Many commentators on Faye Kellerman are put off by her inclusion of “religious stuff” in the popular Peter Decker police procedural series. I like the religious stuff, because it offers an unusual perspective and an interesting range of settings.More than that, I like it because it’s Jewish writing by a Jewish writer who doesn’t conform to type: rattling on about Nazi Germany, its unprecedented evil and the social consequences of same fifty years later. As a reader, I’m tired of World War Two. There’ll only ever be one Diary of Anne Frank.
So, the moment I scanned the blurb for Kellerman’s new thriller, Straight Into Darkness, I knew I wouldn’t be able to wrap myself round it. Call me predictable. Call me boring. But I like Decker. You, on the other hand, might love this novel – if you’re WWII-inclined.
Straight Into Darkness is set in 1920s Munich, when Hitler's web is widening and his Nazis becoming increasingly influential. Homicide detective Axel Berg is trailing a serial killer. He’s not particularly interested in politics but, as his investigation attracts the attention of politicians and assorted hate-mongers, Berg realises the horror of what the Nazis are planning if they ever take power.
Finding himself twisted up in intrigue and surrounded by potential enemies, he watches Munich slip further into turmoil, overrun by political factions and the rise of a megalomaniac. And amidst the chaos, Berg doesn’t even know who he’s looking for.
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