For me, having a historical background enables the author to spend more time with action, plot and characters and 'Germania' did a good job with this. Oppenheimer was torn between his personal responsibilities and what he was professionally successful at-at times conflicted between the two. I have to admit, 'Germania" is one of the few books where I don't figure out the ending until it happens. Good job by Harald Gilbers!
Enjoyable tale!

I have to say the World War Two context here doesn't normally appeal to me, but this was such a beautifully told story and such a wonderfully written book that I loved it despite that. I'll certainly recommend it in various places online and in my next newsletter. It's a novel that deserves to be widely read.

Thank you for providing me with an ARC. It made my week.

Germania by Harald Gilbers A unique premise and interesting blend of historical and crime novel . Full of espionage, covert operations, well developed characters, a serial killer, and investigative procedures, the story is set against the backdrop of nights of the bombing and ending days of the third empire. The living conditions of the citizens of Berlin during the last year of the war are vividly described. Not a light read, at times slow moving however spine chilling moments keep the reader engrossed.

Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for the opportunity to preview the book.

In Germania, mixing fact with fiction, author Harald Gilbers has a serial killer on the loose in 1944 Germany. The hunt for the killer teams up  an unlikely pair, a former Jewish Inspector and an officer in Hilter's army. I want to thank NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an early copy to review.

This is a historical fiction murder mystery based in Germany during WWII. The cover and other reviews give great descriptions of the book and much better than I would so I won't go there. I believe I read somewhere it was translated into English from German and a few tidbits were lost in translation. I had to re read several parts because it transitioned from the detective to the killer so as it almost appeared that the detective was the killer. Unless I missed the point and maybe he was ? It was confusing at times. Interesting tidbits of the German viewpoint of the war and of how things transpired in Germany as most fiction written of this era is based in England or France. It was an interesting book if you enjoy historical fiction.
I was provided an advanced reader copy and was under no obligation to provide a review. The opinions expressed are my own. Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read this book.

The Nazis forced Jewish detective Richard Oppenheimer from his post. But in 1944, the Gestapo knocks on his door to offer their protection in exchange for his help catching a serial killer. As Oppenheimer gets deeper into the investigation, more women are killed, and he has to question if they will ever catch the culprit.

Germany loves their crime novels, and the unusual premise made me excited to pick up this book. Oppenheimer is a great protagonist - his thought process is well documented in the book, and I liked his snarky attitude when dealing with the Nazis. The historical fiction side of the story is strong as well - Gilbers shows a side of Berlin that I hadn't seen before, including the Jewish House, where some Jews married to Aryans lived. He also realistically depicts the destruction of Berlin by Allied bombing towards the end of the war. The story meanders a bit, but I enjoyed the setting, unusual circumstances, and puzzling crime Gilbers assembled here, and I look forward to reading other novels by him.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Germania, by Harold Gibers is a book I wouldn’t ordinarily read,
It is a well thought out book, methodical in the thinking of main characters and a horrific sense of the lives of the Jewish people in war torn Germany in World War II.
My husband would have enjoyed this book, but it moved to slowly for my sense of adventure.
But it is for sure a solid 4 on the artist scale of writing.

This is a slow mystery/thriller that takes readers to Nazi Berlin in 1944. Oppenheimer, a Jewish detective is suddenly thrown into solving the gruesome crimes. Murdered, mutilated women are showing up around Berlin. I'm sure sure readers who be fascinated by this story but out wasn't for me.

First off I want to say huge thank you to the publisher Thomas Dunne Books-St. Martin's Press ,the author Harald Gilbers and to NetGalley for inviting me to read and review it. As soon as I saw the email from St.Martin's , I knew that I was going to read it and that I might actually like it , because of two things , 1 for those that don't know me I love reading historical fiction, 2 I love reading about WW 2 or events that took place doing that time ,3 thrillers are one if not my all time favorite genre and when you combined those three things then you have a winner and will definitely have my attention. And this had all of those things because its a historical fiction thriller that takes place doing WW 2.Not only that but the author was able to bring that time period to life as well as the character, he has a way of making you feel what his characters are going though and seen them come to life.

Nazi Germany 1944, Bombs Falling Day And Night, A Serial Killer Stalks Women

Horrendous murders, women tortured and mutilated, bodies left posed in front of war memorials. The SS has been investigating but has been unable to find the killer. Richard Oppenheimer, a Jew, was an investigator for the Berlin police before being removed and forbidden to work in public service. He survives only because he is married to an Aryan woman. When the Gestapo awakens Richard in the middle of the night he is suddenly forced into helping SS Captain Volger find the killer.

This novel has been translated from the original German, the author capturing the essence of the war-torn period. He adroitly describes the feelings of depression, fear, anxiety, and despair felt by the Jewish people who remain in Berlin. It also reveals a strained relationship between a German SS officer and a talented Jewish detective, each adhering to the chasm required while silently admiring the others skills. So much more than a war story or a murder mystery, this novel draws the reader into the delicate balance between people forced to live in circumstances beyond their control. I hope more of Harald Gilbers novels are translated into English for us.

Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this ARC for my enjoyment and review.

Bleak. And, oddly, both enlightening and engrossing: Those are my reactions after reading this book. It was not, at least to me, an easy book to read. First of all, my coming of age happened on the lower cusp of the "Make Love, Not War" generation; I don't like the thought of war, much less reading about one. As for World War II, near the end of which this story is set, my earliest recollections, somewhere around age 4, is hiding with my mother while my father - an air raid warden in our small Indiana town - hit the streets to make sure all the residents had their lights turned off (in later years, though, I did wonder whatever possessed my mother to think we'd be safe hunkered down in an upstairs bedroom - but that's a story for another day).

At any rate, I've for the most part steered clear of reading books or watching movies about wars. But because this one is a murder mystery/thriller and offered to me from the publisher, I put aside my doubts and dug in. And in the end, it won me over, triggering emotions from hope to sadness to fear and giving me a unique glimpse into what it must have been like to live in war-torn Berlin in mid-1944. Honestly, I can't imagine hell being much worse.

The story centers around former Detective Richard Oppenheimer, who, as Jew, has been relieved of duty under Nazi Germany rules. He's spared a worse fate, at least for the time being, because he's married to an Aryan woman named Lisa. They live in not much more than a hovel, which at any moment could be reduced to rubble by one of the frequent Allied air strikes. But then, his life takes a different turn: The Gestapo, it seems, need his expertise to help solve the gruesome murder of a woman whose mutilated body was laid out in front of a war memorial. He's reluctant to get involved - especially to help the people he sees as the enemy - but he also sees little choice. Soon, another body turns up in similar fashion - and now the search is for what is presumed to be a serial killer.

As he tries to skirt the uncertainties of interacting with a Gestapo supervisor (including such details as to when, or whether, he should keep the Star of David sewn onto his overcoat lapel as is normally required of him as a Jew), he becomes fascinated by the case. But many obstacles fall into his path, not the least of which is dodging the damage from incoming artillery. As all this unfolds and he's eager to nail the murderer, he tries to maintain his secret relationships with his anti-Nazi friends and keep up his hopes that he and his wife can escape to a safe country instead of being banished to a concentration camp - perhaps after the case is solved and he is no longer needed.

In between the action are extensive descriptions of what it was like to live in a war-torn city and the workings of the Nazi regime. It was to me a bit of a difficult read because scenes shift within the chapters with no warning; I lost count of the times I had to back up because I suddenly realized I was reading about an entirely different character in an entirely different setting. Still, it was overall a well-thought out, intriguing story I'm glad I took the time to read. Thanks very much to the publisher, via NetGalley, for offering a pre-release copy. Definitely worth reading!

This book was originally written in German and published there in 2013. This edition is a translation by Alexandra Roesch and is a new publication. It takes place in Berlin in May and June, 1944, when D-day occurs and WWll is turning around. Oppenheimer is a former police inspector and a Jew. Because of this he is now working in a factory cleaning up and he and his wife live in the Jewish House. One morning when he is leaving home for work he is picked up by the Secret Police and taken to a crime scene where he meets Vogler, a Nazi Storm Trooper who has been placed in charge of the case. Vogler makes Oppenheimer part of his team. The victim is a young woman who has been brutally murdered. I won’t go further into the plot because of spoilers but will say that the interactions between Oppenheimer, an experienced Police Officer and a Jew, and Vogler, a Nazi and an enabler, are remarkably well done. The author literally takes his readers back to the Berlin of 1944 and captures the essence of the times. He does the same with the descriptions of the non-Nazi German people who apparently recognized the Third Reich was coming to an end. The characters are all as well developed as people living in the circumstances of the times and their interactions could be. The plot well done. Thanks to Net Galley and Thomas Dunne Books for an ARC for an honest review.

I tend to enjoy international crime thrillers, and Germania's synopsis sounded both high-stakes and action packed. I was excited to jump into this one.

When former inspector Oppenheimer is approached by the SS to assist in a sensitive investigation, he's wary to accept the request. As a Jewish man living in war-torn Nazi Berlin, there's no safe way to do what Vogler is asking him without endangering his life. But as details come to light and he realizes a serial killer might be targeting vulnerable women, Oppenheimer chooses to help the investigation, realizing that solving the case might be the only way he'll make it out alive.

I enjoyed this book.

For someone who doesn't read much historical fiction, I found the narrative to be interesting and full of incredible details I hadn't heard or considered before. Gilbers expertly wove facts into conversation and observations, adding depth to the characters and enriching the plot. And speaking of plot, I thought the murder mystery worked really well here. I didn't expect to like the structure as much as I did. I feared the layered mystery set against an already tense and precarious setting would be overcrowded or sensationalist, but that couldn't be further from the truth. Indeed, this is an immersive read that packs a punch. Oppenheimer's struggles were both heartbreaking and stressful, and as the story unfolds, you become more unsure of whether or not he'll survive the ordeal.

As a character, Oppenheimer reminded me a bit of House. His quirky relationships with others, his frank observations and (sometimes) bent moral compass, not to mention the pain killers--he's an endearing protagonist with a lot of reasons to explode, and when he doesn't, he becomes all the more interesting.

I did find some of the reading to be a bit dense, and this is definitely not a one-sit read, but I appreciated the experience and found Gilbers writing to be insightful and clever.

Overall, Germania is a high-octane crime thriller with twists, turns, and plenty of bloody mayhem. I'd recommend to anyone who likes their reading with a historical angle, fans of international crime reads, or anyone who's looking for a fresh perspective on a serial killer on the loose.


Big thanks to St. Martin's Press/Thomas Dunne and NetGalley for providing an eARC in exchange for honest review consideration.

My thanks to the publisher for inviting me to read. Richard Oppenheimer is a Jewish citizen living in Berlin when he is awakened by the SS in the middle of the night while sleeping with his wife Lisa . He thinks he will be killed. On the contrary, he is asked by SS Agent Vogler to assist in a murder investigation. A young girls body is tortured and left near a monument. Oppenheimer agrees to save himself and his wife. Two other bodies found that are linked to the first body. With the help of his doctor friend Hilde as a sounding board he assists the SS in solving the crime. Book was good but a bit of a struggle for me with some of the long German words and locations. A heavy read .

I don't often find myself drawn to books about WWII and Nazi Germany; however, I was intrigued by the idea of a serial killer mutilating women, in Berlin, in 1944. As is often the case, I find reading historical fiction to be easier to digest than a text book, and usually more enlightening overall.

Today we think of Germany as having no Jews anywhere but in concentration camps or ghettos. Since I don't read much about this time period, I sincerely hope that there were Jewish people living in Berlin as late as 1944. Gilbers places Oppenheimer and his wife (who is not Jewish) in a designated "Jewish House" where they have a dwindling number of neighbors.

Gilbers has taken a bold step in making the detective investigating the case a Jew. Richard Oppenheimer was a detective inspector until forced out of that position because of who he was. At the time of his removal, he had been honored because he had solved a case very similar to the one he finds himself investigating at the behest of SS Hauptsturmführer Vogler. Some of the German titles are a bit daunting, but if you break them down into syllables, they are easier to read (i.e., Haupt sturm führer).

Without going into spoiler details, there is a scene involving Oppenheimer and a gang of Hitler youth that will put ice water in your veins. It made me think of where some of the youth today are headed under the tutelage of today's nationalistic propaganda machines.

GERMANIA is the first in a series of German language novels about Oppenheimer (published in 2013). As I was reading, I thought perhaps the author was British given some of the words and phrases used. I now think that it must have been translated into the Queen's English. (This is merely an observation and is in no way meant as a criticism.) I always feel strange saying that I 'enjoyed' reading a novel about a serial killer, but I did enjoy reading this one. Should the subsequent books in the series be translated into English, I will surely read them.

Germania is a novel published abroad which became an international bestseller. Now it will soon become available to the US and Canada.

Dragged out of the Jewish House by the SS in Nazi occupied Berlin, Jewish detective Richard Oppenheimer is asked to investigate the horrific murders of women left mutilated in front of war memorials — women with ties to the Nazi party. Does Richard even have a choice? Either way, Richard is probably in jeopardy.

Full of espionage, the reader follows Richard in his investigation process. In Richard’s quest to apprehend the perpetrator, and with the help of a good friend, Richard uncovers deep secrets and covert operations occurring within the Reich.

Germania can be somewhat of a slow read. There are a number of players with names that I could barely pronounce. But the development of those players were well executed. The plot itself had its ups and downs. It was those hair-raising moments that kept me engaged.

Overall, Germania is an enjoyable read and a nice fit for those fans of historical fiction|mystery & thrillers. Three stars. I liked it.

I received a digital ARC from St. Martin’s Press through NetGalley. The review herein is completely my own and contains my honest thoughts and opinions.

Berlin 1944: a serial killer stalks the bombed-out capital of the Reich, preying on women and laying their mutilated bodies in front of war memorials. All of the victims are linked to the Nazi party. But according to one eyewitness account, the perpetrator is not an opponent of Hitler's regime, but rather a loyal Nazi.

Jewish detective Richard Oppenheimer, once a successful investigator for the Berlin police, is reactivated by the Gestapo and forced onto the case. Oppenheimer is not just concerned with catching the killer and helping others survive, but also his own survival. Worst of all, solving this case is what will certainly put him in the most jeopardy. With no other choice but to futher his investigation, he feverishly searches for answers, and a way out of this dangerous game.

Harald Gilbers has given us an enthralling look into Berlin in the middle of the war, and the lives of ordinary people trying to survive the bombings and the capricious orders of their leaders. Germania is an engrossing murder mystery, but at its heart, it it so much more. Highly recommended.

This is one the many books set in WWII. There are several things going on this book. There is a series of murders and the leader of the Gestapo recruits a Jewish police officer who solve murders for the Berlin police. Richard Oppenheimer is in danger. He must solve the case to stop a serial murderer but if he does, his life will be in danger.
This was an interesting story in first person narrative which is okay, but I do like to the point of view of other characters. The writing was good and the mystery hard to figure out keeping me interested. Thank you, Net Galley, for an advanced copy for an honest review.

It is June, 1944. Richard Oppenheimer, once a successful homicide detective inspector with the Berlin Kriminalpolizei, was forced off because he is Jewish. He has not been deported “to the east,” though, because he is married to a so-called Aryan, Lisa. Along with others in mixed marriages, they live a hand-to-mouth life in a Jewish House apartment building.

Out of the blue, Oppenheimer is told to join an SS officer, Vogler, to investigate a series of brutal murders of women. It’s a shock to his system, being able to be out and about in Berlin and working with the powerful. He sees the rapacious acquisitiveness of the Nazi elite, the foreign workers doing much of the labor and, most of all, the transformation wreaked on the city in these waning months of the war. The city is bombarded daily, turning it into a landscape of ruins, smoke and death. There are rumors of the D-Day invasion, and Germans seem to know that the Third Reich will fall far short of its promised thousand years.

In this bizarre time and place, a serial killer must be stopped, to protect public morale. Oppenheimer’s methods are classic police procedural stuff. As in many serial killer novels, we have some passages from the point of view of the killer. They’re not nearly as interesting as Oppenheimer’s story, but fortunately they take up only a small proportion of the book.

Harald Gilbert is a German writer of WW2 history, and this is a translation of his (first?) novel. The translation is good, though not always entirely smooth.

There is one thing that puzzled me about this book. A couple of times while he’s out on his new official duties, Oppenheimer runs into people who know him and know that he’s Jewish. When they ask how he can be working as a detective (or anything, for that matter) in Nazi Berlin, he tells them he converted. This doesn’t make sense, since Nazis considered Jewishness to be an immutable racial category, not merely a religious faith. And Harald Gilbert, as a historian of the period, must surely know that.

I can’t help assessing any novel about homicide in the Nazi era to the Bernie Gunther series by the late Philipp Kerr. Does this book meet that standard? No, it’s not quite as good at painting an entire world, rich with historic context, and Oppenheimer is, unsurprisingly, not the wisecracking gumshoe that Bernie Gunther is. Still, this is a vivid story, well told, and if Harald Gilbert has more crime fiction to offer, I will happily read it.

Review of Uncorrected Digital Galley

In 1944, a sadistic serial killer stalks the streets of war-weary, bombed-out Berlin. With some evidence that the perpetrator may be a member of the Nazi party, the investigation stalls, forcing an unexpected solution.

Reactivating a former Jewish member of the Berlin police [removed from public service following Hitler’s rise to power], the Gestapo tasks homicide detective Richard Oppenheimer with finding the brutal murderer targeting women who are somehow connected to the Nazi party. Oppenheimer, who was an expert within the Berlin murder squad, finds himself partnered with Schutzstaffel Hauptsturmführer Vogler.

As much as Oppenheimer comes to appreciate being involved in an investigation once again, he realizes that he is in the midst of a dangerous and deadly game. Can he find the culprit and keep himself and his wife, Lisa safe? Or will he sacrifice everything?

Stalwart, well-developed characters and a strong sense of place anchor this compelling murder mystery. Told primarily from Oppenheimer’s point of view, the unfolding story surprises readers with unexpected plot twists and turns. Although there are violent elements, readers become aware of them only in their aftermath and, from the outset, the story pulls readers into the telling of the tale.

Throughout the story, there’s an underlying sense of foreboding that is all but impossible to ignore as it permeates every page in this gripping narrative. With readers placed in Oppenheimer’s shoes, so to speak, they feel all of the dread and unsettledness that surely affected everyone living under the Nazi regime during the Second World War.

Readers will find much to appreciate in this intriguing mystery/social commentary/historical saga.

Highly recommended.

I received a free copy of this eBook from St. Martin’s Press / Thomas Dunne Books and NetGalley
#Germania #NetGalley