Blood Eagle is a very complex crime thriller following the central detective, Fabel, as he tracks a serial killer in Hamburg. There is a strong mix of history, politics and crime, interwoven to provide a crime story which is challenging to predict. Cleverness of it's plot aside, the novel fails to create an edge-of-your-seat read. You will, however, want to see Blood Eagle deliver it's conclusion, which is rather remote from any initial ideas you might have, for the journey is full of modern social and cultural issues, scenes of psychotic behaviour and the usual twists and turns. Blood Eagle is not a gripping page-turner, but is an average entry in to the crowded genre. It is however the beginning of a series of Hamburg based crime stories and as such should be viewed as providing essential building blocks for the series ahead. ( )

Wordy thriller set in contemporary Hamburg. A cop on the trail of a brutal serial killer -- you know the story. The value added by the author is the unusual setting, which makes the "stop me before I kill again" plot seem fresh. Russell seems to go out of his way to not only incorporate Germanic elements into the story, but to educate the reader on all of them, whether they are relevant to the plot or not. This worked for me in this book, although I can see it getting real old as the series progresses. ( )

A truly shocking tale of butchery... ( )

I highly recommend this mystery book. It takes place in Hamberg where apparently it rains a lot and the story pulls in ties to WWII and the Nazi movement. It is fairly bloody so not for the faint of heart but its a thriller from beginning to end. I loved it and would buy any further books by this author. Here is a tip. I picked it up on Chapters sale table for 4 dollars and so far as I know its still there.