Rosa

A murdered revolutionary . . . A vicious serial killer . . . A city in chaos . . . All lead to Rosa. In the last days of the First World War, socialist revolution swept across Germany, sending Kaiser Wilhelm into exile and transforming Berlin into a battleground. But for Detective Inspector Nikolai Hoffner and his young assistant, Hans Fichte, the revolution is a mere inconvenience. Four women from the slums of Berlin have turned up dead, all with identical markings etched into their backs, and Hoffner and Fichte have spent the better part of six weeks trying to crack the bizarre case. Things take a troubling turn when the political police begin to show an interest in Hoffner's investigation. Hoffner has no idea why the Polpo would want to get their hands dirty with a serial murderer, until he is shown the lifeless body of Rosa Luxemburg, the same eerie markings on her back. Rumors abound that Rosa, one of the leaders of the suppressed socialist uprising, was assassinated by an angry mob, but the pattern carved into her back tells a different story. In his remarkable new thriller, Jonathan Rabb paints a vivid, unforgettable picture of a city and a people poised between the chaos of the First World War and the darkness to come, a time when political thugs, petty thieves, and charismatic leaders rushed to fill the void left behind. Into this gap steps Hoffner, who, while battling his own personal demons, is still determined to find out who is preying on the women of Berlin, even as he gets drawn deeper into the mystery surrounding Rosa's death. Hoffner's search for the killer leads him on a dark and twisted journey through the battle-scarred streets of the city, wherehe soon discovers that nothing is as it appears. And while he finds allies in unexpected places, he is met at every turn by men who will stop at nothing to keep him from finding out the truth about Rosa. A genuine mystery at the time, Rosa's fate has continued to prompt speculation to this day. Rabb's taut political thriller imagines one strikingly real possibility. With his first two novels, "The Overseer" and "The Book of Q," Rabb proved that he had a talent not only for writing suspenseful narratives but for illuminating the darkest corners of history as well. With "Rosa," his finest work, he brings to life a world capital on the brink of chaos, a tragic revolutionary who both inspired and enraged, and a compellingly complex, world-weary, deeply flawed but brilliant inspector named Nikolai Hoffner. Also available as an eBook

Review :
From "Harper's "Magazine "It is Jonathan Rabb's wonderful idea in Rosa to investigate Luxemburg's murder from the point of view of a Berlin police detective, Nikolai Hoffner, on the trail of a killer who leaves dead women at symbolic sites with fetishistic slashings on their bodies. At first, Rosa seems to be one such victim. But an anonymous source (Rosa's lover, Leo Jogiches), a helpful scientist (Albert Einstein), an avant-garde artist (Kathe Kollwitz), the thuggish behavior of the Political Police (Polpo), and his own skeptical intelligence will lead Hoffner in a different direction, where he finds radical politics, reactionary bloodlust, and Romantic poetry too. Rosa is a performance all the more astonishing in that there was already another novel on the same subject, Karl and Rosa (1950), the second volume in Alfred Doblin's series November 1918. Doblin, a German-Jewish Expressionist writing machine best known for his Berlin Alexandeplatz (1929), fled from the Nazis to Paris and Los Angeles, where he seems to have read John Dos Passos and had no inhibitions about imagining Rosa's fantasy life. The word for these pages of reverie is... embarrassing. Rabb, on the other hand, gives us a dreadful Berlin, a sinister Polpo, the sound of boots, the smell of corpses, patterns of guilt as runic as lace gloves and city streets, and a ghostly noir that could have been conspired at by Raymond Chandler and Andre Malraux. Leo Jogiches even sounds like Malraux: "I can't choose when or how I die, Inspector, but I can choose why." -- "Harper's," March 2005, reviewed by John Leonard ..."a novel so richly drawn, so dark and so compelling it reaches into your gut and holds on tight..." --"Detroit Free Press" ..."Berlin is the chief character here, and Rabb artfully delineates the city as it emerges from war, defeat, and revolution into the shadow of nascent state terror."-- "Boston Globe" "Any fan of historical mystery should read this. It's beautifully written, full of perfectly set period detail. And at its heart, it is a brilliant, real-life mystery transformed into fiction." -- "Toronto Globe and Mail" Advance Praise for "Rosa" "In "Rosa," Jonathan Rabb has created a fascinating tale of conspiracy and brutality in post-World War I Berlin, an evocative historical mystery that unfolds one horror after another. Rabb perfectly captures the dark beauty and complexity of this battle-scarred city, bringing Berlin to life as an utterly compelling and memorable character." --Philip Kerr, author of the "Berlin Noir" trilogy "As the historical mystery thriller comes into its own, there can be no doubt that the genre has, with "Rosa," gained a new and altogether exemplary voice: Jonathan Rabb." --Robert Cowley, editor of the "What If?" series Praise for "The Overseer" "Intelligent and skillful . . . ÝRabb¨ unleashes dazzling plot twists and edge-of-the-chair confrontations as his tale rushes toward its big-bang ending. . . . A highly sophisticated and diverting thriller, superior entertainment." --"Washington Post Book World" "Ancient artifacts--the more spurious the better--are superb linchpins for any novel, and Rabb has chosen his well." --"Los Angeles Times" ""The Overseer "is an exceptional debut thriller, refreshingly original, with a feel-your-pulse plot that warp-speeds its way through the centuries. Jonathan Rabb writes with studiedknowledge of his material. The characters are well-defined, the dialogue crisp, and the history a shake-and-stir mix of fact and fiction. . . . A smooth blend of Ian Fleming and Umberto Eco." --Lorenzo Carcaterra, author of "Sleepers" and "Apaches" From "Harper's Magazine "It is Jonathan Rabb's wonderful idea in Rosa to investigate Luxemburg's murder from the point of view of a Berlin police detective, Nikolai Hoffner, on the trail of a killer who leaves dead women at symbolic sites with fetishistic slashings on their bodies. At first, Rosa seems to be one such victim. But an anonymous source (Rosa's lover, Leo Jogiches), a helpful scientist (Albert Einstein), an avant-garde artist (Kathe Kollwitz), the thuggish behavior of the Political Police (Polpo), and his own skeptical intelligence will lead Hoffner in a different direction, where he finds radical politics, reactionary bloodlust, and Romantic poetry too. Rosa is a performance all the more astonishing in that there was already another novel on the same subject, Karl and Rosa (1950), the second volume in Alfred Doblin's series November 1918. Doblin, a German-Jewish Expressionist writing machine best known for his Berlin Alexandeplatz (1929), fled from the Nazis to Paris and Los Angeles, where he seems to have read John Dos Passos and had no inhibitions about imagining Rosa's fantasy life. The word for these pages of reverie is... embarrassing. Rabb, on the other hand, gives us a dreadful Berlin, a sinister Polpo, the sound of boots, the smell of corpses, patterns of guilt as runic as lace gloves and city streets, and a ghostly noir that could have been conspired at by Raymond Chandler and Andre Malraux. Leo Jogiches even sounds like Malraux: "I can't choose when or how I die, Inspector, but I can choose why." -- "Harper's, March 2005, reviewed by John Leonard ..."a novel so richly drawn, so dark and so compelling it reaches into your gut and holds on tight..." --"Detroit Free Press ..."Berlin is the chief character here, and Rabb artfully delineates the city as it emerges from war, defeat, and revolution into the shadow of nascent state terror."-- "Boston Globe "Any fan of historical mystery should read this. It's beautifully written, full of perfectly set period detail. And at its heart, it is a brilliant, real-life mystery transformed into fiction." -- "Toronto Globe and Mail Advance Praise for "Rosa "In "Rosa, Jonathan Rabb has created a fascinating tale of conspiracy and brutality in post-World War I Berlin, an evocative historical mystery that unfolds one horror after another. Rabb perfectly captures the dark beauty and complexity of this battle-scarred city, bringing Berlin to life as an utterly compelling and memorable character." --Philip Kerr, author of the "Berlin Noir trilogy "As the historical mystery thriller comes into its own, there can be no doubt that the genre has, with "Rosa, gained a new and altogether exemplary voice: Jonathan Rabb." --Robert Cowley, editor of the "What If? series Praise for "The Overseer "Intelligent and skillful . . . [Rabb] unleashes dazzling plot twists and edge-of-the-chair confrontations as his tale rushes toward its big-bang ending. . . . A highly sophisticated and diverting thriller, superior entertainment." --"Washington Post Book World "Ancient artifacts--the more spurious the better--are superb linchpins for any novel, and Rabb has chosen his well." --"Los Angeles Times ""The Overseer is an exceptional debut thriller, refreshingly original, with a feel-your-pulse plot that warp-speeds its way through the centuries. Jonathan Rabb writes with studied knowledge ofhis material. The characters are well-defined, the dialogue crisp, and the history a shake-and-stir mix of fact and fiction. . . . A smooth blend of Ian Fleming and Umberto Eco." --Lorenzo Carcaterra, author of "Sleepers and "Apaches