If the Dead Rise Not

The first two-thirds of If the Dead Rise Not is set in Berlin in 1934. Hitler’s National Socialist Party has been in power for 18 months which made Bernie Gunther’s life as a homicide detective untenable because he is a supporter of the previous regime. So he is now a house detective for an up-market hotel. In that role he becomes embroiled in several investigations including gangster involvement in the bidding for building contracts for the upcoming Olympiad. In the second book last third of the book we jump to Cuba in 1954 where Bernie is playing with model trains and having sex with a selection of prostitutes when some of the people from 1934 reprise their roles bit-players in Bernie’s life in a sequence of events that had, to my ears, less to do with crime fiction and more to do with Bernie proving some more how witty and sarcastic he can be.

If I had read the excellent review at Crime Scraps before embarking on this book I wouldn’t have. Embarked on the book that is. Because 30’s hardboiled detectives in the style of Chandler, Hammett et al is just not my cup of tea. Where that reviewer, Uriah Robinson, sees a sharp first person narrative and clever lines I see a bunch of blokes who exhibit a blasé attitude to violence and a leering, lecherous quality that I find tiresome.

So my first problem is the style of the book which, it turns out, I still don’t like even though it was conceivable that my tastes might have changed in the 20 or so years since I read a hardboiled PI novel.

Then we come to the fact it felt like two separate books rather than a single entity. The audio version of the book is 16 hours long. A little more than the last 6 hours takes place in Cuba after the rather abrupt ending to the first part. A handful of the same characters are present, including the woman he fell in love with and an American gangster who nearly killed him, but I’ve seen separate books in a series have more connection with each other than the two parts of this book. Also, the Cuba portion of the book incorporated even more real characters from history in a way that I find trite. As soon as we jumped to Cuba I was waiting for Ernest Hemingway to make an appearance. Which of course he did. Ho hum.

What I did like about the book was Kerr’s ability to create a sense of time and place. His early period Nazi Germany is oppressive and sinister and there is a tangible quality to the sense that no one comprehending how bad things will get. It really is quite chilling. I found the Cuba portion a little more ‘hokey’ but I admit that’s at least partly because I was, by then, over it. And to be fair, when he wasn’t belting people or describing every woman he encountered in terms of how much he would like to have sex with her Bernie was quite witty and had random moments of moral clarity. I have to say too that Jeff Harding’s narration was a perfect match for the tone and style of the book.

To be abundantly clear I am in the minority in my feelings towards this book and if there was any doubt If the Dead Rise Not won the 2009 CWA Ellis Peters Award for historical fiction. ( )

Kerr has got the hang of this series again, it seems to me. This is a worthy successor to the initial trilogy. While I had a feeling that Kerr had returned only reluctantly to writing Bernie Gunther books, it now seems to me as if he's figured out some fresh fields he can work with this character. ( )

Book 6, in the Bernie Gunther series

The readers are carried deeper into Bernie’s saga in this terrific story that flips from 1934 Berlin into the rapidly changing world of 1954 Havana. The blend of madness and murder mixed with the Nazi and the Batista era creates an action packed backdrop for an exciting read and Mr. Kerr knows how to spice it up and to deliver it well.

1934, Germany is preparing to host the 1936 Olympic Games.

The action begins when Bernie, the house detective of the Hotel Adlon discovers the body of a German businessman with strong construction industry ties dead in his room. With a body and a multitude of clues, Bernie’s investigation propels him into a world of international corruption and dangerous double dealings involving American gangsters, corrupt Nazis and an insight into Hitler’s plan for the 1936 Olympics.

Meanwhile, Noreen Chalambides, an American journalist is also a patron of the hotel, she is on assignment to expose the Nazi regime and convince the American powers that be they should boycott the Olympics….Bernie soon finds himself infatuated by her charming personality.

Two thirds into the novel, the action switches to post war- Cuba 1954

After being expelled from Argentina (the previous novel “A Quiet Flame”) Bernie relocates to Havana with the hope of living a less stressful life under an assumed name. That soon changes when he runs into his old flame, the journalist Noreen, and is invited to her home for a dinner party. Bernie sees this as a chance to rekindle a previous relationship but he quickly learns Noreen has another agenda. Unable to escape his past and head first into the presence, he learns he is still the target of a vicious killer and due to his recent acquaintances he finds himself caught up in the smoldering rebellious movement which is being magnified by Fidel Castro incarceration.

Mr. Kerr’s stories are told entirely in dialogue, there is a lot of chatter going on mostly handled by Bernie, I love this, it makes you part of the story. I really enjoy Bernie, he is funny even when dealing with serious issues, he is not portrayed as the customary super hero as found in most novels of this genre. The plot is dynamic and captivating with many twists and turns and tense situations, an attention grabber to the last page. Although, highly entertaining the story is a tad predictable and less realistic than the previous novels, nevertheless following Bernie on his escapades is always a blast, and a journey into historical fiction.

I am looking forward to Bernie’s next exploits. ( )

I bought the book in Berlin, attrackted by the setting of the plot. It was a good read, surprisingly full of classical references, but the ending was somewhat disappointing (and predictable). ( )

great read. ( )