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An Intriguing Historical Thriller Set in the Barcelona of the Spanish Civil War
On the eve of Hitler's Olympics, Chief Inspector Nikolai Hoffner, a half Jew, has been forced out of the Kriminalpolizei. Luckily, Hoffner's focus is elsewhere. His son Georg is missing in Spain, swept up in the sudden outbreak of the civil war. He has already lost Sascha, his elder son, who is fully entrenched in the Nazi regime. But, Georg is not what he appears to be, and when Hoffner discovers this, he is determined to save the one son he can.
The Second Son is the eagerly awaited final installment in Jonathan Rabb's Berlin trilogy, set between the two world wars. In Harper's Magazine, John Leonard called the first, Rosa, "a ghostly noir that could have been conspired at by Raymond Chandler and André Malraux." The second, Shadow and Light (2009), garnered rave reviews-in The Washington Post, Wendy Smith praised its "atmosphere" and "brilliantly plotted narrative." Now, nearly ten years after the events of Shadow and Light, Hoffner finds himself tossed into the chaos that is Spain- where he quickly meets anarchists, Soviet and British secret agents, and a female doctor called Mila Pera-as he follows a trail of clues left by Georg.
Jonathan Rabb delivers another atmospheric work, rich with his storytelling talent and historical expertise.
On the eve of Hitler's Olympics, Chief Inspector Nikolai Hoffner, a half Jew, has been forced out of the Kriminalpolizei. Luckily, Hoffner's focus is elsewhere. His son Georg is missing in Spain, swept up in the sudden outbreak of the civil war. He has already lost Sascha, his elder son, who is fully entrenched in the Nazi regime. But, Georg is not what he appears to be, and when Hoffner discovers this, he is determined to save the one son he can.
The Second Son is the eagerly awaited final installment in Jonathan Rabb's Berlin trilogy, set between the two world wars. In Harper's Magazine, John Leonard called the first, Rosa, "a ghostly noir that could have been conspired at by Raymond Chandler and André Malraux." The second, Shadow and Light (2009), garnered rave reviews-in The Washington Post, Wendy Smith praised its "atmosphere" and "brilliantly plotted narrative." Now, nearly ten years after the events of Shadow and Light, Hoffner finds himself tossed into the chaos that is Spain- where he quickly meets anarchists, Soviet and British secret agents, and a female doctor called Mila Pera-as he follows a trail of clues left by Georg.
Jonathan Rabb delivers another atmospheric work, rich with his storytelling talent and historical expertise.
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Reviews
"The Second Son is an unusual blend of hard-boiled detective novel and love story . . . the narrative never flags. It proves that first-rate detectives are like good lovers and good novelists: keenly observant, intuitive and tough as nails."
Tara McKelvey, The New York Times Book Review
"A powerful, shocking and moving novel . . . Rabb is an accomplished storyteller as well as a superb stylist, and the conclusion of his trilogy is at once affecting and effective in its portrayal of the run-up to a global nightmare."
Jay Strafford, The Richmond Times-Dispatch
"Rabb works wonders, juggling Nazi sympathizers and anarchists and guilty bystanders and innocent warriors with an alacrity few in his generation can maintain . . . Inspector Hoffner flies off into the oncoming darkness, having accomplished Rabb's mission, of carrying to completion this engrossing trilogy on his strong shoulders."
Alan Cheuse, The Dallas Morning News
Extended Details
- SeriesBerlin Trilogy #3