Metropolis

By: Philip Kerr

Narrated by: John Lee

"[Metropolis is] a perfect goodbye--and first hello--to its hero...Bernie Gunther has, at last, come home."--Washington Post

New York Times-bestselling author Philip Kerr treats readers to his beloved hero's origins, exploring Bernie Gunther's first weeks on Berlin's Murder Squad.

Summer, 1928. Berlin, a city where nothing is verboten.

In the night streets, political gangs wander, looking for fights. Daylight reveals a beleaguered populace barely recovering from the postwar inflation, often jobless, reeling from the reparations imposed by the victors. At central police HQ, the Murder Commission has its hands full. A killer is on the loose and though he scatters many clues, each is a dead end. It's almost as if he is taunting the cops. Meanwhile, the press is having a field day.

This is what Bernie Gunther finds on his first day with the Murder Commisson. He's been taken on beacuse the people at the top have noticed him--they think he has the makings of a first-rate detective. But not just yet. Right now, he has to listen and learn.

Metropolis, completed just before Philip Kerr's untimely death, is the capstone of a fourteen-book journey through the life of Kerr's signature character, Bernhard Genther, a sardonic and wisecracking homicide detective caught up in an increasingly Nazified Berlin police department. In many ways, it is Bernie's origin story and, as Kerr's last novel, it is also, alas, his end.

Metropolis is also a tour of a city in chaos: of its seedy sideshows and sex clubs, of the underground gangs that run its rackets, and its bewildered citizens--the lost, the homeless, the abandoned. It is Berlin as it edges toward the new world order that Hitler will soo usher in. And Bernie? He's a quick study and he's learning a lot. Including, to his chagrin, that when push comes to shove, he isn't much better than the gangsters in doing whatever her must to get what he wants.

Interesting!

Good investigation, characters were believable and narration excellent! I especially liked the recap after the story.

Kerr does it again

As usual the plot characters the description of life in the pre Nazi era are all very good.
Sad to think that this will be the last chapter.

Unknown Germany and Berlin

Great insight on the crime and underground in the early parts of the 19 century Berlin. A great story and a good read

Another excellent Bernie Gunther novel

Shorter than some other Gunther novels, but just as sweet. It is a Bernie ‘origin’ story. Bernie is not yet ‘hard bitten, but this is where it starts. Great characterization, cracking dialogue, several ‘mysteries’ many plot twists, Berlin decadence and ‘noir’ perspective. 2 thumbs up!

Well done!

Interesting story and believable, dimensional characters. Thoroughly enjoyed this one. I'm not an expert reviewer, just s satisfied reader. 💛