The Widow Killer

This novel is one of exceptional power and sadness. In the midst of the chaos that marked the end of the Reich in eastern Europe, two detectives, a young Czech and a seasoned SS operative, struggle not only to find a serial killer, but some sense and meaning in their worlds. In this way it is not simply a story about one mystery but about THE mystery. Even in translation, the writing is lucid and powerful without being obtrusive.Readers who want only action and a neatly resolved story, may want to avoid this book. However, those interested in the human condition should buy it.

This stimulating and thought-provoking murder mystery provides a unique insight into the waning days of the Nazi occupation of Prague. A vicious killer is stalking, torturing, and butchering women, and both the Gestapo and the local Prague police are searching for the killer. Both groups are also concerned with saving themselves, their country's interests, and as many supporters as they can in the confusing days at the end of the war. The psychological astuteness with which Kohout depicts both the killer and his searchers gives a credibility to this frenetic period rarely seen in fiction. Though it is, of course, easy to identify with the underdog Prague police, Kohout goes beyond mere surface characterization here to create in Morava a fully rounded character, filled with self-doubt but dreaming of a future. And with remarkable even-handedness, he also creates in Buback a Gestapo agent who is more than a caricature or an unthinking Nazi automaton. As the killer's actions become increasingly lurid in the frenzy of the final days, the reader recognizes numerous parallels with the Nazis' scorched earth policy and with the behavior of Czech partisans bent on wreaking vengeance. This insightful, carefully wrought, and fast-paced action novel with its unique glimpses of a turbulent time and place will keep you reading well into the night!

Awesome thriller/murder mystery set in Nazi-occupied Prague circa 1945. As in J. Robert James's series (Salamander, et al), a Gestapo officer is teamed up with a local detective to tackle crime--in this instance a serial killer. What makes the book very interesting is the care Kohout has taken to lay out the difficulties in living under occupation during wartime, knowing who to trust, the testing of loyalties, and the peaks and valleys of hope and despair. On another level, the killer represents evil ideology, while the two detectives embody and common humanity. Beyond general mystery fans, this book should be read by anyone interested in World War II or Prague in general. It should be noted that Neil Bermel's translation is top-notch.

When I received this book for Christmas, I thought I was receiving a mystery novel. But that is only the first layer of this intriguing book. Kahout slowly and carefully pulls back layer after layer of the complex political and historical machinations occurring in Prague at the end of World War II. He frames the story with 2 primary characters, one a Czech detective, one a Gestapo agent. Kahout gives them full emotional range and views so many of the events of the last weeks of the war through each of their emotional prisms. This is a rich, deep novel that continually mines fresh perspectives of history, politics, humanity and morality at a turning point in the lives of everyone in Central Europe. The final pages, viewed from today's perspective, are particularly chilling.

Combining historical accuracy and vivid storytelling through the eyes of three disparate characters, THE WIDOW KILLER is an extraordinary read. Set during the final months of the Nazi occupation of Prague, THE WIDOW KILLER follows a naive Czech detective who must partner with an experienced Gestapo agent. Together, they track a serial killer as he butchers widows throughout the city. But as the Nazi regime crumbles and the Prague uprising begins in May 1945, the power hierarchy crumbles and both men are forced to carefully examine their own patriotism and courage ... and, in the case of the Gestapo agent, his willingness to accept moral responsibility for the actions of his fatherland, and for the Nazi Reich to which he once proudly pledged allegiance. Author Pavel Kohout has written a suspenseful mystery, an intriguing exploration of wartime morality, and a compelling historical account of Prague during the last months of the Second World War. Both main characters are flawed and complicated; they suffer not only for their own decisions but for the larger historical context in which they find themselves. The story's elements of nationalism, sexual passion, accountability and professional ambition remain universal and important. The translation, despite a clumsy word choice here and there, serves the story well; I was moved by Kohout's obvious passion for this era in Czechoslovakia's history, and by his skill in evoking both its widely-known events and the nuanced conflicts of the occupiers and the occupied. Highly recommended.