More Like Straight Into a Black Hole

As a quick look at the History Channel on any given night will attest, the American people are obsessed with World War II. In many ways, I can see why. So many compelling stories of human tragedy, and nearly everybody has a relative that fought in it (for me, there are two grandfathers and a great-uncle).

But I’ve nearly reached my limit on World War II television shows, movies and now audiobooks.

Straight Into Darkness by Faye Kellerman is a serial killer murder mystery set in pre-Nazi Germany, during Hitler’s rise to power. If there’s any storyline more ubiquitous than World War II, it’s serial killers.

But I must give Kellerman credit for trying one thing a little different than what I've seen in many murder mystery/detective novels. She is honest about human beings. Her characters aren't heroes or saints ... or even likeable.

Her protagonist, homicide detective Axel Berg, accepts bribes, frequents whores and generally looks out for himself. In a way, I appreciated this. In another way, where's my motivation for caring about a dispassionate, charmless main character?

I made it through the audiobook – I often shut them off if I get bored – but just barely. Add on top of the unlovable characters grisly, CSI-worthy descriptions of dead bodies and eyes dangling from sockets – let me pause to shudder – and violent, horrible scenes of sexual assault.

Now, I’m no prude and I love me some Law & Order: SVU. But nonstop horrible stuff – especially when it seems to be in the book strictly for the shock factor – is not my cup of tea.

As for the narrator, I think Paul Michael did his best. Every single character had to have a German accent and also had to sound distinct from the many others. That must’ve been a challenge, and I think he pulled it off well for the most part. Sometimes it was hard to tell who was speaking in a scene, but that may also have been due to the writing or to the abridgement.

Perhaps I would like Faye Kellerman’s books better in print, where at least I would have more time to learn about the characters and where I wouldn’t have to listen to the repulsive parts out loud. There’s a reason these acts are called unspeakable.