City of Shadows: A Novel of Suspense
by Ariana Franklin
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Book Summary Information
Author: Ariana FranklinEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Published)
Format: Bargain Price
Published: 2006-05-01
ISBN: N/A
Number of pages: 432
Publisher: William Morrow
Book Reviews of City of Shadows: A Novel of Suspense
Book Review: A Brilliant Noir Mystery, Truly Superlative
Summary: 5 Stars
City of Shadows is magnificent novel that has it all: richly drawn believable characters, compelling plot, tension, suspense, an engaging murder mystery, and best of all it is set in a less well-known part of history so as you read you gain illumination as well as first-rate entertainment. I absolutely loved this book. I read and loved Arianna Franklin's "Mistress of the Art of Death" last year, which I believe is a five star read, but this novel blows that one away.
Set in the 1920s Weimar Republic, and centered in Berlin, this story starts with a perplexing assault, and then introduces Russian emigres Prince Nick, a roguish hustler operating a seedy nightclub and blackmarket empire, and his Jewish assistant Esther Solomonova. Both have fled from Bolshevik Russia and are struggling to make a go of it in Berlin, when Nick thinks have may have discovered a living daughter of the executed Tzar in a german insane asylum. Although her authenticity is dubious, assassins seem to be on her trail which convinces Nick there must be something to her claim and eventually police inspector Schmidt, famous for his work in tracking serial killers or "werewolves" is swept up into the action. Solomonova and Schmidt are both extremely memorable characters drawn with exquisite empathy. Their extraordinary story takes place over ten years and concludes with a deeply satisfying and surprising plot twist.
Atmospheric and noir are adjectives that can't possibly do justice in describing this book. City of Shadows takes their meaning to new heights. I simply haven't ever read a book more noir or atmospheric than City of Shadows. It's an awesome, stunning achievement and the book is a brilliant read. This book does something else though that deserves additional high praise. I've always wondered how a country could lose its way so badly that it became Nazi Germany under Hitler. Nothing I've ever read before, fiction or non-fiction, has ever adequately made me understand that slide into madness. This book grabs you by the throat and drags you through the poverty, despair, powerlessness and fear of the Weimar Republic and at the conclusion you viscerally understand the incomprehensible through the stunned horror of the protagonists.
I can't say enough good things about this literate and fascinating novel. In fact, this was my favorite book of the year until I had the pleasure of reading The Whiskey Rebels by David Liss last week, but it is depressing to have to choose between them. Both books are easily six star reads. Arianna Franklin has become one of my favorite writers, one whom I will always be anxiously awaiting their next book. Don't miss this one.
Summary of City of Shadows: A Novel of Suspense
A cultured city scarred by war. . . . An eastern ?migr? with scars and secrets of her own. . . . A young woman claiming to be a Russian grand duchess. . . . A brazen killer, as vicious as he is clever. . . . A detective driven by decency and the desire for justice.
. . . A nightmare political movement steadily gaining power. . . .
This is 1922 Berlin.
One of the troubled city's growing number of refugees, Esther Solomonova survives by working as secretary to the charming, unscrupulous cabaret owner "Prince" Nick, and she's being drawn against her will into his scheme to pass a young asylum patient off as Anastasia, the last surviving heir to the murdered czar of all Russia. But their found "princess," Anna Anderson, fears that she's being hunted-and this may turn out to be more than paranoia when innocent people all around her begin to die.
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