Garden of Beasts

A Novel of Berlin 1936

By: Jeffery Deaver

Narrated by: Jefferson Mays

Length: 13 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's summary

In the most ingenious and provocative thriller yet from the acclaimed New York Times best-selling author Jeffery Deaver, a conscience-plagued mobster turned government hitman struggles to find his moral compass amid rampant treachery and betrayal in 1936 Berlin.

Paul Schumann, a German American living in New York City in 1936, is a mobster hitman known as much for his brilliant tactics as for taking only "righteous" assignments. But then Paul gets caught. And the arresting officer offers him a stark choice: prison or covert government service. Paul is asked to pose as a journalist covering the summer Olympics taking place in Berlin. He's to hunt down and kill Reinhard Ernst - the ruthless architect of Hitler's clandestine rearmament. If successful, Paul will be pardoned and given the financial means to go legit; if he refuses the job, his fate will be Sing Sing and the electric chair.

Paul travels to Germany, takes a room in a boardinghouse near the Tiergarten - the huge park in central Berlin but also, literally, the "Garden of Beasts" - and begins his hunt. In classic Deaver fashion, the next 48 hours are a feverish cat-and-mouse chase as Paul stalks Ernst through Berlin while a dogged Berlin police officer and the entire Third Reich apparatus search frantically for the American.

Garden of Beasts is packed with fascinating period detail and features a cast of perfectly realized locals, Olympic athletes, and senior Nazi officials - some real, some fictional. With hairpin plot twists, the reigning "master of ticking-bomb suspense" (People) plumbs the nerve-jangling paranoia of prewar Berlin and steers the story to a breathtaking and wholly unpredictable ending.

©2004 Jeffery Deaver (P)2016 Simon & Schuster

Yes, Audible, I Did Enjoy This Novel

Garden of Beasts is filled with many historical references that let the listener in on what a mad time in history 1936 was. At what point in history would it have been believable to have the FBI hire a hitman, Paul Schuman, to assassinate another country's war ministers?

To accomplish this, the FBI must get its hands dirty by aligning with private money interests to funds the operation. This is the first clue to the listener that the lines between good and evil are often blurred at the tip of the spear.

This book has a great storyline of intrigue with backdrop of a grand country hijacked by an insane leader on the eve of the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, Germany.

Great story

Straight forward story with no filler and fluff. Love books about WWII. Hero was a man's man!

Great Read.

Really enjoyed the reader. He does a terrific job with the voices and a reader can make or break a good book.

WOW

I enjoyed every chapter of this book. The storyline is on point and the characters are well developed. The narrator didn't miss a beat.

1936 Berlin: An interesting time, place and people

The Weimar Republic has collapsed and the National Socialist Party (Nazi) is on the ascent. Berlin is a very "interesting" (maybe not the right word) place at the time of the 1936 Olympics. This is a period in history that I have never explored.

You have to drink some Kool-Aid to enjoy this tale. Most of the characters have a hard outside, but a heart of gold. Again, drink the Kool-Aid and you should be fine.

I thought the narrator, Jefferson Mays did a great job. I liked his tone and the way he voiced the different characters. The accents were enough without overdoing them.

A different kind of Deaver book

This was surprising very different from all of the other Deaver books I've read over the years - refreshingly so. It was a good book but would've been an excellent book if it had been about 1/3 shorter. I am glad I hung in until the end. The narration was top-notch .

great characters. very believable story.

suspence throughout. setting of 1928 Olympics is fantastic way to weave in super history of early nazi germany with the common folks view of the world. informative without gimmicks or long divergencies keep the listening easy and continuously going.

Great Book

Great book and I will be looking for more from the writer and narrator. Read it during COVID so had some skips I wish I hadn't had.

Great Listen with a Twist

Engaging and interesting piece. Not sure if all the stories are absolutely accurate but I got a new appreciation for life under the NAZI's.

An amazing amalgamation of history and fiction

I don't know this author. I bought this on a deal. The story is well constructed. The narration complete with accents, yet clearly understandable is fantastic.

This is a fictional tale of an American hit man sent to pre-war Nazi Germany to assassinate a fictional member of Hitler's inner circle. Along the way he is caught up in a police investigation of a murder. A cat and mouse game ensues as he tries to carry out his hit while evading the local cop. He finds an unlikely ally at a local speak easy and builds a friendship. Amidst a great story full of suspense is the fascinating collision of a hit man's morality clashing with Nazi attitudes toward minorities. That clash affects not only him, but makes other characters living in a cultural anathema to a modern perspective reevaluate their own moral codes. But this is not a fable with a moral. It is a thriller, a reverse murder mystery.

The story is told from different perspectives, though mostly from the main character, an American hit man turned international assassin. Other perspectives include the German street cop chasing him, and still others from Nazi elites -- Hitler, Goering, Hummer, etc.

It has a masterful mix of pre-war Nazi Germany culture, real characters, and fictional characters. And the story comes to a satisfying conclusion that is consistent with history. (The story is not destroyed by our knowledge of history.)