In “Metropolis” the final story of Bernie Gunther, Mr. Kerr’s created a timeless moment by taking us back to 1928 Berlin, when Bernie was on his first case as a homicide cop looking into a string of murders committed by a killer nicknamed “Winnetou”. I am not going to give the plot away you will have to find out for yourself. This is definitely a fitting end to Philip Kerr storied career.
Mr. Kerr style is appealing, I love the first person narrative, with his wise-cracking voice and trademark banter Bernie tells what is happening. Bernie is a detective caught up in an increasingly Nazified Berlin police department and he hates it “Metropolis” give us a tour of a city in chaos with its seedy sideshows and sex clubs, not forgetting a taste of the underground gangs, the homeless, the abandoned and the bewildered citizens. As always, the setting is brought to life with vivid description and through perfectly drawn characters. Weaved in are a number of real life historical characters and of course plenty of intrigue is found throughout. What a fine job of immersing us in the seamy side of Weimar Germany, through the facts of history and the vagaries of human nature.
On the other hand, this latest is not the author’s best, it seems more of an unfinished draft. Some plot lines appear out of nowhere and abruptly die there. Some sentences are clumsy and hard to follow, at times I didn’t know where I was or what I was reading... did I miss something?. ..As a whole “Metropolis” is a good read but one that did not meet my expectation.....
Saying goodbye is hard to do.....you will be missed...
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