Captain Gregor Reinhardt has served in both World Wars for Germany; he was stationed in Vienna working as a policeman when he is transferred to the Feldjaegerkorps, an elite division whose duty is to maintain order and discipline on the front line, in this case, Sarajevo. The Feldjaeger are above anyone else in the German military.
It's 1945 and the German army is starting to retreat from Yugoslavia; not all is quiet. Reinhard discovers bodies: the men were shot, burned and it looks like they were wearing German uniforms. Then other bodies are found: they look to be deserters. Reinhardt is facing what appears to be three sets of murders, and what might be atrocities committed by his own countrymen, the Ustace, the Yugoslav collaborators, or could it be by the Yugoslav Partisans?
Reinhardt has had problems with the Gestapo in the past because an investigation he was conducting involved German VIPs and they are watching him closely. Captain Reinhardt is also a member of the Resistance and has to tread carefully if he still wants to do his police work properly. He is a good soldier, a good German, but he does not agree with some things he has witnessed. Too many people have only their own interests at heart and will go to any length to achieve their goal, including Gregor Reinhard.
THE PALE HOUSE has a very atypical premise: Gregor Reinhardt is a German resistant albeit still working within the confines of the German military. THE PALE HOUSE is not so much a book about the Second World War as it is about a man seeking justice and truth and who is also having an existential crisis. Reinhardt is a tortured man, an honest policeman trying to do his job, but has to deal with corruption and cover-ups at all levels. THE PALE HOUSE is a very compelling murder mystery that takes place in a seldom talked-about country during WWII, and Mr. McCallin paints a vivid picture Sarajevo, of the people, and the dire conditions everyone had to endure. It's remarkable that the author has managed to make a hero out of a German officer; it's a very compelling study of fascinating characters evolving in a very complex story.
THE PALE HOUSE is a story of a man with a conscience in a time and place in history where lines get quite blurry between right and wrong.
As the Nazi war machine is pushed back across Europe,
defeat
has become inevitable. But there are those who seek to
continue the fight beyond the battlefield.
German intelligence officer Captain Gregor Reinhardt has
just been reassigned to the Feldjaegerkorpsβa new branch
of
the military police with far-reaching powers. His position
separates him from the friends and allies he has made in
the
last two years, including a circle of fellow dissenting
Germans who formed a rough resistance cell against the
Nazis. And he needs them now more than ever.
While retreating through Yugoslavia with the rest of the
army, Reinhardt witnesses a massacre of civilians by the
dreaded UstaΕ‘eβonly to discover there is more to the
incident than anyone believes. When five mutilated bodies
turn up, Reinhardt knows the stakes are growing more
importantβand more dangerous.
As his investigation begins to draw the attention of those
in power, Reinhardtβs friends and associates are made to
suffer. But as he desperately tries to uncover the truth,
his own past with the UstaΕ‘e threatens his efforts.
Because
when it comes to death and betrayal, some people have long
memories. And they remember Reinhardt all too well.
And now, Reinhardt will have to fight them once more.
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