Escaping Berlin
Brent Monahan
In the waning days of World War II, as Germany’s last fortress, the city of Berlin, prepares to fall, one man survives by following his father’s words: “Stick your neck out for no one. Depend on no one. To survive, you will think only of yourself. You must become absolutely ruthless!”
His self-serving quest takes an unexpectedly dangerous turn when his guise as a decorated – and very dead – soldier earns him a detective’s badge with the Kriminalpolizei, or Kripo, Germany’s police force.
While trying to mastermind his freedom to the West, he becomes ensnared in a murder investigation that’s one part cat-and-mouse and many parts chess game. It’s a game made more deadly and personal when he finds his most powerful piece in taking down the crime’s king – the queen – in the form of a Jewish woman hiding from the authorities – who just happens to be his childhood sweetheart.
As he steals and creates new identities to stay one step ahead of capture and execution, the real mystery he must solve is his own.
He can escape Berlin – but can he escape himself?
Brent Monahan is at the top of his historical mystery game in Escaping Berlin. He expertly weaves meticulously researched fact, with lead characters based on individuals who lived in World War II Germany, with an intricate web of fiction to create an outstanding, hard-boiled, in-your-head and in-your-face detective story that will keep you guessing until the powerful, inescapable conclusion.