Not a patch on Bernie Gunther

As a huge football fan I normally avoid fictional works centred in the world of the beautiful game but thought I'd give this one a try as Philip Kerr's Bernie Gunther series is exceptional. And, indeed, he carries some of that craft to this novel but all the football clichés are still present which makes this type of novel difficult to enjoy.

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2 people found this helpful

Not bad but .....

A warning of some really bad language and the sexual content would have been appreciated. Not everyone listens in headphones!!!
Bad ‘mockney’ accent almost put me off listening to the whole story.

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3 people found this helpful

I don't do football but I loved this

This is really well written and flows with great, colourful language. The crime is not that big a part of this story. I am not interested in football but I found the atmosphere and pace made this book a real joy. The narrator does the whole thing proud.

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6 people found this helpful

Serviceable Fiction

Once upon a time there was an East London football club with a Scottish coach. Then, after some sinister goings on there was an unexplained death. Our hero (the coach) took on the job of solving the case. He doubted himself along the way but in the end he … no spoilers. This book has the elements you might expect: Foul-mouthed players, a poor attitude to women, hints to links with organised crime, a deep-rooted loathing for the police, lots of interesting inside gen about life in a football club. It’s not all that well written but I enjoyed it.
I chose it because (weirdly) it was recommended by Rory Stewart on the “Rest Is Politics” podcast. Rory Stewart has very little interest in football. His other book recommendations have mostly been non-fiction and way more high-brow.

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1 person found this helpful

Good story, poor characters

The story had good pace, with some twists and turns. I enjoyed the plot. But the characters are poor. The protagonist isn’t compelling and the women are such awful cliches. There’s a hint that Philip Kerr is a good writer but the endless football trivia is clumsy.

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1 person found this helpful

Say it isn't so Joe

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

A believable story

What was most disappointing about Philip Kerr’s story?

A less than engaging hero, card board cutout women,boring clumpety clump plot and the author failed to mention one of Alex Ferguson's other triumphs in extra time the 1983 European Cup Winners' Cup Final and of yes - a real turn off was the mention of the author of the book in the body of a novel.

How could the performance have been better?

putting the the final draft of the book in the circular file

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from January Window?

Did this book even have an editor? So much boring repeated stuff.

Any additional comments?

I gave up just before the end and have no idea nor do I now care who murdered the Portuguese manager. By the time the author was to tell us the answer to the question, this reader/listener had certainly lost interest in the answer. And to think he created Bernie Gunther. I could weap!

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4 people found this helpful