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Babylon Berlin

Volker Kutscher

Babylon Berlin by Volker Kutscher

Now a major TV show on Sky Atlantic

1929: There is seething unrest in Berlin. The Commissioner of Police orders the Vice Squad to ruthlessly enforce the ban on demonstrations, and a state of emergency is declared in the Communist strongholds of the city. When a car is hauled out of the Landwehr Canal with a
mutilated corpse inside Detective Inspector Gereon Rath claims the case. Soon his inquiries drag him ever deeper into the morass of Weimar Berlin’s ‘Roaring Twenties’ underworld of cocaine, prostitution, gunrunning, and shady politics.

First published in German by Verlag Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne, as Der nasse Fisch. Translated by Niall Sellar

RRP: £10.99
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9781910124970
Publication Date: 19/05/2016
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Volker Kutscher
Volker Kutscher was born in 1962. He studied German, Philosophy and History, and worked as a newspaper editor prior to writing his first detective novel. Babylon Berlin, the start of...

Reviews

‘Kutscher successfully conjures up the dangerous decadence of the Weimar years, with blood on the Berlin streets and the Nazis lurking menacingly in the wings.’

Sunday Times

‘Gripping evocative thriller set in Berlin's seedy underworld during the roaring Twenties. A massive hit in its native Germany, Volker Kutscher's series, centered on Detective Inspector Gereon Rath, is currently being filmed for television.’

Mail on Sunday

‘The first in a series that's been wildly popular in Germany is an excellent police procedural that cleverly captures the dark and dangerous period of the Weimer Republic before it slides into the ultimate evil of Nazism. ’

Kirkus Reviews

‘Babylon Berlin brings a fresh perspective to images and material that might otherwise seem shopworn, and its frenetic rhythms are particularly apt for a moment when we appear to be dancing our own convulsive tango on the edge of a fiery volcano.’

New York Review of Books

‘If you like crime, historical or translated fiction, this gives you all three ... a triumph for Highland publisher Sandstone Press.’

Nicola Sturgeon

‘James Ellroy fans will welcome Kutscher's first novel and series launch, a fast-paced blend of murder and corruption set in 1929 Berlin. Kutscher keeps the surprises coming and doesn't flinch at making his lead morally compromised.’

Publishers Weekly

‘The novels on which the dramas are based are even more rewarding than television’s slick production... ’

The New European

‘Babylon Berlin is a stunning novel that superbly evokes Twenties Germany in its seedy splendor. An impressive new crime series.’

Sarah Ward, author of ‘In Bitter Chill’

‘a strong and heady brew which never oversteps itself by a descent into the implausible.’ … ‘And if you like Babylon Berlin has much as I did, the intolerably bad news is that you must wait until next year for the next title’

Shots Magazine

‘Gripping, skilfully plotted and rich in historical detail, Babylon Berlin introduces us to Detective Inspector Gereon Rath, who navigates the turbulent waters of Weimar Germany in a suspenseful and noirish tale. The novel is hopefully the first of many to be translated from this best-selling German crime series.’

Mrs Peabody Investigates

‘Gereon's inquiries drag him through the mire of Berlin's underworld and the chaos of the politics of the period. Riveting and atmospheric...’

Library Journal

‘The best German crime novel of the year!’

Bücher

‘Kutscher’s undertaking to portray the downfall of the Weimar Republic through the medium of detective fiction is both ambitious and utterly convincing. Let’s hope it receives the attention it deserves.’

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

‘With his detective novel Babylon Berlin, Volker Kutscher has succeeded in creating an opulent portrait of manners.’

Der Spiegel

‘Has all the allure of an addictive drug: you won’t be able to put it down until you’ve read to the end.’

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

‘A highly readable piece of crime fiction set against a politico-historical background.’

Österreichischer Rundfunk

‘Masterfully spun, the plot leads Rath into a dark world with few heroes where the line between solving and committing crime becomes ever more blurred.’

European Literature Network

‘Riveting and atmospheric’

Library Journal

‘Murder, betrayal, torture, seedy nightclubs, crooked cops, cocaine – the underworld of the 1920s is here in all its gritty splendour in Babylon Berlin.’

The Sloan Ranger blog

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