Stasi Child

“Cheating was a concept both foreign and integral to the fighting of wars.”----Tom ClancyDavid Young, an American author, has penned a riveting German thriller in his debut book, Stasi Child which is the first book in the Karin Müller series. This series welcomes an exciting and brave new female detective chief inspector or in German, an oberleutnant who is a married yet career-minded woman, assigned on the case when a teenage girl's mutilated body is found near The Wall in East Berlin in the 1970s, that leads her and her junior subordinate, Comrade Tilsner, to the edge of The Wall, Berlin's corrupt politics and an isolated teenage reformatory handled by then government.Synopsis:East Berlin, 1975When Oberleutnant Karin Müller is called to investigate a teenage girl's body at the foot of the wall, she imagines she's seen it all before. But when she arrives she realizes this is a death like no other: the girl was trying to escape - but from the West.Müller is a member of the national police, but the case has Stasi written all over it. Karin is tasked with uncovering the identity of the girl, but her Stasi handlers assure her that the perpetrators are from the West ­- and strongly discourage her asking questions.The evidence doesn't add up, and Muller soon realizes the crime scene has been staged. But this is not a regime that tolerates a curious mind, and Muller doesn't realise that the trail she's following will lead her dangerously close to home.Karin Müller, a twenty something oberleutnant in her police force, is asked to investigate the identity of a dead teenage girl, who body has been found near The Berlin Wall, and Karin soon sniffs that there is something wrong with the girl's alleged death of simply getting shot as she was trying to escape from the west Berlin. And within no time, Karin starts asking questions at the right places but that lands up into more trouble, and little idea she had that behind this innocent teenage girl's murder there is the hand or involvement of someone close to Karin. Can she get to the bottom of this scandalous murder?I can't believe this is a debut novel by the author as the story is concocted so strongly that it immediately gripped me with the thrill and the suspense. The book's cover image aptly captures the feel, horror and the stale smell of death through its arresting image. Right from the very first page, when the author gradually began delving about the character's lives and backgrounds alongside with the murder investigation is quite addictive and kept me hooked to the pages of this book till the very end.The author's writing style is very much articulate and fantastic and well layered with suspense and twists. The plot is very easy to comprehend with by the readers as the author descriptively and strikingly explains each and every scene right to its very bottom, so that the readers can get a clear image of what is happening page-by-page. The narrative is not only engaging, but also free flowing and is also laced with German dialect, also the best part about the book is that the author has included a glossary for the German terms used in the book. The pacing is really fast as the mystery is so alluring that the readers will keep turning the pages of this book until the cliffhanger filled climax.The mystery in the book is devised smartly by this author, as it has been covered with so many angles and dimensions that will keep the readers anticipating till the very end. And also the readers will be welcomes with a sudden new and unpredictable twist and turn during the course of the story that will not let the readers to turn away their heads from the book even for once. Moreover, the author's technique of unraveling the mystery is pretty unique.The characters in the book are extremely well developed and keep the story even more interesting. The main character, Karin, is a strong and fearless female detective, who despite of the domestic responsibilities stay focused on the job, although working with a handsome subordinate like Tilsner, distracts her a lot. She is a sharp and thoughtful woman, who carefully makes her move, even though at times she is pushed to be tested by her boundaries and limitations. In short, Karin has a complex side when it comes to relationships, otherwise, her smartness will simply make the readers fall for her. The secondary and supporting characters are also well etched out thereby giving them a realistic yet edgy profile.The author captures the 1970s divided Berlin and the divided fascist and anti fascist politics with extreme vividness. From its bone-chilling cold weather to its shifting landscape of white mountains in the east side to posh city in the west side to its local people to its culture to its then politics, will instantly transport the readers to an era when Berlin was divided by The Wall and the Stasi guards still controlled and dominated its citizens.In a nutshell, this book turned out to be a roller coaster ride that is high on adrenaline rushing action scenes, raw violence and enough tension.

Good narrative style and premise but disappointing climax ...

Good, pacey, fast, well written, brilliant awareness of the stasi surrounding....but, still main fork is the language..... German English....

it was a very good read.....i'm looking forward to reading the whole series

This novel describes life behind the Iron Curtain and what some people will do just to survive. It also shows the lengths that a dictatorial goverment will go to to control their people and hide their crimes.

Ik kreeg interesse in dit boek na alle Arkady Remko boeken. Het bleke bestaan in het Oostblok komt niet helemaal uit de verf maar de overduidelijke aanwezigheid van de Stasi wel. Het plot ontwikkelt zich in een fatsoenlijk tempo en het einde is goed in elkaar gezet. Lekker voor tussendoor dit boek.

Seconde guerre mondiale ( 1939- 45 ) - Accords de Yalta ( 1953 ) - URSS - République Fédérale Allemande / République Démocratique Allemande - Mur de la Honte ( 1961 - 1989 ) - Stasi - Check point Charlie  - Eclatement de l'URSS (1991).«  Sa fille n'était peut- être pas morte, mais elle était capable de désertion. Et si Marietta l'avait aidée à fuir à Berlin - Ouest, son mari ne serait pas le seul à jouir de l'hospitalité des prisons de la Stasi. »Le Rideau de Fer se lève avec ce roman policier qui renseigne avec détails d'une période d'effroi, comme seules savent en générer les dictatures. Ce témoignage ajoute à la parole des multiples victimes de la RDA, petite sœur de l'URSS d'alors.Un groupe de policiers enquête sur des morts d'adolescents, sans en avoir les réels moyens, surveillés et empêchés par les services de la Stasi, dont les intérêts voudraient que les vérités fussent tues . L'enquête nous ouvre à la nomenclature et aux fonctionnements des services policiers de l' Etat est- allemand et de la Stasi ( sa police secrète ). Elle met en exergue les méthodes institutionnelles caractéristiques des régimes politiques «  dits égalitaires » . Ceux - là même qui ont engendré des citoyens clonés à la menace, l'intimidation, la corruption, au mensonge, au couple infernal : espionnage - délation. Toute personne avertie les connaît : pourtant de les lire, couchées sur le papier, les rend palpables et suscite une profonde horreur. Davantage encore lorsque l'on sait qu' à ce jour, des pays totalitaires n'ont pas lâché la main ...L'intrigue est de bonne facture, elle met à jour les mécanismes de primauté du régime politique régi par Moscou  dans les années cinquante : qu' importe la vérité , elle ne doit ni faire vaciller ni déshonorer l'idéologie en place . L'on regrettera peut - être l'aspect trop factuel de l'histoire mais l'on sera magnanime, au regard des mille et une choses que veut exprimer l'auteur dans son premier écrit.

This book is set when Berlin was a divided city and two very different forms of government and life style existed.