processing facilities of Berlin complete
with pages of poetic descriptions of the blood, guts, gore and stench of the place. If I hadn't gotten caught up in "whodunnit" I would not have finished this one.

[Sara Booklover · Rating 5 out of 5]

Innanzitutto è da evidenziare come questo secondo libro della serie del detective Willi Kraus non è davvero un secondo libro, cioè un seguito del precedente, ma è un prequel. Sarebbe stato quindi meglio definirlo come il volume 0.5 e non come il volume 2. Questo fatto inizialmente mi ha davvero spiazzata, perché ero convinta di leggere un seguito del libro che avevo già letto qualche anno fa ("I Sonnambuli", che mi era piaciuto molto, ma che non ricordavo nei dettagli, essendo appunto passati anni...). Quindi devo ammettere che i primi capitoli di questo libro mi hanno confusa, io mi sforzavo di ricordare cosa era successo nel libro precedente, e invece la trama sembrava essere diversa. Sono dovuta andare e rileggere i primi capitoli del libro precedente per capire che "Nessun indizio" narra di fatti accaduti prima e non dopo. Se lo avessi saputo subito, se ci fosse stato scritto che si trattava di un prequel, mentre invece nell'edizione italiana edita da TimeCrime era scritto erroneamente che si trattava di un SEGUITO, sarebbe stato molto meglio!!!!
Ok... chiusa parentesi.

"Nessun indizio" è un romanzo thriller a sfondo storico che mi è piaciuto davvero moltissimo. E il motivo è che non si tratta semplicemente un thriller investigativo in cui c'è un indagine in corso e la narrazione è incentrata solamente sulla soluzione del caso. Io non amo molto i thriller fini a sé stessi, ma al contrario amo carpire molti altri dettagli pertinenti che fanno da contorno alla storia. E in questo caso specifico, trattandosi appunto di un romanzo di ambientazione storica, è importantissimo conoscere esaurientemente il contesto in cui la storia viene narrata, al fine di potersi immedesimare meglio nel periodo storico. E l'autore è bravissimo nel descrivere il clima opprimente che si respira a Berlino nel 1930, l'inizio della crisi economica mondiale dovuta al crollo di Wall Street che avrà ripercussioni anche sulla politica tedesca, permettendo l'ascesa del partito nazista. Il protagonista di questo libro, Willi Kraus, è un detective nato e cresciuto a Berlino, ma di origini ebraiche, quindi è interessantissimo vivere i cambiamenti di Berlino dal suo punto di vista, vedere la sua città natale trasformarsi da luogo confortevole ad ostile, così come cambia l'atteggiamento delle persone che per anni sono state sue amiche e che all'improvviso si estraniano diventando arcigne e sprezzanti nei suoi confronti e nei confronti della sua famiglia. E queste ripercussioni nella vita sociale di tutti i giorni sono destinate a contaminare anche la sua vita lavorativa, dove un decennio di impeccabile lavoro e onorificenze possono non bastare a mantenere intatta la sua posizione.
E nonostante il periodo sfavorevole sotto ogni punto di vista, Willi continua a lottare per mantenere intatta la sua posizione di detective e si butta con anima e cuore per cercare di sventare un pericoloso serial killer che da anni terrorizza la città. Un caso interessantissimo, raccapricciante e complicato, che sembra non fornire alcun indizio. I colpi di scena sono assicurati e le scoperte saranno ancora più atroci di quanto si potesse immaginare all'inizio. Il tutto, come dicevo prima, condito con digressioni storiche e sociali perfettamente amalgamate nell'indagine. Per me è un libro da non perdere!
Anche l'altro libro dell'autore pubblicato da TimeCrime ("I Sonnambuli") ha la stessa identica struttura tra narrazioni storiche-sociali e parte thriller. Quindi mi sento di consigliarli assolutamente entrambi! Ma per leggerli nel giusto ordine temporale sono da leggere partendo da questo e non il contrario.

[Meghan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Couldn't finish. It started with a fascinating mystery and then ripped it away for me and I just don't have time to stick around and wait for it to come back. Sorry. Oddly, even the microbiology aspect of the story wasn't interesting to me, as a microbiologist. The reason I put it down was because I was fifty pages in and hadn't found any of the characters to be empathetic yet.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh. Promising in many places, but the time jumps were distracting (not exactly flashbacks or flash forwards). Way too many modern colloquialisms in dialog, too.

[Steve Shilstone · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Jewish police detective in 1930 Berlin is out to solve serial murders of children in the midst of the rising Nazi horror.

[delta1908 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Początek książki mnie nie porwał. Pierwsze 100 stron wlekło się niemiłosiernie, zupełnie nie mogłem się skupić na czytaniu i wielokrotnie odkładałem lekturę, by zająć się czymś innym. Potem akcja nabiera nieco tempa, a gdzieś tak od połowy gna na łeb na szyję i zaczyna się robić ciekawie. Nawet można powiedzieć, że się wciągnąłem i do końca czytałem z zainteresowaniem.
Autor serwuje nam mnóstwo krwawych szczegółów bestialskiego procederu, z którym mamy do czynienia na stronach książki. Momentami jest wręcz straszno, a włos jeży się na głowie, gdy się czyta o popełnionych zbrodniach.
Główny bohater nie wywarł na mnie żadnego wrażenia. Taki jakiś nijaki. W końcówce nie byłem nawet w stanie mu współczuć.
Zakończenie chyba lekko przekombinowane, chociaż patrząc na to, co robili naziści podczas wojny, nie takie znów fantastyczne.
Duży plus za tło historyczne, opisy przedwojennego Berlina, dojście Hitlera do władzy, kryzys światowy, rosnące bezrobocie, wzbierający antysemityzm. Fajnie się to czytało.
Podsumowując, gdyby nie ten początek lektura byłaby o wiele przyjemniejsza, a ocena wyższa.

[Kirsten · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ich fand den Krimi unglaublich spannend. Mehrmals dachte die Willi Kraus, dass er den Täter gleich fassen würde und dann schlüpfte er ihm doch durch die Finger und schien weiter weg als zu vor. Die Gefahr für Willi und seine Familie dagegen kam immer näher. Die Hintergründe blieben lange im Dunkeln, allerdings muss ich auch sagen, dass ich schon recht früh einen Verdacht hatte, der sich zum teil auch bestätigte. Auch den geschichtlichen Hintergrund fand ich sehr gut erzählt. Willi Kraus und seine Familie sind mir ans Herz gewachsen und mehr als einmal habe ich mich bei dem Gedanken ertappt, wie es mit ihnen weitergehen würde, denn schließlich wusste ich ja die ganze Zeit, wie sich die Lage in Deutschland weiter entwickeln würde.

Nicht so gut gefallen hat mir, wie sich der Fall gegen Ende entwickelt hat. Er wurde mir zu groß, um so lange unentdeckt zu bleiben. Das hat mich so gestört, dass es den anfänglichen sehr guten Eindruck ein bisschen abgeschwächt hat.

[Britain · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed the mystery with its twists, turns, and historical insertions. Willi, the protagonist, was sympathetic but I feel first-person over third would have made it read easier. Grossman's writing leaves a lot to be desired in terms of flow and tempo. He drug his book down when the novel.shoild have been flying.

Do I want to read more? Yes. Will I manage my expectations? Most definitely.

[Judith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Detective story about the discovery of sacks of bones - children's bones. In 1929 in Berlin, Detective Willi Kraus fights against antisemitism (with the help of one decorated leader in the Kripo) while trying to solve the case.

It is a most bizarre story about missing boys who are not missed and how they get caught in a trap. Be prepared for tunnels and secret passageways and a very unhappy family.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit gory for my usual taste, but Grossman is an amazing writer. A few crude passages.

[Marsha Valance · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the 12 best mysteries I read in 2012.

[Carly · Rating 5 out of 5]

So. Good. Great story line that kept me reading and loved the historical fiction.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ciekawie napisany thriller z wątkiem kanibalizmu. Trzeba przeczytać, ale tylko przez ludzi o mocnych nerwach.

[Alicja Górska · Rating 4 out of 5]

http://recenzent.com.pl/1/recenzja-ks...

Właściwie od pierwszych stron udaje się autorowi zgrabnie wykreować nastrój grozy i napięcia. Z kolejnych stronic unosi się zapach gnijącego mięsa, bezdomności i zestaw innych aromatów typowych dla wielkich metropolii. Berlin wydaje się wielki i przeraźliwie ciasny jednocześnie. Miniaturyzują go wąskie horyzonty myślowe i wyraźne podziały – na biednych i bogatych, wpływowych i bez znaczenia, na Żydów, Cyganów oraz „prawdziwych” Niemców. Główny bohater zdaje się być jedynym, który jednocześnie nie dostrzega zagrożeń i potrafi patrzeć ponad nimi. Walczy jednak z wiatrakami. Czytelnika ściska coś w środku, gdy na każde pół kroku Krausa naprzód przypadają kolejne dwa w tył. Chęć rozwiązania zagadki jest przytłaczająca, ale tak jak detektywa odsuwają od jej poznania przełożeni, tak i odbiorcy pozostaje – przez bardzo długo – jedynie obejść się smakiem własnych umiejętności dedukcyjnych.

Powieść podzielona jest na cztery główne księgi, z których każda kończy się grą w bardzo wysokiej tonacji emocjonalnej. Nie oznacza to jednak, że jest to tonacja nie do przewidzenia. Grossman wyraźnie wziął sobie do serca zasadę Strzelby Czechowa. Potrzebne do rozwiązania zagadek elementy są bardzo wyraźnie – moim zdaniem nieco zbyt wyraźnie – kreślone od samego początku tej historii.

Sam bohater, chociaż fascynujący ze względu na nietypowe połączenie cech (detektyw Żyd w berlińskim Kripo na przełomie lat 20. i 30.) nieszczególnie mnie do siebie przekonał. Z pewnością jest to postać o wysokich standardach moralnych, zdolna do poświęcenia własnych potrzeb w imię wartości ogółu, jednak chwilami wydaje się dość niespójna. Mężczyzna, który ma za sobą okrucieństwa wojny, umie poradzić sobie z traumami, a jednocześnie kilkukrotnie rozkleja się spoglądając na sceny, które wrażenie mogłyby robić tylko podczas oglądania starannie dopracowanej strategii amerykańskiego twórcy filmowych melodramatów. Czarne charaktery książki, chociaż uargumentowane, wciąż wydają się dość płaskie. Brakuje im pewnego dopracowania, które wyryłoby ich imiona w pamięci czytelnika. Tymczasem zostają w głowie jedynie ich okrutne czyny, zapisujące się w ludzkiej pamięci, niczym dzieła duchów.

Największą zaletą „Dzieci gniewu” jest to, że autor nie ograniczył się do wątku kryminalnego z lekką tylko nutą historii w tle, a z owej historii uczynił pełnoprawnego bohatera. Przemierzające ulice zastępy Hitlerjugend; przemówienie Hitlera, które jednocześnie fascynuje i przeraża; zmiany relacji nawet między wieloletnimi przyjaciółmi. Wyraźnie widać, jak gęstnieją społeczne nastroje, gdy Niemcy wchodzą w fazę upadku i kurczowo starają się chwycić kogokolwiek, kto da im nadzieję na odbudowę państwa. Atmosfera zagrożenia, z której bohaterowie zdają sobie sprawę jedynie w ułamkowej części, zmuszają czytelnika do cichego dopingu związanego ze znajomością przyszłych wydarzeń. Przez całą książkę wciąż trzymałam kciuki, żeby – niezależnie od kryminalnej sprawy – udało się rodzinie Williego Krausa opuścić Niemcy zanim będzie za późno. Było to pragnienie jednocześnie irytujące, bowiem postaci czuły wyraźny związek z miastem i krajem, w którym wychowywały się całe pokolenia ich rodzin i nie powinny musieć rezygnować z tego przywiązania.

Powieść napisana jest przystępnym i w miarę bogatym językiem. Grossman doskonale radzi sobie w sferze opisowej, umiejąc uplastycznić nawet najbardziej odrzucające widoki. Zdecydowanie z tego powodu książkę powinni odpuścić sobie weganie i wegetarianie, którzy mogą nie przebrnąć przez szczegółowo skonstruowane obrazy rzeźni i sposobów masowego uboju (należy tutaj wziąć też pod uwagę aspekt technologiczny, wynikający z opisywanych przez autora czasów). Zdarzają się jednak pisarzowi prywatne kalki, szczególnie, gdy chodzi o emocje targające głównym bohaterem oraz jego biologiczne odczucia.

Chociaż się tego nie spodziewałam „Dzieci gniewu” Paula Grossmana wciągnęły mnie bez reszty. Nie jest to może pozycja pozbawiona wad – najbardziej dojmującą jest tutaj z pewnością jej w niektórych miejscach przewidywalność –, ale wciąż zdecydowanie wyróżnia się na tle podobnych propozycji kryminalnych. Powieść zapewnia czytelnikowi nie tylko ogromną dawkę napięcia, a chwilami i strachu rodem z najmroczniejszych horrorów, związanego z policyjną tajemnicą, ale i przypomina skomplikowanie historycznych wydarzeń, które zdają się jeszcze okropniejsze – choć dużo subtelniej ukazane – niż sama zagadka zbrodni. Nie sposób nie spojrzeć na rzecz paralelnie, zwłaszcza, gdy wszystkie aspekty sprawy zostają już ujawnione. A o co chodzi? Tego dowiecie się jedynie sięgając po książkę.

[I love books · Rating 5 out of 5]

In una Berlino fremente di attività in vista del nuovo decennio, l’Inspektor della KriPo Willi Kraus fa un macabro ritrovamento: sul fondo di uno scavo in un cantiere viene ritrovato un sacco di iuta contenente ossa, molte ossa umane tenute insieme grazie ad uno strano legaccio, accompagnate da un passo biblico. Colpito dal caso, Willi rimane a dir poco turbato quando questo viene affidato al detective Hans Freksa, classico tedesco dall’aspetto ariano, mentre a lui, inconfondibilmente ebreo, viene assegnato un caso all’apparenza secondario: alcune salsicce avariate hanno provocato una manciata di morti, suscitando il panico nella popolazione. Nonostante la ricerca di irregolarità nel mattatoio più importante della città lo tenga occupato per quasi tutta la durata della giornata, Willi non riesce ad accantonare il pensiero di quelle ossa piccole e bianchissime, del significato nascosto nello strano frammento cartaceo che le accompagnava; convinto che Freksa sia ormai un burattino nelle mani del partito nazista, Willi decide quindi di condurre un’indagine parallela, imbattendosi in alcune scoperte a dir poco agghiaccianti, che arriveranno a mettere in pericolo la sua vita..

Se con il primo romanzo della trilogia Paul Grossman ci racconta un caso del celebre Detektiv Kraus, in questo secondo libro ci riporta qualche anno indietro nel tempo, proprio al caso del Kinderfresser, che ha portato tanta celebrità all’ebreo della KriPo garantendogli anche una certa sicurezza nel periodo pre-nazista.
Grazie all’incredibile attenzione per i dettagli (storici ma non solo), Grossman riesce a ricreare nella mente del lettore quella sensazione di aspettativa per il nuovo decennio, la consapevolezza di essere ormai vicini ad un cambiamento radicale, le incertezze per il futuro e quel sentimento dolce amaro di fronte all’avvento delle novità e alla contemporanea distruzione di alcuni simboli del passato. La maestria nel narrare l’indagine poi incatena il lettore al libro, questo più che mai si è rivelato essere un romanzo ricco di suspence e colpi di scena: il macabro ritrovamento delle ossa è solo il primo di una serie di eventi particolarmente forti, confesso di essermi sentita quasi a disagio nella lettura di alcuni passaggi particolarmente crudi. Molto interessante poi è stato leggere del primo incontro tra Willi e Kai, il giovane capo degli Apache rossi, forse uno dei personaggi più interessanti della trilogia, con il suo trucco pesante e la sua banda di ragazzi selvaggi; infine anche in questo secondo volume troviamo alcuni personaggi storici, come Goebbels, impegnato a cercare di controllare le indagini della polizia per indirizzarle nella desiderata dal partito. Sono arrivata alla fine della lettura con il forte desiderio di continuare la trilogia, sarà molto difficile riuscire ad aspettare fino alla pubblicazione dell’ultimo volume.

Non posso che consigliare fortemente la lettura di questo libro, non ve ne pentirete!

[Chuck Sullivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not for the faint of heart. A thriller set in Germany in the early 1930's, with an unusual hero, plenty of villains, and a lot of twists and turns. If you're looking for something different, give this one a try.

[Douglas Lord · Rating 5 out of 5]

At first I mistook this for the long-awaited commentary on the emotional state of America’s children by pediatrician T. Berry Brazelton. But no, it’s a prequel to Grossman’s excellent The Sleepwalkers (St. Martin’s, 2010), and it’s similarly enjoyable. Famed detective Willi Kraus is a hard worker in the Kriminalpolizei in 1929 Weimar Berlin. Smart, quick on his feet, and unflappably dedicated to justice, Willi’s sole problem is his Jewishness, and, in his life and work, he nobly ignores more shit than a faulty sewer pump. Willi becomes fixated on some disturbing discoveries: children’s bones in burlap sacks washing out of the river. Though instead assigned to investigate a deadly sausage contamination, he prods at both cases enough to discover that they are related (eeeeeewwwwwwwww!) and that both relate to an alleged lesbian satanic love cult starring decadent German beauties (yaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyy!). The reading gets choppy when, as in any historical novel, Grossman educates us about whatever was happening at that time. He does it without insulting our intelligence; it’s just that descriptions of Walpurgis Night, still celebrated with dancing around bonfires and straw effigies, and details about the bravery of Jewish-German WWI vets break the spell a bit. Still, the gumshoe element, the morbidly attractive German decadence, the outrageous anti-Semitism, guest stars like Dr. Joseph Goebbels, plus the wonderful frisson of contemplating a blonde, leather-clad lesbian love cult combine into an immensely satisfying, all-around winner. It was compelling enough to keep me up hours past my bedtime and once even to cause me to fall prey to that classic bedtime blunder: falling book-clutched-in-hands, glasses-on-face asleep. This was, of course, followed by the classic wake-up-90-minutes-later-completely-disoriented-and-drooling. Thanks, Mr. Grossman.
Find reviews of books for men at Books for Dudes, Books for Dudes, the online reader's advisory column for men from Library Journal. Copyright Library Journal.

[Ola]

Przełom lat 20 i 30. Gdy w Stanach Zjednoczonych wybucha kryzys, Berlin staje przed epidemią zachorowań. W tym samym czasie młody policjant żydowskiego pochodzenia - Willi Kraus - odkrywa w kanale worek pełen kości. Dziecięcych, wygotowanych kości wraz z Biblią z zakreślonymi cytatami. Podczas gdy policja nie do końca radzi sobie z sprawą, Willi bada ją na własną rękę. Jest gotów poświęcić karierę by odnaleźć sprawcę.

Przyznaje, że opis ogromnie mnie zaintrygował. W końcu jest wszystko to co lubię w tego typu książkach - niebanalna zbrodnia, przemoc i ogromna tajemnica. I wszystko byłoby fajnie, tylko z każdą stroną moje podejście się zmieniało.

Nie chodzi o to, że książka jest zła. Bo nie jest. Bohaterowie są świetnie zarysowani. Nawet Ci drugoplanowi są przedstawiani czytelnikowi dość szczegółowo. Pomysł na historie bez wątpienia jest. Więc gdzie tkwi mój problem?

Język autora, choć przystępny nieco mnie irytował. Momentami ilość opisów była dla mnie przytłaczająca. Zwłaszcza gdy zbrodnia wydawał się schodzić na drugi plan, ustępując miejsca epidemii. Głównie przez to nie mogłam zatracić się w tym świecie.

I przyznaje, że mocno mnie to irytuje, bo "obudziłam" się z tego czytelniczego amoku gdzieś pod koniec, gdy akcja rzeczywiście skupiła się na zbrodni i oprawcy. I wtedy naprawdę zaczęło się dziać. Jednak wtedy było już za późno by pokochać tę pozycję. Możliwe, że moim błędem było czytanie jej w biegu. Może po prostu potrzebuje ona nieco więcej uwagi? Jeśli tylko pozwoli mi na to czas - zdecydowanie zmierzę się z nią ponownie.

Nigdy nie kryję tego, że jakoś ciężej czyta mi się pozycje, których akcja dzieje się w przeszłości. Nie mam problemu z wyimaginowanymi światami, a przeszłość jakoś niekoniecznie mi pasuje. I tutaj było podobnie. W niektórych momentach nie czułam tego klimatu lat 20 i 30. Miałam wrażenie, że czytam o współczesności.

Nie jest to zła pozycja. To intrygująca pozycja, której wypada poświęcić nieco więcej czasu i skupienia, by przebrnąć przez opisy i dotrać do "właściwego" momentu. Gdy to już się stanie, lektura wciągnie bez dwóch zdań.

Tekst z http://smieszna-nazwa.blogspot.com/

[Schneehase · Rating 5 out of 5]

Zum Inhalt: 1929, mitten in Berlin wird ein Jutesack mit grausigem Inhalt gefunden. Makaber arangierte Kinderknochen geben Kriminalsekretär Willi Kraus ein Rätsel auf, das zu lösen seinen Ehrgeiz weckt. Als Jude hat er jedoch einen schweren Stand in der Berliner Kripo. Sein Vorgesetzter und die Kollegen übergehen ihn und der spektakuläre Fall wird an einen Kollegen übertragen. Kraus soll nun in einem weniger brisanten Fall ermitteln, stößt aber im Laufe seiner Nachforschungen immer wieder auf mögliche Zusammenhänge mit den Kindermorden. Als seine Beobachtungen weiterhin keine Beachtung finden und sich ein Abgrund aus Vertuschung und Lügen auftut, folgt Kraus den Spuren auf eigene Faust. Währenddessen verschwinden immer mehr Jungen auf mysteriöse Weise.

Meine Meinung: Ein toller, spannender Krimi, ja fast schon ein Thriller, in dem keine Sekunde Langeweile aufkommt. Paul Grossmann versteht es ausgezeichnet die Stimmung im damaligen Berlin darzustellen. Der Übergang von den wilden 20iger Jahren zu den Anfängen des Nationalsozialismus bekommen Willi Kraus und auch seine Familie deutlich zu spüren. Der historische Hintergrund fliest unaufdringlich in die Handlung ein und der Leser fühlt sich regelrecht in das alte Berlin hineinversetzt.
Auch die Krimihandlung ist extrem spannend. Der Autor zeigt die schwierige Ermittlungsarbeit, in der jedes Indiz, jedes Detail wie ein Puzzle von Kraus zu einer stimmigen, schockierenden Erkenntnis zusammengesetzt wird.
Doch nicht nur trockene Ermittlungen prägen das Buch, sondern es gibt auch rasante Verfolgungsjagden, Zweikämpfe etc., die viel Tempo in die Geschichte bringen.
Ich habe das Buch innerhalb von 2 Tagen verschlungen und kann es jedem Krimi und auch Thrillerfan nur empfehlen. Den ersten Band der Serie kenne ich bisher noch nicht, doch ich hatte keinerlei Schwierigkeiten in die Handlung des Buches hineinzufinden.

[Dale · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have rarely been carried into another world so thoroughly as I was by this audiobook.


Published by HighBridge Audio in April of 2012.
Read by Kyle Munley.
Duration: 12 hours, 13 minutes.

Paul Grossman's Children of Wrath is a dark detective story set in one of the most tragic situations in all of history: The Weimar Republic in the weeks before the rise of the Nazis. A series of murders of boys combined with the impending failure of Germany's experiment with democracy, the collapse of the American stock market and the open street fighting between the Nazis and the Communists makes this tragic piece drip with a sense of the impending descent of Germany into the madness that enveloped it after the Nazis took command.

Willi Kraus is the only Jewish detective in the Berlin police force (and perhaps all of Germany). He is a decorated veteran of World War I but his country treats him with no respect because he is Jewish. His fellow detectives refuse to be his partner. His supervisor gives him insulting jobs. In this story he is re-assigned from a murder case (a burlap bag of bones from a boy with teeth marks on them is found washed up from a sewer line) to investigate an outbreak of Listeria that has killed consumers of pork sausage, with the implied insult of having a Jewish detective investigate a case involving the famously non-Kosher pork product.

But, as Willi digs into his new case he finds hints that the two cases might actually be connected and he starts his own private investigation...

Read more at: http://dwdsreviews.blogspot.com/2012/...

[Rogue Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

Set in 1929 Germany, Children of Wrath opens with the global economic collapse of The Great Depression. Throughout the country, people lose their jobs as business shrink or go under and the increasing economic anxiety parallels the rising stridency of the National Socialists Party. It's the children that Willi Kraus sees on the street who telegraph the coming dangers - the wilding gangs grow larger, the children more desperate - and then they start to disappear. That's the mystery that consumes Willi Kraus, taking him into the market, to the underground, to rural towns that have discarded their young.

Berlin in 1929 has just a shadow of the prospertity, intellectual freedom, political tolerance and cultural excitement that characterized the Weimar Republic. The daily life and struggle to exist overshadow the gradual increase in German anti-semitism, and Berlin's Jewish community seems to accept the acts of hatred that become more frequent and more frenzied. Willi Kraus' position secures him and his family a comfortable middle-upper class lifestyle, and his keen investigative skills advance his career despite racial hostility. But everywhere Willi looks, society is breaking down, and the Nazi's influence increases.


Don't miss out on the historical perspective that Grossman's Children of Wrath, and it's precursor The Sleepwalkers deliver. It's solid, important reading.

--Ashland Mystery

[Charlene · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was an ARC and a first-read. I thoroughly enjoyed it, as it was filled with tension, suspense, mystery, and action. It wasn't too gruesome, but it was specific enough to benefit the story without detracting from it. However, I did have a few issues with this novel. First, there was a few pages that misspelled "reverend" as "neverend." It wasn't just once, and it was distracting. I realize that this was an ARC, but I still felt that the editor(s) should have caught that early on, or even the author. The second issue I had with this novel is that the author would spell things out too much. For example, he would show us the action and let us figure out what that meant, but then he would reiterate what we already discovered as readers, making it redundant and somewhat insulting. I found myself thinking, "Didn't we already know that?" several times when the main character/narrator divulged "new" information to the reader.

My one piece of advice for Paul Grossman is to trust your storytelling abilities and skills. You have what it takes, but don't undermine yourself with having to explain everything that was already hinted at or referenced. Let us do some of the work, too. Treat us as the intelligent readers we are, or at least hope to be.

With that said, I did enjoy this book and always wanted to keep reading. I would most definitely read other works by this author.

[miteypen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Set during the last days of the Weimar Republic, this novel gives the reader an interesting view of what it was like to be a Jew in Germany before the rise of the Nazis. It is also about an investigation into the murders of young boys whose bones are discovered around the city. Despite being derided and shunned by the other detectives because he is Jewish, the main character, Willi Kraus, doggedly perseveres until he solves the mystery. Because this book ends shortly after the Nazi party comes into power, it doesn't get into the Holocaust, but is all the more chilling because you know what's right around the corner.

This reminded me of the Bernard Gunther series by Philip Kerr, but that detective wasn't Jewish. Both series start out in Berlin, but move to other locales in later books. I read the Kerr books first and was very impressed with them but it's been so long I can't say if this one is as good as they are. There are only three books in this series and ten in the Bernard Gunther series (with a new one coming out in March, 2016, I believe), so if you want a long-term relationship, I would choose the latter. Of course, you can always choose both!

[Shiela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Children of Wrath was one of the most gripping and disturbing books I’ve read in a long time. Not only was the mystery itself completely engrossing but the author chose such an interesting time in German history that I felt like the setting itself was almost a character. I was completely stunned by the plights and outright racist hypocritical remarks and situations our detective and his family found themselves in. The plot moved at a lightning fast pace and was completely unpredictable.

I loved Willi’s character, he is a smart but stubborn detective who refuses to give rise to the adversity he faces at work on a daily basis. He is a character the reader really roots for and is gratified when he eventually proves himself on a national scale and perseveres despite the uncertainty Germany faces. The villain(s) in the story were very disturbed and Grossman does a phenomenal job at slowly unraveling the history behind the antagonist’s motives.

Although the author wrote this book after The Sleepwalkers, chronologically the Children of Wrath case happens first and is mentioned in the second book so I would recommend reading this before Sleepwalkers.

Overall, a great but thoroughly disturbing read.