Ostland
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Ostland
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Narrated by:
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Richard Burnip
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By:
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David Thomas
About this listen
February 1941, wartime Berlin. Brilliant, idealistic young detective Georg Heuser joins the Murder Squad in the midst of the biggest manhunt the city has ever seen. A serial killer is slaughtering women on S-Bahn trains and leaving their battered bodies by the tracks. Heuser must confront evil eye-to-eye as he helps track down the murderer.
July 1959, peacetime West Germany: a pioneering young lawyer, Paula Siebert, is in a federal unit investigating men who have committed crimes of unimaginable magnitude and horror. Their leader has just been arrested. His name is Georg Heuser. Siebert is sure of his guilt. But how could a once decent man have become a sadistic monster?
©2013 David Thomas (P)2013 Oakhill PublishingListeners also enjoyed...
Critic reviews
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
The novel is an extraordinary achievement in that it enables the reader to at least understand (although not sympathise) the journey that some human beings made as they progressed to becoming mass-murderers. This should possibly be read in tandem with Christopher R Brownings' 'Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 11 and the Final Solution in Poland' and Daniel Goldhagen's 'Hitler's Willing Executioners: Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust'.Would you be willing to try another one of Richard Burnip’s performances?
No, or at least, with great reluctance. When I listen to an audiobook, it's because I want to enjoy the text, not because I want to hear a performance. Richard Burnip is an actor, and so he 'acts' the book. The range of accents is frankly bizarre, including some that are camp, or pantomime or even, just 'wrong'. The accents detract from the text, constantly pulling the listener concentration away from the story. It was bad enough to make me consider actually buying the book to finish, and dumping the audiobook. A shame - the book deserves better.Extraordinary book, marred by dreadful narration
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Very good
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Gripping and horrifying
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Would you consider the audio edition of Ostland to be better than the print version?
I have not read the printed version but I found the audio version easy to follow and well read.What did you like best about this story?
the charactersHave you listened to any of Richard Burnip’s other performances? How does this one compare?
this is the first Richard Burnip narrated story i have listened tooDid you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
It makes you think how you would react in similar circumstances. Im not sure how I would answer that questionIntriguing story of how evil can overtake good
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What did you like most about Ostland?
The storyline that draws you into Heuser's decline from idealistic detective to cynical murdererWhat other book might you compare Ostland to, and why?
Philip Kerr's Bernie Gunther novelsWhich character – as performed by Richard Burnip – was your favourite?
Heuser himself I think.Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
Yes, especially as the events in Ostland itself unfolded.Any additional comments?
I think the two-era narration is an unnecessary device which could be removed from the novel without unduly affecting it. There are a number of predictable tropes such as Bine's move to Hamburg being followed by her death in a firestorm.enthralling - eventually!!
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What did you like most about Ostland?
The broad sweeping narrative. This is a harrowing story told on a grand scale but with well observed detail .What did you like best about this story?
It is a story of both humanity and inhumanity. Repellent and compelling but gripping and demanding attention nonetheless.What aspect of Richard Burnip’s performance might you have changed?
Sometimes the reader is a little too strident in his delivery. A little more contrast in tone would have been appreciated.If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?
From detective to destroyer... the story of a man corrupted by his ambition to succeed.Bleak, but compelling..
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Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
A story based on actual events that expertly depict the horrors of the Nazi approach to dealing with 'the jewish problem' and brings the full horror in a well written and researched account against a partially fictitious backgroundWhat was one of the most memorable moments of Ostland?
The description of the murder of the 3 Russian partisans told the tale of how far one man can fall from the moral high groundWhich character – as performed by Richard Burnip – was your favourite?
Georg Heuser being the central character dominates the book as it is broadly his narrative and whilst his actuals thoughts are down to David Thomas's imagination his actions as described are cold hard factsWas there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
The detail that the Nazi machine went to fund the holocaust ( charged per mile per head by the Reichsbahn) and the distances that they would move it's victims to achieve their aim was jaw droppingUncomfortable real and compelling
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The narrative is split in two, and while one part concentrates on Germany and Russia in 1941-3, the other is about 1961 and the legal repercussions of the crimes against humanity. I didn't find that part as compelling; twenty years on, West Germany has been established and the Cold War is in full throttle, but Europe is mostly peaceful. The scene is useful, as a foil to the horror of the earlier events, but neither the characters or plot grabbed me in the same way.
Richard Burnip is a competent narrator, very good with some characters, not so much with others, but he keeps the story rattling along and I was never bored by his delivery.
Good, but not an easy listen
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Hard going but shocking
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Although this book is a work of fiction according to the author, it is based largely on actual events, indeed the majority of the characters in the book are real people. The events in the book did happen.
The book commences with the Berlin working on the S-Bahn murders an actual event in which six women were killed in or around Berlin's rail network. An idealistic young officer, Greg Hauser, who had just arrived fresh from a fast-track course at the police college. He went on to play a key role in the investigation.
As the book develops it becomes clear that Hauser is keen to make a good impression with his bosses and follows the orders they give him. After the Ogorzow case many officers were sent to the eastern front to form police battalions who's role amongst others was to round up and exterminate Jew's.
I enjoyed the book but I found it a difficult listen in part. But it is based largely on the real life of one man., although there were thousands of others with similar experiences.
A Gripping Account of One Man's Life
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