Straight Into Darkness

Faye Kellerman has reached beyond her Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus mysteries to create an intricate historical mystery set in 1929. Axel Berg, a Munich police inspector, doggedly seeks justice amidst the anarchy and passions stirred by Hitler's Brown Shirts. Although he is directed to blame recent murders on the Jews, Berg--a complex, flawed protagonist--doggedly pursues the real murderer, placing his job and his family at risk. Kellerman, no stranger to religious themes, provides a moral lesson within her story, particularly in the novel's coda. Paul Michael, who excels in European accents, does an outstanding job carrying both the plot's momentum and the protagonist's psychological burden. R.W.S. (c) AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine