The Other Side of Silence – Philip Kerr at his best

The publication of Philip Kerr’s, Bernie Gunther thriller, The Other Side of Silence, once again shows why is a master of historical fiction. How he is able to weave the factual into fiction, and still make it seem as if it really did happen, with the characters in the novel in real life.

Gunther is working as a concierge in a French Hotel on the Rivera in 1956, he was trying to keep his head down, and working under an assumed name, Walter Wolff. He has arrived in France on a false passport, his wife has left and gone back to Germany, when into the Grand Hotel where Gunter works is a blast from his wartime past. Harold Hennig, who he had cross paths with, a former Gestapo officer and serial blackmailer, someone who could expose him.

Henning has plans for Gunther, not that he knows anything about it. Hennig plans to blackmail the famous English writer and exile on the Rivera, Somerset Maugham. He becomes an unwitting pawn in the new cold war, even more so when Mi6 send out a couple of senior men, to make an assessment on any possible damage or danger to Britain.

Little does he know, but the blackmail plot will turn in to a life and death matter for Gunther, and if anyone is left standing, then they will be the only winner. Will Gunther’s secrets finally catch up with him and cost him his life, or will he be able to walk away, with some sort of life? It is hard for Gunther, but he knows he has to fight he has no alternative.

Philip Kerr shows why he has gained so much praise, as he is one of the few that is able to imaginatively mix his fictional characters with well researched real characters and events. All at the same time as the world held its breath and wonder if Britain and France would be fighting another war.

The Other Side of Silence shows Philip Kerr at his best. ( )