8/20/2019 Parker Simon - Quiet Flame by Philip Kerr
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Quiet Flame by Philip Kerr
Simon P’s Review
April 21, 2008 by Simon Parker
In 2006, after a fifteen year hiatus spent trying to write
an airport blockbuster, Philip
err ma!e a welcome return to his series of "erlin in the #0s
crime no$els, featuring
%etecti$e cum reluctant SS officer, "ernie &unther' %espite
fears of a tail between the
legs retreat, The One From The Other was actually great fun an!
a worthy a!!ition to
the series' (ortunately we)$e only ha! to wait another year for
the ne*t one, an! A Quiet
Flame picks up !irectly where TOFTO left off'
+his time the action is split between "erlin !uring the final
!ays of the eimar
-epublic an! "uenos Aires in 1./0' ewly arri$e! in a Peronist
Argentina that isenthusiastically offering a safe ha$en for
fugiti$e ais, "ernie &unther is in hi!ing
from ossa! an! in search of a 3uiet life' 4owe$er between being
force! to li$e among
mostly unrepentant war criminals an! being leane! on by the
chief of the Argentine
Secret Police to sol$e a politically charge! chil! ab!uction,
"ernie is once again
re3uire! to trea! a !elicate path'
+he key to the ab!uction probably lies in an unsol$e! mur!er
!ating back to "erlin in
1.#2' In or!er to stay one step ahea! of the Secret Police,
"ernie will nee! to sol$e both
cases 5 but who is lea!ing whom an! to what !estination +he
answer lies both in the
see!y backwaters an! political corri!ors of Peronist "uenos
Aires'
A Quiet Flame is a !etecti$e thriller of the highest
or!er' +he setting is both no$el an!
fertile an! in "ernie &unther Philip err has create! one of
crime fiction)s most
engaging heroes' ost !etecti$e no$els teeter on the e!ge of the
crypto5fascist 7a noble,
lone hero sol$ing the wrongs of a corrupt worl!9 but the best
crime authors ensure
their heroes are morally ambiguous an! the outcomes compromise!
an! messy' So as a
no$el with an e* SS man as a reluctant sa$iour, set in ai
&ermany an! fascist
Argentina, A Quiet Flame offers plenty of scope for
moral compromise an! ambiguity'
In the en! "ernie is clearly a :han!ler5es3ue hero, a si!e of
the mouth, cynical
professional for hire, but also a bruise! an! !amage! hero
ultimately unwilling to lookthe other way an! therefore unable to
keep his nose out' "ernie is !etermine! to !o the
right thing, if only he can work out what that is an! stay ali$e
!oing it'
+here is a bit of historical, $oyeuristic tourism here with
cameos by Skoreny,
;ichmann, engele an! both
