P. B. Kerr (1956–2018)
Author of The Akhenaten Adventure
About the Author
Philip Kerr was born in Edinburgh, Scotland on February 22, 1956. He received a master's degree in law from the University of Birmingham in 1980. Before becoming a full-time author, he worked as an advertising copywriter. His first novel, March Violets, was published in 1989 and became the first show more book in the Bernie Gunther series. His other fiction works for adults include A Philosophical Investigation, Esau, A Five-Year Plan, Gridiron, and Hitler's Peace. He won several Shamus Awards and the British Crime Writers' Association Ellis Peters Award for Historical Crime Fiction. His non-fiction works include The Penguin Book of Lies and The Penguin Book of Fights, Feuds and Heartfelt Hatreds: An Anthology of Antipathy. He also wrote young adult books under the name P. B. Kerr, including the Children of the Lamp series and One Small Step. He died of cancer on March 23, 2018 at the age of 62. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Disambiguation Notice:
Do NOT combine with Philip Kerr, as there are at least two other authors called Philip Kerr.
Philip Ballantyne Kerr wrote adult detective fiction as Philip Kerr and children's fantasy as P. B. Kerr.
Series
Works by P. B. Kerr
Associated Works
Livros condensados 4 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Other names
- Kerr, Philip
Kerr, P. B. - Birthdate
- 1956-02-22
- Date of death
- 2018-03-23
- Gender
- male
- Nationality
- UK
- Birthplace
- Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
- Place of death
- London, England, UK
- Cause of death
- bladder cancer
- Disambiguation notice
- Do NOT combine with Philip Kerr, as there are at least two other authors called Philip Kerr.
Philip Ballantyne Kerr wrote adult detective fiction as Philip Kerr and children's fantasy as P. B. Kerr.
Members
Reviews
Bernie goes to Vienna for a lucrative contract to try and prove a former colleague didn't kill an American soldier. He becomes embroiled in the machinations of the allied powers who have divided up Vienna much as they did Berlin. A somewhat complex plot with many characters, all apparently bent on double-crossing each other. Not as enjoyable a read as his Brrlin set stories.
Zwischenzeitlich denkt man, jetzt ist es aber doch zu dick aufgetragen. Kerr scheint aber Tataschen und Fiktion einfach nur gut miteinander zu verbinden.
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- Works
- 54
- Also by
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- 22,373
- Popularity
- #950
- Rating
- 3.8
- Reviews
- 686
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- 1,147
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- Favorited
- 34
- Touchstones
- 31
I listened to this book in black and white since this is the way I see the first half of the 20th century in books of this genre mix of spy fiction and thriller.
The hardened detective/spy/policeman meets the aging gay writer whose mansion’s walls are adorned with fine art. Why, and what comes next; that is the question. There’s a “broad” as the Americans of a certain social status used to calf blonde women of a certain social status. Add the conniving MI5 and MI6, the slimy STASI, the killer KGB and the gruesome Gestapo, and we almost have the cast.
The Cambridge Five hover menacingly in the background, their dastardly deads continuing to stir both the pot and the plot. It’s a case cherchez l’argent rather than cherchez la femme. Find the blackmailer and you’ll find the money. The problem is - which one of the characters is the blackmailer? Could it be all of them?
None of the members of this band of brothers like each other, in fact in some cases it’s a matter of pure hatred going back decades. The only good person is the non-blonde true love of the hero, and her fate is to die while pregnant with our hero’s child in the Wilhelm Gustloff tragedy along with 9,400 others - the largest loss of life in a single ship sinking in history. Luck is not on our hero’s side.
Did I mention that the gay guy in the mansion was Somerset Maugham? I think not. He’s one of the few likable characters in the book, though he’s approaching the end of life and is as good at blackmailing as the rest of them. But he has a certain gay charm, a charm that has lead him into a heap of trouble, especially in swimming pools with men of like-minded sensibilities one of whom has a camera.
The camera and a tape recorder play their parts on this stage of intrigue, betrayal and sex. I’m not mentioning names apart from Maugham as the main characters change names almost as frequently as they change careers.
In all, it’s a good read and I thoroughly enjoyed the The Other Side of Silence. Needless to say, will be reading more of Philip Kerr’s canny tales in the future.… (more)