A novel featuring German detective Bernie Gunther, this time between World War I and II. This is the 14th book in the series, published after Mr. Kerr’s death.

The past of Bernie Gunther catches up with in 1954 Cuba while doing work for mobster boss Meyer Lansky. Even though this anti-Nazi PI survived the Nazi regime

The glue that holds the book together, Willi Geismeier is an intriguing, nuanced character, acting as only I could wish I would under similar circumstances.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z – A – Abrams, Dan Lincoln’s Last Trial: The Murder Case that Propelled Him to the Presidency (with David Fisher) – A mini-biography of the 16th President’s last big trial before running for high office Abnett, Dan Titans Vol. 3: A Judas Among Us (illustrated by Brett Booth) – A graphic novel seeing the team trying to infiltrate H.I.V.E. Abu-Jabar, Diana Fencing with the King by Diana Abu-Jaber – An American woman visiting, and discovering things about, her prominent Jordanian family in preparations for the King’s birthday celebration Abu-Rish, Wagih Replenishing the Sea of Galilee: A Family Saga across Ethnicity, Place, and Religion – A novel taking place in Palestine and the United States over several generation Adams, Mark Turn Right at Machu Picchu – A nonfiction travelogue/history/investigate report in which the author fol­lows the foot­steps of Hiram Bing­ham III. Adjapon, Bisi The Teller of Secrets – A coming of age novel about a Nigerian-Ghanian girl in the late 1960s, discovering feminism Afshar, Tessa Pearl in the Sand– Biblical fiction story of Rahab, one…

Arti­cle first pub­lished as Book Review: ‘March Violets’ by Philip Kerr on Blog­crit­ics About: March Violets by Philip Kerr is the first in a series of noir novels about Bernie Gunther, an ex-policeman who turned private investigator. March violets refers to Germans who went along with the Nazi violence mindlessly. 256 pages Publisher: Penguin Books Language: English ISBN-10: 0142004146 My rating for March Violets – 4 Buy this book in paper or in elec­tronic format More Books by Philip Kerr More Rec­om­mended World War II books on Man of la BookStore Thoughts: I read a few Bernie Gunther books before this one, but after I read the first one I ran out (meaning inside) to the store (Internet) and browsed (searched) for used copies of the series. Being a single minded Neanderthal, as my beloved wife can attest to, I decided to read March Violets first because… well… it’s first. The novel has a murder/mystery aspect but even more fascinating is the sense of coping with Nazi horrors on a daily base. The sense of the Nazis taking over and destroying souls feels very real in this novel and is an underlying horror which is present on every page. The book’s psychological aspect (intended or not) of just how…

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z – M – Macbeth by Jo Nesbø – A retelling of the Shakespearean tragedy, set in a small European town as a police drama. Machinehood by S.B. Divya – A science-fiction story about the way legal drugs, artificial intelligence, an- s d big corporations can inherit the future. Maggie’s Wars by Phil Pisani – A novel about Mag­gie Hogan is a strong woman, an ace report who just wants to be treated fairly. She fights, and sleeps, her way through the bat­tle­fields, the Nurem­burg tri­als and the after­math of the World War II, includ­ing the cold war. Magnificent Desolation by Buzz Aldrin – An autobiog­ra­phy of the famous astronaut. Malinalli of the Fifth Sun by Helen Gordon Heightsman – A his­tor­i­cal fic­tion novel tak­ing place in South Amer­ica dur­ing Hernán Cortés’ time focusing on native woman Mali­nalli who was an impor­tant per­son in Cortés’ entourage who have been vil­i­fied through­out the ages. The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick – A historical fiction which imagines the axis winning World War II….

Bernie Gunther returns from the Easter Front to find that 1941 Berlin is not the city he left – and not for the better. Life is unpleasant in Berlin due to blackouts, Czech terrorists, RAF bombings and food rationing.

Here are the books I enjoyed the most this year. This list is of books I read, not only published in 2011. First and foremost – this is THE best book I’ve read this year. From some reason it didn’t get much attention in the US. We, The Drowned by Carsten Jensen “We, The Drowned” (Web­site) by Carsten Jensen is a spell­bind­ing, award win­ning (Danske Banks Lit­ter­atur­pris) fic­tional book which spans 100 years in the lives of the inhab­i­tants of the small Dan­ish coastal town Marstal. Jensen’s debut novel is already hailed as an instant clas­sic and right­fully so. Non-Fiction: Auschwitz by Dr. Miklós Nyiszli Auschwitz: A Doctor’s Eye­wit­ness Account by Dr. Mik­lós Nyis­zli is a non-fiction mem­oir of a Jew­ish Hun­gar­ian med­ical doc­tor who per­formed “research” on other Jews with the evil Dr. Josef Men­gele aka “Angel of Death”. This is not an easy book to read, but an impor­tant one. Elizabeth and Hazel by David Margolick Eliz­a­beth and Hazel: Two Women of Lit­tle Rock by David Mar­golick is a non fic­tion book about two ladies who were made famous by the press. The book looks his­tory square in the eye and doesn’t flinch. Gated Grief by Leila Levinson “Gated Grief: The Daugh­ter of a GI Con­cen­tra­tion Camp Lib­er­a­tor Dis­cov­ers a Legacy of Trauma” by Leila Levin­son who started the…