Babylon Berlin

MEET DETECTIVE GEREON RATH IN THE BOOKS THAT INSPIRED THE HIT TV SERIES BABYLON BERLIN

‘A gripping evocative thriller set in Berlin's seedy underworld during the roaring Twenties.’ - Mail on Sunday

Babylon Berlin is the first book in the international-bestselling series from Volker Kutscher. Detective Inspector Gereon Rath is caught up in a web of drugs, sex, political intrigue, deception and murder as Germany teeters on the edge of Nazism.

1929: There is seething unrest in Berlin. The Commissioner of Police orders the Vice Squad to ruthlessly enforce the ban on demonstrations, and a state of emergency is declared in the Communist strongholds of the city. When a car is hauled out of the Landwehr Canal with a mutilated corpse inside Detective Inspector Gereon Rath claims the case. Soon his inquiries drag him ever deeper into the morass of Weimar Berlin's 'Roaring Twenties' underworld of cocaine, prostitution, gunrunning, and shady politics.

Winner of Berlin Krimi-Fuchs Crime Writers Prize 2011 (Germany)

“'Kutscher successfully conjures up the dangerous decadence of the Weimar years, with blood on the Berlin streets and the Nazis lurking menacingly in the wings.'”

‘Kutscher successfully conjures up the dangerous decadence of the Weimar years, with blood on the Berlin streets and the Nazis lurking menacingly in the wings.’

‘Gripping evocative thriller set in Berlin's seedy underworld during the roaring Twenties. A massive hit in its native Germany, Volker Kutscher's series, centered on Detective Inspector Gereon Rath, is currently being filmed for television.’

‘Babylon Berlin brings a fresh perspective to images and material that might otherwise seem shopworn, and its frenetic rhythms are particularly apt for a moment when we appear to be dancing our own convulsive tango on the edge of a fiery volcano.’

‘James Ellroy fans will welcome Kutscher's first novel and series launch, a fast-paced blend of murder and corruption set in 1929 Berlin. Kutscher keeps the surprises coming and doesn't flinch at making his lead morally compromised.’

‘The novels on which the dramas are based are even more rewarding than television’s slick production...’

‘Babylon Berlin is a stunning novel that superbly evokes Twenties Germany in its seedy splendour. An impressive new crime series.’

‘Gripping, skilfully plotted and rich in historical detail, Babylon Berlin introduces us to Detective Inspector Gereon Rath, who navigates the turbulent waters of Weimar Germany in a suspenseful and noirish tale.’

‘Has all the allure of an addictive drug: you won’t be able to put it down until you’ve read to the end.’

‘Masterfully spun, the plot leads Rath into a dark world with few heroes where the line between solving and committing crime becomes ever more blurred.’

‘Riveting and atmospheric.’

'Unrelenting in tension until an explosive climax; as well as delivering the thrills Kutscher captures perfectly in dark tones the menacing atmosphere and lurking threats of a unique - and pivotal - time and place in history.'

Volker Kutscher was born in 1962 in Lindlar, West Germany. He is the author of the enormously successful Gereon Rath crime series which, in addition to compelling narrative, is notable for its scrupulous accuracy on Germany in the years between its beginning in 1927 and the approach to the Second World War. The series was awarded the Berlin Krimi-Fuchs Crime Writers Prize in 2011, has sold over one million copies worldwide, and is now a critically acclaimed TV show. Volker Kutscher works as a full-time author and lives in Cologne.

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