Cover Image: The Ashes of Berlin

The Ashes of Berlin

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Member Reviews

Despite being the third volume in a series (of which I promptly purchased the first two), the novel reads like a stand alone. Set with marvellous historical reconstruction in ravaged Berlin at the immediate end of World War II, it is the narrative of an investigation, but also of a power struggle, revenge and disillusionment. The protagonist, Gregor Reinhardt, is a veteran of both world wars, who despite having fought for his country never embraced Nazi ideology, and is, above all, a moral man. That is why many hate him, some secretly admire him and all try more or less to use him. A really good novel, decidedly well-written, with a psychological introspection rarely found in works of this type, in which the characters always tend to be lacking in chiaroscuro. Moreover, as I live in Berlin, I was pleased to follow Gregor's steps as if I were a bird resting on his shoulder.

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Great historical fiction read! Highly recommend it to fans of the genre and those looking to expand their reading circle. Purchasing for library.

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My next review is:-
"The Ashes Of Berlin:Gregor Reinhardt 3", written by Luke McCallin and published in paperback by No Exit Press on 24 Aug. 2017. 448 pages
ISBN-13: 978-1843447139

It is 1947 and Gregor Reinhardt has been hired back onto Berlin's civilian police force. The city is divided among the victorious allied powers, tensions are growing, and the police are riven by internal rivalries as factions within it jockey for power and influence with Berlin's new masters.

When a man is found slain in a broken-down tenement, Reinhardt embarks on a gruesome investigation. It seems a serial killer is on the loose, and matters only escalate when it s discovered that one of the victims was the brother of a Nazi scientist.

Reinhardt's search for the truth takes him across the divided city and soon embroils him in a plot involving the Western Allies and the Soviets. And as he comes under the scrutiny of a group of Germans who want to continue the war and faces an unwanted reminder from his own past Reinhardt realizes that this investigation could cost him everything as he pursues a killer who believes that all wrongs must be avenged...

This was a highly atmospheric and literate historical mystery, one of the best ever that I have read where everything happens in a post war, broken and desolate Berlin and was very gripping. I visited the city last year and saw both the east and west regions and of course now it is rebuilt and prosperous and has none of the echoes of its turbulent past.

This is the first "Gregor Reinhardt" book that I have read and the author pays particular attention to ensuring that occasional readers such as I, won't feel left out because they have not read the previous books as he provides, with his highly detailed research and gives full explanations of everything that previously occurs.

I thought that this was a wonderful book that once I had read a few pages and got into the 1947 narrative I just had to continue reading until the very dramatic conclusion. Very strongly recommended.

Best wishes,

Terry
(To be published on eurocrime.co.uk in due course and amazon.co.uk but under byline MysteryFanatic)

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This is not a book to wolf down in one sitting, nor one you can nibble away at in brief bites. It’s too densely detailed and emotionally intense for that. Like a giant supertanker, The Ashes of Berlin takes quite a while to get going – but once you’re absorbed in the plot and characters its momentum is unstoppable. It’s a long, slow examination of the human spirit, not in the extreme heat of combat but during the relentless grind of grim existence in an unthinkable situation.

There are, of course, obscure murders and a troubled investigation; a detective and his devious opponent; organisational conflict and familial strife. All the necessary requirements of an accomplished crime novel are present and correct. But author Luke McCallin side-steps all the page-turning plot devices which typically infest commercial thrillers. There are no chapter-end cliff-hangers, no unreliable narrators. Just good old fashioned intrigue set against an extremely uncomfortable backdrop: the divided city of Berlin in 1947, shattered in substance and spirit.

Given how many excellent authors already paddle in this particular pond, you could be forgiven for thinking that there are no new tales to be told about wartime Germany and the effect of Nazism. Yet McCallin craftily casts new light on this subject – and the Allies don’t come out of it looking exactly spotless, either. In Ashes, there are patriots who were not Nazis: fascists who were not patriots. Idealists whose beliefs were betrayed and who correspondingly turned their coats… only to find their new religion to be equally hollow. There are consequences for all actions and no obvious way for individuals to make amends. And then there’s the unseemly scramble for technology and influence amid the bristling hostility which laid the foundations for the Cold War. 70 years later, we hear the echoes loud and clear.

This is the third book featuring Gregor Reinhardt and, while it works well enough as a stand-alone, to fully understand the nuance of the character you do need to read the earlier two. In particular, Reinhardt’s relationship with his son is especially important. Friedrich was a Hitler Youth firebrand, full of piss and vinegar, who came to despise his father’s generation for the humiliation they suffered at Versailles. This storyline alone encapsulates the cataclysm which all but destroyed German society and brought Europe to the brink of oblivion. It’s geopolitics at the intimate, human level.

Ashes may be the last story about Gregor Reinhardt – but McCallin has introduced several new characters whose future stories beg to be told, not least his trio of spymasters. Idealists, partisans, pragmatists and political animals: I’d love to read more of them.
9/10

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A great story for your “Berlin Noir” shelf

This is the third Gregor Reinhardt novel by Luke McCallin and is set in 1947 Berlin rather than the wartime former Yugoslavia which provided the back drop for the first two.

McCallin re-creates the war weary terrain of Berlin incredibly well. His research is impeccable and his writing entertains as well as educating the reader on Berlin’s post war history and its politics.

Gregor Reinhardt, the main character who has returned to his pre-war job of police detective is a detailed character whose wartime experiences have moulded into a conscience ridden soul. A murder in the American sector brings him up against all 4 occupying authorities as he tries to solve the crime.

Even if you are not interested in the history, it’s a great police procedural that will keep you guessing. If you are a fan of John le Carré or Len Deighton, and have read Philip Kerr's "Bernie Gunther" series then this will absolutely appeal to you.

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This is the first in an emerging series and hopefully this is the one that shoots Luke McCallin in to the prominent place that he deserves within the Premier League of thriller writers.

This is just as good as anything that the likes of Alan Furst, Philip Kerr and John Lawton has written and that is high praise indeed.

Berlin after the war is a dreadful place and its full horror is revealed in a well written and beautifully plotted thriller.

Highly recommended.

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I found this book to be very interesting as it looks at the post WWII Berlin from a German's perspective. The story was a bit vague in places but very readable and kept your interest throughout the tale.

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