Butchers of Berlin

It's been a while since I've reviewed any books, but today we're changing that.

Today I want to go over the novel Butchers of Berlin by Chris Petit (2016).

I haven't ready any of Mr. Petit's other works, but based on Butchers, he is one hell of a writer.

The book is set in Berlin in 1943, which means it's smack in the middle of World War II. Our “hero” is August Schlegel, a cop who works on financial crimes as a part of Kripo (short for Kriminalpolizei or criminal police). He none the less gets pulled in on a murder investigation that leads to some very dark places.

It should be pointed out that Butchers of Berlin (or BoB) is a fairly gruesome novel. Due to the setting and the theme, it needs to be nasty and I commend Mr. Petit for making it so, while not going overboard. Some readers might disagree, and if you're sensitive to blood, cruelty and such things, maybe give BoB a miss. At the same time, it's not too much. I found no part where the book revels in gore just to shock and be sensational, to the contrary, I'd say it actually pulls back a bit.

The mystery at the core of the book is convoluted and takes more than a few twists and turns, but as it should, it all gets wrapped up in the end.

I haven't read any others of Mr. Petit's works, but based on this I want to. He writes well, but with an interesting twist. I don't think there was a single back and forth dialog in the entire book. Instead it looks something like this:

A: “I think it's time for dinner.”

B agreed and added that he was hungry.

It threw me for a loop at first, and a lesser writer would probably have gotten lost, but Mr. Petit makes it work and at times it helps the text flow smoother. Once I got used to it, I really liked it as there was no useless comments anywhere in sight.

Overall BoB is a well researched book with a great story and good characters. It's worth noting that some of the people that show up actually existed for real. I won't spoil which ones, it's all explained in the appendix.

Bottom line: Butchers of Berlin is a great mystery/thriller set against the backdrop of war torn Berlin with all the misery, paranoia, corruption and horror one would expect to find there. If that's your thing, I highly recommend it.

That's it for me, join me again next Monday for more Eccentric Spheres. Until then, have a great week!