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Content snapshot
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Violence
Very heavy
Child murders described in detail; the historical context includes Nazi war criminals in Argentina; violence
Language
Some
Some strong language
Sexual Content
Barely any
Mild content
Substance Use
Barely any
Drinking throughout; the postwar exile community drinks heavily
Emotional Intensity
A lot
The moral weight of a man trying to maintain a conscience in a world that has rewarded people without one; the specific darkness of Buenos Aires as a refuge for perpetrators
What this book is about
Bernie Gunther has fled Germany and arrived in Buenos Aires in 1950 — part of the postwar migration of former Nazis and people trying to escape what the Nazis did. Working under a false identity for Juan Perón's government, he discovers that a child killer whose case he investigated in 1932 Berlin has also escaped to Argentina. Philip Kerr's fifth Bernie Gunther novel is the most structurally ambitious of the series — alternating between 1932 Berlin and 1950 Buenos Aires — and deals with the specific horror of escaping one kind of evil only to find a different kind in its place.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
fifth Bernie Gunther novel; alternates 1932 Berlin / 1950 Buenos Aires
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