• A German Requiem

  • By: Philip Kerr
  • Narrated by: John Lee
  • Length: 10 hrs and 42 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (750 ratings)

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A German Requiem  By  cover art

A German Requiem

By: Philip Kerr
Narrated by: John Lee
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Publisher's summary

A supremely disturbing thriller set in the ruins of the Third Reich by an internationally acclaimed master of historical suspense.

Bernie Gunther had his first brush with evil as a policeman in 1930s Berlin and came to know it intimately as a private eye under the Nazis, when each case drew him deeper into the enormities of the regime. Now the war is over and Gunther’s in Vienna, trying to clear an old friend of the murder of an American officer. Amid decaying imperial splendor he traces concentric circles of depravity that lead him to a former head of the Gestapo.

Gripping, frightening, and pungently atmospheric, A German Requiem demonstrates Philip Kerr’s power to take his listeners hostage.

©1991 Philip Kerr (P)2008 Books on Tape

Critic reviews

"Kerr has the talent to....take you places you have never been." (The Washington Post Book World)

“Echoes of Raymond Chandler but better on his vivid and well-researched detail than the master.” (Evening Standard, London)

What listeners say about A German Requiem

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

An awakening experience.

"A German Requiem" had no care for my expectations. I wanted noir. It delivered noir, brutal and overwhelming through a force of macabre interest. I felt a sense of dark trepidation as every new event took shape on the horizon. I was beginning to feel i could not predict this book. Just when I opened an inquisitive eye to expose the motives of the author I was again jerked in a different direction. It was everything your looking for now and don't realize. Not only was I insatiably drawn to the story but the book paints such a visceral scene of post-war Europe (particularly Berlin and Venice) I learned more about the people affected by WW2 than I thought I knew before. It offered a new perspective on life after all the "interesting" war action took place, on which many are so fixated...where countless millions of people stood by and wondered what to do with their shattered civilization. This book places you there, in the desperation, the gloom, the fear and the force of will that shaped that space and time in history. Its easy enough to get all worked up about the dread of the war itself but after this book I understand the people that created the war and the people that ended it.

Among those that would have shined through the aftermath is Herr Gunther, our protag. His antihero atributes are his most endearing. His life is not enviable yet your forced to respect him. You won't always agree with his actions but you'll feel like you'd stand behind them. Philip Kerr also creates character equally hate worthy -effigies of social commentary that demand dislike and are so sharply depicted they seem familiar.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Context

Like his knowledge of post war Europe. I learn a lot and also a great story.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Perhaps the best Gunther

Complex story and super characterization. I have The Third Man in mind picturing Vienna. John Lee us superb.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Exciting Page Turner Set in Post WW II Germany

This was an excellent read of what Germany was like immediately after
WW II. The book provides wonderful insight into the history of the time and set behind a first class thriller about an investigator try to gather information to clear an old coworker of murder. It is very difficult to know who to trust, which leads to several surprising murders and betrayals. Always exciting with many original plot twists you will never see coming.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A Berlin Requiem for sure

How does Kerr work Bernie Gunther into this tale of the actual beginning of the cold war. Which was in fact the division and isolation of Berlin as a city. Always compelling dialogue and more twists and turns than a carnival ride. Kerr has the skill to write the first page and make you fall into the abyss of the story. John Lee as usual voiced a remarkable performance

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Cynical cold characters

There were too many coincidences. The plot was too convoluted, and there were too many characters with too many aliases. The reader absolutely butchered German pronounciation.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Engaging noir series

In spite of some plot points that strain credulity, Kerr was a great storyteller. Throughout the series, he seems to be poking fun at the noir genre with over-the-top similes such as, “After an hour in the bar, I was feeling as sour as a eunuch in a bath full of virgins.”

But Kerr also explores deeper moral and philosophical questions in this series that are sobering.

Narrator John Lee’s various accents are not perfect, but he has such a great voice that is doesn’t matter.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Convoluted plot, but overall excellent Ambience of post war Vienna.

Evocative of “The Third Man” in Settings and amorality. Superb performance by narrator. Very well developed characters; horrendous, graphic and totally gripping scenes of torture and violence which are, unfortunately, historically accurate.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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This was an excellent conclusion to a masterful trilogy.

This was an excellent conclusion to a masterful trilogy. A gripping thriller was set against a fascinating historical backdrop, proving insight into the days immediately preceding and following WW2.
Thoroughly recommend!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Bernie does not give you the cold cabbage!

Another great story, I cannot get enough of this series. Fantastic plot lines, with double back switches kept me guessing until the very end.

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