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Content snapshot
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Violence
Very heavy
WWII war crimes by Ustaše; significant violence; coercion and manipulation throughout
Language
Some
Some strong language
Sexual Content
Some
Some sexual content; Bernie's relationship with the actress develops under coercion
Substance Use
Some
Heavy drinking
Emotional Intensity
A lot
The specific horror of being asked by one set of murderers to navigate the territory of another; Bernie's recognition that his cooperation is itself a form of participation in something he opposes
What this book is about
Goebbels asks Bernie Gunther to do him a favor: help a Croatian actress named Dalia Dresner find her father, who has gone missing in Yugoslavia. The favor has strings, as all SS favors do, and Bernie's investigation takes him to Zagreb in 1942-44 where the Croatian fascist Ustaše are committing atrocities that even some Germans find excessive. Philip Kerr's tenth Bernie Gunther novel is the darkest in terms of historical atrocity — the Ustaše's killings are depicted with the specificity that Kerr applies to Nazi violence — and the actress's connection to the SS creates a moral situation Bernie cannot cleanly navigate.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
tenth Bernie Gunther novel by Philip Kerr; wartime Croatia setting
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