Greeks Bearing Gifts
An utterly gripping and page-turning historical thriller
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4.3 • 74 Ratings
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- £5.49
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- £5.49
Publisher Description
Bernie Gunther returns in the thirteenth book in the Sunday Times and New York Times bestselling series, perfect for fans of John le Carre and Robert Harris.
'One of the greatest anti-heroes ever written' LEE CHILD
'Kerr leads us through the facts of history and the vagaries of human nature' TOM HANKS
'One of the greatest master story-tellers in English' ALAN FURST
1957, Munich. Bernie Gunther's latest move in a string of varied careers sees him working for an insurance company. It makes a kind of sense: both cops and insurance companies have a vested interest in figuring out when people are lying to them, and Bernie has a lifetime of experience to call on.
Sent to Athens to investigate a claim from a fellow German for a sunken ship, Bernie takes an instant dislike to the claimant. When he discovers the ship in question once belonged to a Greek Jew deported to Auschwitz, he is convinced the sinking was no accident but an act of vengeance.
And so Bernie is once again drawn inexorably back to the dark history of the Second World War, and the deportation of the Jews of Salonika - now Thessaloniki. As Europe prepares to move on to a more united future with Germany as a partner rather than an enemy, at least one person in Greece is ready neither to forgive nor forget. And, deep down, Bernie thinks they may have a point.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Set in 1957, bestseller Kerr's twisty 13th Bernie Gunther novel (after 2017's Prussian Blue) finds the former Berlin cop employed as a lowly mortuary assistant in Munich. Fortunately, a bit of detective work he does on the side leads to a new job as a claims adjustor for a local insurance company. His first assignment takes him to Athens to look into the case of the Doris, a small ship that was on an expedition searching for ancient Greek artifacts when it caught fire and sank. Bernie talks with the Doris's owner, a German diving expert, who soon meets a violent end possibly at the hands of a wanted Nazi war criminal, who in 1943 helped put thousands of Greek Jews (including the Doris's original owner) on trains to Auschwitz. Once again, Kerr shows Bernie contending bravely if futilely against powerful forces whose full evil becomes clear only at the end. The good news for series fans is that an even better career may lie ahead for Bernie as a spy. Author tour.)
Customer Reviews
Was it all a Dream?
Sadly my least favourite Bernie Gunther novel, I’m even about to double check to see if I’ve missed a few chapters as it tailed off and ended quite abruptly.
It never really got up to the normal express pace of pretty much all his previous books and also it seemed to leave so many questions unanswered?
Hopefully the next and possibly last instalment will give Bernie the fitting ending that he deserves.