The Pale Criminal cover art

The Pale Criminal

Bernie Gunther, Book 2

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The Pale Criminal

By: Philip Kerr
Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
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About this listen

A series of horrific ritual murders leads Bernie Gunther to an occult conspiracy at the very heart of the Nazi Party - hard-boiled noir thriller for fans of Raymond Chandler and John le Carré.

Five German schoolgirls are missing. Four have been found dead. But unlike the undesirables who make up the majority of dead and missing people in Hitler's Berlin, these girls were blonde and blue-eyed - the Aryan flower of German maidenhood - and their gruesome deaths recall ritual killings.

Busy with a blackmail case, Bernie is reluctant when he is asked to rejoin the Berlin police in order to track down the murderer. But when the person doing the asking is none other than head of the SD, Reinhard Heydrich, it's not exactly a request he can turn down. As Bernie gets closer to the truth, he realises that at the heart of this case is much more than one lone madman - in fact, there is a conspiracy at work more chilling than he could ever have imagined.

©2016 Thynker Limited (P)2016 Quercus Editions Limited Crime Historical International Mystery & Crime Mystery Thriller & Suspense Fiction Murder

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Critic reviews

"One of the greatest anti-heroes ever written." (Lee Child)

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Most relevant
excellent story framed by unsettling historical context and a timely reminder of Nazi Germany and the genesis of World War 2. highly recommended warning from history

Great story

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A gripping detective story in the vein of the tough P.I.s like Hammer or Marlowe. However being set in pre-war Germany, this unusual backdrop, with the presence of such well-know Nazi figures, sets the story apart from the normal detective thrillers. and gives it an air of reality. This is the second Bernie Gunther novel, and is possibly even more enjoyable than the first. Here Bernie is given no option but to return to working as a policeman to solve the murders of young girls in Berlin, but is still up to all his old tricks as a private detective, and as full of irreverence as usual, even against the Nazi leadership.

Gripping story

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The fact that the narrator, being male, also voiced female characters. This did not work very well in my opinion

The mix between fiction and historical non-fiction

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Amazing narration by Jonathan Keeble as always. Bernie Gunther is a very believable character. Looking forward to the next installment.

Great storyline

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It is perhaps unfair as I have both read and listened to the first book, and this is my first encounter of book 2 and it’s via audible rather than reading. But I find that the voice direction is so very different to the audible version of book 1 that I am having trouble reconciling that this is Bernie Gunter from book 1. Whereas the voice actor in the first book plausibly attempted German accents (for other characters) and delivered Bernie’s sardonic lines with range, energy and skill: allowing me to really visualise Bernie saying and doing these things , the voice actor here comes across as hackneyed British when doing other characters and lacks the enthusiasm and delivery of Bernie’s sarcasm and this jarrs me.

I have read the reviews of the written book and I know some have said that Bernie is less “cheeky Chappie” than in book 1, so perhaps it is not all the voice actor. But so far I’m enjoying the story, but not so much how it’s being told.

That being said, I heard the voice before I purchased the book and I didn’t think it would bother me: it’s more his other accents, like Bernie’s partner, where (to my ears) the British of sorts breaks my immersion.

I also question the actual authors choice of language when describing characters of colour. I understand that Bernie is a product of his time and don’t begrudge how he mentally describes people, but at points , I felt the descriptions were overused and lacked variety and it just struck a discordant tone with me. Especially given that Bernie isn’t really presented as an overall prejudiced man in book 1. But perhaps this accurately reflects Bernie’s character development from book 1 to 2, or perhaps it’s just me reading too much into it.

Overall though. I enjoyed the story and worldbuilding.

Let down by narrator choice

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