In Hour of
Death (Sterbestunde) by Michael Hübner we are invited to follow how criminal lieutenant Becker
discovers that a privately owned retirement home is carrying out distressing
medical tests on humans. Did I find this plot credible? - No, not really!
So, did I
at least learn something about Koblenz or the rural areas surrounding this city during the reading? - No, not at all!
Was I, in
spite of this, so captivated by the simple, linear narrative style combined
with an almost excessive build-up of suspense that I sometimes "sneak read"
the novel at other times than on the tram to and from work? - Yes, I gladly admit
to this!
Michael
Hübner's Hour of Death is not the best thriller I have read in German, but perhaps
the one which I have had the biggest difficulties to put to the side. And I
forgive the author for cultivating one of the most common stereotypes in this
genre - that our politicians are just as conniving and dishonest as corrupt - because
he does let a journalist and a police officer cooperate in solving a case. To me,
this was a unique fresh feature of a book which I can recommend to anyone who knows
to accept it for what it is, i.e. entertainment.
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