My rating: 4 of 5 stars
“Cheating was a concept both foreign and integral to the fighting of wars.”
----Tom Clancy
David Young, an American author, has penned a riveting German thriller in his debut book, Stasi Child which is the first book in the Karin Müller series. This series welcomes an exciting and brave new female detective chief inspector or in German, an oberleutnant who is a married yet career-minded woman, assigned on the case when a teenage girl's mutilated body is found near The Wall in East Berlin in the 1970s, that leads her and her junior subordinate, Comrade Tilsner, to the edge of The Wall, Berlin's corrupt politics and an isolated teenage reformatory handled by then government.
Synopsis:
East Berlin, 1975
When Oberleutnant Karin Müller is called to investigate a teenage girl's body at the foot of the wall, she imagines she's seen it all before. But when she arrives she realizes this is a death like no other: the girl was trying to escape - but from the West.
Müller is a member of the national police, but the case has Stasi written all over it. Karin is tasked with uncovering the identity of the girl, but her Stasi handlers assure her that the perpetrators are from the West - and strongly discourage her asking questions.
The evidence doesn't add up, and Muller soon realizes the crime scene has been staged. But this is not a regime that tolerates a curious mind, and Muller doesn't realise that the trail she's following will lead her dangerously close to home.
Karin Müller, a twenty something oberleutnant in her police force, is asked to investigate the identity of a dead teenage girl, who body has been found near The Berlin Wall, and Karin soon sniffs that there is something wrong with the girl's alleged death of simply getting shot as she was trying to escape from the west Berlin. And within no time, Karin starts asking questions at the right places but that lands up into more trouble, and little idea she had that behind this innocent teenage girl's murder there is the hand or involvement of someone close to Karin. Can she get to the bottom of this scandalous murder?
I can't believe this is a debut novel by the author as the story is concocted so strongly that it immediately gripped me with the thrill and the suspense. The book's cover image aptly captures the feel, horror and the stale smell of death through its arresting image. Right from the very first page, when the author gradually began delving about the character's lives and backgrounds alongside with the murder investigation is quite addictive and kept me hooked to the pages of this book till the very end.
The author's writing style is very much articulate and fantastic and well layered with suspense and twists. The plot is very easy to comprehend with by the readers as the author descriptively and strikingly explains each and every scene right to its very bottom, so that the readers can get a clear image of what is happening page-by-page. The narrative is not only engaging, but also free flowing and is also laced with German dialect, also the best part about the book is that the author has included a glossary for the German terms used in the book. The pacing is really fast as the mystery is so alluring that the readers will keep turning the pages of this book until the cliffhanger filled climax.
The mystery in the book is devised smartly by this author, as it has been covered with so many angles and dimensions that will keep the readers anticipating till the very end. And also the readers will be welcomes with a sudden new and unpredictable twist and turn during the course of the story that will not let the readers to turn away their heads from the book even for once. Moreover, the author's technique of unraveling the mystery is pretty unique.
The characters in the book are extremely well developed and keep the story even more interesting. The main character, Karin, is a strong and fearless female detective, who despite of the domestic responsibilities stay focused on the job, although working with a handsome subordinate like Tilsner, distracts her a lot. She is a sharp and thoughtful woman, who carefully makes her move, even though at times she is pushed to be tested by her boundaries and limitations. In short, Karin has a complex side when it comes to relationships, otherwise, her smartness will simply make the readers fall for her. The secondary and supporting characters are also well etched out thereby giving them a realistic yet edgy profile.
The author captures the 1970s divided Berlin and the divided fascist and anti fascist politics with extreme vividness. From its bone-chilling cold weather to its shifting landscape of white mountains in the east side to posh city in the west side to its local people to its culture to its then politics, will instantly transport the readers to an era when Berlin was divided by The Wall and the Stasi guards still controlled and dominated its citizens.
In a nutshell, this book turned out to be a roller coaster ride that is high on adrenaline rushing action scenes, raw violence and enough tension.
Verdict: Crime fiction lovers do not miss this new author on the block and his debut German thriller.
Courtesy: Thanks to the author, David Young, for giving me an opportunity to read and review his book.
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Author Info:
David Young is a graduate of the City University MA Crime Writing course and was the recent winner (for this manuscript) of the PFD-sponsored course prize.
Visit him here
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