Garden of Beasts
by Jeffrey Deaver
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In the most ingenious and provocative thriller yet from the acclaimed New York Times bestselling author Jeffery Deaver, a conscience-plagued mobster turned government hitman struggles to find his moral compass amid rampant treachery and betrayal in 1936 Berlin. Paul Schumann, a German American living in New York City in 1936, is a mobster hitman known as much for his brilliant tactics as for taking only "righteous" assignments. But then Paul gets caught. And the arresting officer offers him show more a stark choice: prison or covert government service. Paul is asked to pose as a journalist covering the summer Olympics taking place in Berlin. He's to hunt down and kill Reinhard Ernst -- the ruthless architect of Hitler's clandestine rearmament. If successful, Paul will be pardoned and given the financial means to go legit; if he refuses the job, his fate will be Sing Sing and the electric chair. Paul travels to Germany, takes a room in a boardinghouse near the Tiergarten -- the huge park in central Berlin but also, literally, the "Garden of Beasts" -- and begins his hunt. In classic Deaver fashion, the next forty-eight hours are a feverish cat-and-mouse chase, as Paul stalks Ernst through Berlin while a dogged Berlin police officer and the entire Third Reich apparatus search frantically for the American. Garden of Beasts is packed with fascinating period detail and features a cast of perfectly realized locals, Olympic athletes and senior Nazi officials -- some real, some fictional. With hairpin plot twists, the reigning "master of ticking-bomb suspense" (People) plumbs the nerve-jangling paranoia of prewar Berlin and steers the story to a breathtaking and wholly unpredictable ending. show lessTags
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Paul Schumann is a mob hit man. He’s set up by the Feds and captured then offered a choice between working for them to assassinate a key Nazi official, Reinhold Ernst, or face the gas chamber. Sent to Germany under the cover of a journalist following the Olympics in Berlin, he’s soon involved in a serious cat-and-mouse game for a Nazi sympathizer has sent an anonymous note to the German High Command indicating that a “Russian” (Paul is supposed to use a forged Russian passport to escape following the assassination) will cause some damage to some unnamed important official.
Paul has been chosen because he speaks almost native German and is a very careful, precise hitman. But he doesn’t have the cultural background of Nazi show more Germany in 1936 and little things, like whistling for a taxi, which no German would have done, provide clues for his pursuers. Deaver must have done considerable research to provide details like the “Hitler clothing” that help provide a good sense of time and place.) For example: Morgan said softly, “Don’t use that word here. It will give you away. ‘Nazi’ is Bavarian slang for ‘simpleton.’ The proper abbreviation is ‘Nazo,’ but you don’t hear that much either. Say ‘National Socialist.’ Some people use the initials, NSDAP. Or you can refer to the ‘Party.’ And say it reverently. . . .
After Paul and his contact are forced to kill an SA agent, Inspector Kohl (a brilliant cop who expertly maneuvers his way across the conflicting SD, Gestapo, SA, and SS interference which threaten to muck up his investigation) enters the case and now Paul is being sought by multiple agencies sometimes working at cross-purposes. And can Paul trust his American handlers? Great plot, well executed.
Everything in the novel rings true except the conversations between Ernst, Himmler, Hitler, and Goering. A couple other minor things that bugged me. We’re all used to the phrases “Heil, Hitler,” and “Grüß Gott”, but here both are translated quite literally so they come out “Hail Hitler” and “Greeting God” which, ironically, rang very false to my ear. Better to have left them in their German form. But I quibble. Very engaging story. show less
Paul has been chosen because he speaks almost native German and is a very careful, precise hitman. But he doesn’t have the cultural background of Nazi show more Germany in 1936 and little things, like whistling for a taxi, which no German would have done, provide clues for his pursuers. Deaver must have done considerable research to provide details like the “Hitler clothing” that help provide a good sense of time and place.) For example: Morgan said softly, “Don’t use that word here. It will give you away. ‘Nazi’ is Bavarian slang for ‘simpleton.’ The proper abbreviation is ‘Nazo,’ but you don’t hear that much either. Say ‘National Socialist.’ Some people use the initials, NSDAP. Or you can refer to the ‘Party.’ And say it reverently. . . .
After Paul and his contact are forced to kill an SA agent, Inspector Kohl (a brilliant cop who expertly maneuvers his way across the conflicting SD, Gestapo, SA, and SS interference which threaten to muck up his investigation) enters the case and now Paul is being sought by multiple agencies sometimes working at cross-purposes. And can Paul trust his American handlers? Great plot, well executed.
Everything in the novel rings true except the conversations between Ernst, Himmler, Hitler, and Goering. A couple other minor things that bugged me. We’re all used to the phrases “Heil, Hitler,” and “Grüß Gott”, but here both are translated quite literally so they come out “Hail Hitler” and “Greeting God” which, ironically, rang very false to my ear. Better to have left them in their German form. But I quibble. Very engaging story. show less
I don't usually read books about the Second World War or Nazi Germany on purpose. However, I like Jeffery Deaver, so I gave this book a try and it was so worth it. Deaver upped his writing in this book. I love Lincoln Rhyme and Amelia Sachs, but this book seemed so much more serious in its complexity than that series. And even though the ending was slightly disappointing, it wasn't the "Matlock" ending that I've grown used to with his other novels.
The whole novel takes place over 2 days. It is 1936, just a few days before the Olympics in Germany. Paul Schumann, a boxer and meticulous German-American NY hitman, is captured and offered a deal - go to Germany and assassinate Reinhard Ernst, the man in charge of Hitler’s rearmament show more program, or face the death penalty. With a chance at wiping his record clean and earning some money to start over, of course, Paul jumps at the opportunity.
Almost as soon as Paul arrives in Germany, things start to go wrong. He was worried about the team assigned to him not being as detail-oriented as he is and accidentally leaving clues, and they do. And those clues point to Paul.
Kripo (Police) Inspector Willi Kohl, who is not happy about the National Socialists take-over of the country, catches the case of an unidentified murder victim. He and his protege follow the clues and track Paul diligently while working around the new Gestapo rules that strip resources and authority from the Kripo.
Famous figures of the time offer some boundaries and set the scenes for the book - Adolf Hitler, Heinrich Himmler, Goring, Goebbels, and even Jesse Owens have roles. Although Owens has a minor role, he is charismatic and perceptive and even helps Paul evade German police.
Deaver does an excellent job of portraying how regular citizens, police officers and government officials are beaten, frightened, persuaded, taught (and raised in the case of the children) to fall in line with National Socialist Party beliefs. Some people don't recognize what's happening, thinking that it can't get worse or won't last long. Other people don't speak up for others or themselves, fearing that they are one of a very few who disagrees with the Party, not realizing that they are one of many.
Reading about how the children accept what they are taught in school while their parents are afraid to overtly teach them tolerance at home because the children might repeat it and get the whole family sent to a concentration camp, was heart-breaking. I can't imagine living my life afraid to say what I really think and be who I really am, doing the opposite of what I believe, trusting no one for fear of torture or death. How utterly miserable. It would be a living death. show less
The whole novel takes place over 2 days. It is 1936, just a few days before the Olympics in Germany. Paul Schumann, a boxer and meticulous German-American NY hitman, is captured and offered a deal - go to Germany and assassinate Reinhard Ernst, the man in charge of Hitler’s rearmament show more program, or face the death penalty. With a chance at wiping his record clean and earning some money to start over, of course, Paul jumps at the opportunity.
Almost as soon as Paul arrives in Germany, things start to go wrong. He was worried about the team assigned to him not being as detail-oriented as he is and accidentally leaving clues, and they do. And those clues point to Paul.
Kripo (Police) Inspector Willi Kohl, who is not happy about the National Socialists take-over of the country, catches the case of an unidentified murder victim. He and his protege follow the clues and track Paul diligently while working around the new Gestapo rules that strip resources and authority from the Kripo.
Famous figures of the time offer some boundaries and set the scenes for the book - Adolf Hitler, Heinrich Himmler, Goring, Goebbels, and even Jesse Owens have roles. Although Owens has a minor role, he is charismatic and perceptive and even helps Paul evade German police.
Deaver does an excellent job of portraying how regular citizens, police officers and government officials are beaten, frightened, persuaded, taught (and raised in the case of the children) to fall in line with National Socialist Party beliefs. Some people don't recognize what's happening, thinking that it can't get worse or won't last long. Other people don't speak up for others or themselves, fearing that they are one of a very few who disagrees with the Party, not realizing that they are one of many.
Reading about how the children accept what they are taught in school while their parents are afraid to overtly teach them tolerance at home because the children might repeat it and get the whole family sent to a concentration camp, was heart-breaking. I can't imagine living my life afraid to say what I really think and be who I really am, doing the opposite of what I believe, trusting no one for fear of torture or death. How utterly miserable. It would be a living death. show less
Paul Schumann is a hired assassin who is sent by the US government to Germany just prior to the 1936 Olympics in Munich. His task is to assassinate one of the top Nazi officials who is in charge of the re-armament. The main action of the book takes place over a weekend although I kept having to remind myself of that because it seemed like there was so much going on. Right after Paul gets to Munich he is involved in a murder in an alleyway. The police detective assigned to the case, Willi Kohl, is a hardworking, intelligent cop. He loves his wife and his family and he does not like the National Socialist Party. Although Paul is supposed to be the hero of the piece, I was also rooting for Willi, half hoping he would catch Paul and half show more hoping he wouldn't. I thought it was a fine piece of writing to make both detective and criminal so human.
The ending was a shock to me. Good for Deaver to avoid an easy resolution. show less
The ending was a shock to me. Good for Deaver to avoid an easy resolution. show less
Quando il maestro del thriller incontra la storia, ne esce un capolavoro. Chi è abituato a Lincoln Rhyme, forse ne sentirà la mancanza. Ma dopo i primi romanzi, alla fine anche Rhyme ripete sempre le stesse cose. Qua invece ho trovato un libro interessante, che non molli, scritto in maniera scorrevole e intrigante come sempre, con in più una analisi storica precisa, anche se molti personaggi e molte vicende sono totalmente inventate. Certo resta un thriller, certo descrive scene di violenza, ma non si compiace nel truculento, Insomma, è un bel libro.
Historical fiction has to perform two main functions. Firstly, it must entertain through plot, action and character. Secondly, it must transport us to that time in the past and make it seem real. This is done through realistic descriptions of the place and time, relevant cultural references and, often, through the inclusion of real historical characters or events.
In this book an American mob assassin is sent to Nazi Germany in 1936 with the US Olympic team, including Jesse Owens, to kill a key (and fictional) member of the Nazi Party. The intent is to slow the German build-up for war and to send a message to Hitler that the USA will not always standby and watch. As the assassin closes in on his target he is tracked by a member of the show more Berlin Kripo, or police detectives.
The period detail is good, although sometimes overdone (a lot of business about brands of beer, for example), and the slightly strange atmosphere in Berlin at this time, with cultural clashes between the puritanical Nazis and the very liberal bohemian quarter, and ordinary Germans caught between them, is portrayed sensitively and well.
I think this novel fails in two regards. The improbable hero, Paul Schumann, a mob assassin who only kills ‘bad’ people, speaks fluent German, has a soul and is looking for redemption comes across as a bit too goody-goody. Secondly, then ending is rather flat and downbeat; historically correct perhaps, but unsatisfactory nevertheless. show less
In this book an American mob assassin is sent to Nazi Germany in 1936 with the US Olympic team, including Jesse Owens, to kill a key (and fictional) member of the Nazi Party. The intent is to slow the German build-up for war and to send a message to Hitler that the USA will not always standby and watch. As the assassin closes in on his target he is tracked by a member of the show more Berlin Kripo, or police detectives.
The period detail is good, although sometimes overdone (a lot of business about brands of beer, for example), and the slightly strange atmosphere in Berlin at this time, with cultural clashes between the puritanical Nazis and the very liberal bohemian quarter, and ordinary Germans caught between them, is portrayed sensitively and well.
I think this novel fails in two regards. The improbable hero, Paul Schumann, a mob assassin who only kills ‘bad’ people, speaks fluent German, has a soul and is looking for redemption comes across as a bit too goody-goody. Secondly, then ending is rather flat and downbeat; historically correct perhaps, but unsatisfactory nevertheless. show less
Este libro me sorprendió mucho. Me gustan las novelas históricas y cosas por el estilo, pero este libro fue magnífico porque no sólo cuenta una historia, sino que cuenta muchas, entrelazadas. Los personajes están muy bien logrados, haciéndolos parecer cada vez más reales.
Cuando empecé a leer creí que ya sabía lo que iba a suceder, pero no fue así. Esta novela tiene dos o tres vueltas de tuerca que no esperaba para nada.
Cuando empecé a leer creí que ya sabía lo que iba a suceder, pero no fue así. Esta novela tiene dos o tres vueltas de tuerca que no esperaba para nada.
I must confess the Second World War is not a time period I usually like my fiction based in. I was willing to give this a go as I enjoy Jeffery Deaver's other books.
I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this book. The historical figures are little more than caricatures, which isn't a bad thing as they are only there to provide framework. Their flatness is balanced by the more full bodied characters like Detective Inspector Kohl. For me this doggedly determined policeman was the star of the story. His frustrations political intrigues that hindered his investigations are so well described that I felt sorry for the man.
At the core of this book is the conflict felt by everyday Germans during the rise and reign of Hitler. The love for show more their country coupled with the loathing for what it was becoming left many feeling impotent and confused. Add to that the fear and paranoia that the secret police inspired and you're left with a people who didn't know what to do for the best.
Don't read this book expecting a spy romp it's so much more than that. show less
I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this book. The historical figures are little more than caricatures, which isn't a bad thing as they are only there to provide framework. Their flatness is balanced by the more full bodied characters like Detective Inspector Kohl. For me this doggedly determined policeman was the star of the story. His frustrations political intrigues that hindered his investigations are so well described that I felt sorry for the man.
At the core of this book is the conflict felt by everyday Germans during the rise and reign of Hitler. The love for show more their country coupled with the loathing for what it was becoming left many feeling impotent and confused. Add to that the fear and paranoia that the secret police inspired and you're left with a people who didn't know what to do for the best.
Don't read this book expecting a spy romp it's so much more than that. show less
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Pol Šuman, Amerikanac nemačkog porekla, koji živi u Njujorku 1936. godine, plaćeni je ubica poznat, koliko po svojoj brilijantnoj taktici, toliko po prihvatanju samo ¨pravednih¨ zadataka. Ali, onda Pol biva uhvaćen. Inspektor, koji ga hapsi, nudi mu krajnji izbor: zatvor ili tajna vladina služba. Od Pola se tražilo da, predstavljajući se kao novinar, izveštava o letnjim Olimpijskim show more igrama koje su se održavale u Berlinu. Njegov zadatak bio je da pronađe i ubije Rajnharda Ernsta – nemilosrdnog izumitelja Hitlerovog tajnog naoružanja. Ukoliko uspešno završi zadatak, Pol će biti pomilovan i dobiće finansijsku nadoknadu da nastavi zakonit život; ako odbije posao, čeka ga Sing Sing i električna stolica. Pol odlazi u Nemačku, iznajmljuje sobu u pansionu blizu Tirgartena – velikog parka u centralnom Berlinu, a doslovno prevedeno „vrt zveri” – i otpočinje svoju poteru. Narednih četrdeset osam sati su, u klasičnom Diverovom stilu, grozničava jurnjava mačke i miša – dok Pol uhodi Ernsta po Berlinu, uporni berlinski inspektor, sa čitavom mašinerijom Trećeg rajha, očajnički traga za Amerikancem. Vrt zveri je prepun fascinantnih opisa detalja tog perioda i oslikava savršeno shvaćeno lokalno stanovništvo, učesnike Olimpijade i starije nacističke službenike – neke stvarne, neke izmišljene. Sa preokretima u zapletu, vodeći „majstor do poslednjeg trenutka, neizvesnih situacija” (Pipl) odmerava paranoično uzburkavanje pulsa predratnog Berlina i vodi priču ka potpuno nepredvidivom kraju koji oduzima dah. show less
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Jeffery Deaver was born on May 6, 1950 in Chicago, Illinois. He received a degree in journalism from the University of Missouri and a law degree from Fordham University. Before attending law school, he worked as a business writer. After law school, he worked for a Wall Street law firm practicing corporate law. In 1990, he decided to stop show more practicing law and become a full-time writer. His first novel was a horror story entitled Voodoo. He is the author of more than 25 novels and has written some of those stories under the pseudonym William Jeffries. He writes the Lincoln Rhyme series and the Kathryn Dance series. A Maiden's Grave was adapted into a film by HBO called Dead Silence and The Bone Collector was adapted into a feature film starring Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie. He received the Steel Dagger and Short Story Dagger from the British Crime Writers' Association, the Ellery Queen Reader's Award for Best Short Story of the Year three times, and the British Thumping Good Read Award. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Garden of Beasts
- Original title
- Garden of Beasts
- Original publication date
- 2004
- People/Characters
- Paul Schumann
- Important places
- Berlin, Germany
- Important events
- Olympic Games (1936)
- Epigraph
- "[Berlin] was full of whispers. The told of illegal midnight arrests, of prisoners tortured in the S.A. barracks...They were drowned by the loud angry voices of the Government, contradicting through its thousand mouths." Chr... (show all)istopher Isherwood, Berlin Stories
- Dedication
- To the memories of Hans and Sophie Scholl, brother and sister, executed in 1943 for anti-Nazi protests; journalist Carl von Ossietzky, awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1935 while imprisoned in Oranienburg camp; and Wilhelm Kr... (show all)uzfeld, a Berlin police officer who refused to let a mob destroy a synagogue during the Nazi-sponsored anti-Jewish riots known as the Night of Broken Glass... four people who looked at evil and said, "No."
- First words
- As soon as he stepped into the dim apartment he knew he was dead.
- Quotations*
- Overal [in Berlijn] werd gefluisterd. Over mensen die in het holst van de nacht werden opgepakt, gevangenen die in de SA-barakken werden gemarteld ... Het gefluister ver- dronnk in de luide, boze stemmen van de... (show all) regering, die het haar duizend kelen tegensprak. Christopher Isherwood, Berlin Stories
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Paul Schumann wanted nothing more than what he had at this moment: to be walking under the coy eye of a half-moon, with a like-minded companion at his side, on a journey to fulfill the purpose God had given him - even if that role was the difficult and presumptuous task of correcting His mistakes.
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
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- Fiction and Literature, Suspense & Thriller, Historical Fiction, Mystery
- DDC/MDS
- 813.54 — Literature & rhetoric American literature in English American fiction in English 1900-1999 1945-1999
- LCC
- PS3554 .G37 — Language and Literature American literature American literature Individual authors 1961-
- BISAC
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