Brennende Erinnerung (German Edition) by Alan Russell

Brennende Erinnerung (German Edition) Reviews

• 
  Pamela

  Since the average rating on this book is over 3.5 stars, many of those who read/reviewed/rated it must have enjoyed it. My experience has been different.
  
  This review may contain some spoilers, but really, who cares? When a book is this bad it doesn't matter.
  
  Cons
  
  Dialog: To say the dialog was sophomoric would be an insult to sophomores the world over. Imagine if you will, adults who speak and, in the case of the main character, think in adolescent wise-cracks that are barely better than "knock-knock jokes". And not just a few of the characters. Every. Single. Character. Male or female, young or old. They all, except for one surfer dude, sound exactly alike with their pre-adolescent yucks. It was so bad, even when it was a conversation between the main character and someone he had just met, I had to go back and forth, checking quotation marks to keep up with who was saying what--as though it mattered.
  
  Characters: First of all, as mentioned above, all the characters sounded alike--from the main character to a florist in New England to the gift shop volunteer to the two other detectives to the main female character, they all sounded EXACTLY alike.
  
  I've read badly sketched characters before, but these were incredible in their blurriness. Take for example the main female character--Dead Baby Burying Woman (DBBW). What does she do for a living that she can afford to bury all the dead babies as well pay the rent on her stereotypically small but amazingly decorated apartment? Is there any way to tell the difference between the two "helper" detectives? If there is, please enlighten me as I couldn't keep them straight.
  
  Much of their behavior, like their dialog is straight out of the sixth grade. There is one scene where DBBW eats a dog biscuit because she can't seem to wait until she and the main character get to the restaurant. Granted she puts hot sauce on it...but really? A dog biscuit? Oh yeah, and she "totally gets him" from the very beginning of their "relationship". Basically, I felt that DBBW was the woman of a guy's dreams--if that guy were only 12 or 13 years old.
  
  Plot: There are two mysteries. The mysteries aren't bad, in and of themselves, but the author does manage to ruin them. There are no plot twists. There are no red herrings. There are no...well, there's just not much of anything. And as for the solution to the main mystery, the main character pulls it right out of his butt. Yep. No real clues. Not much foreshadowing. He just wakes up and poof! There's the solution! That's great for him, but leaves the readers--at least this reader--angry enough to...to....to eat a dog biscuit!
  
  Pros
  
  The spelling and punctuation are good.
  
  
  
  
  
• 
  Victoria

  Just a few pages into this mystery, I stumbled over the writing itself - inconsistent verb tenses, coupled with an over-reliance on passive verbs. It definitely distracted me more than a few times, but the never-failing charm of Detective Michael Gideon and his German Shepherd partner, Sirius, drew me right back in after each occurrence. This duo was likable from the very first page - and remained so until the very last page. Gideon’s narration included a lot of humour and wit, which sped up the overall pacing of the novel - so much so that I read it in one sitting! I really enjoyed it - much more than I expected to after some of those grammatical hitches.
  
  Russell seemed to pay homage to both Spencer Quinn’s Bernie and Chet the Jet series in some ways (though Sirius spent an awful lot of time cooped up in the car!), as well as to Thomas Harris with Gideon’s relationship with the Santa Ana Strangler/Weatherman. The book really felt like the start to a series - Russell laid a very sound foundation with these likable and sympathetic characters. The dialogue flowed very naturally and the character just felt real. The plot took a few unpredictable turns, but nothing shocking or implausible, either. Any predictability was more than compensated by the strength of the characters and their relationships. A sequel would most definitely be welcome!
• 
  Nicole

   I have received an ARC of this book through a GoodReads FirstReads giveaway.
  This book is by far one of the best I've read in awhile. From page one I was sucked in, and when I wasn't reading, I couldn't wait to get back to it.
  You can't help but like, and root for the main character in this story who, despite a tragic past, has a sense of humor through it all. Being a huge animal lover, I enjoyed how well Sirius (the dog) was written. (It's a pet peeve of mine to read a story with a dog that has no personality, and is written in cliches.)
  A well written and enjoyable read. I am looking forward to reading more by this author.
• 
  Sharon

  Police detective Michael Gideon, and his K-9 partner, Sirius, have literally been through the fires of Hell. After surviving serious burns, the two are put on a Special Cases assignment. Even having Sirius on the force is unusual after his injuries, but Gideon refuses to be separated from him.
  
  One of the first cases they catch is a crucifixion, which leads to all manner of complications and subplots. The victim, on the surface, is the typical Big Man on Campus ... but obviously he has some enemies.
  
  This is so far from the typical police procedural/whodunnit that I was delighted. Alan Russell has created atypical characters who are likeable despite their demons and lack of perfection. He also wrote a tight mystery that had me completely surprised at the reveal. As I read a good many of these books, it's hard to surprise me. Yet, Russell managed to do just that.
  
  It's always hard to review a mystery without delivering spoilers. Suffice it to say that this one is well worth your time and comes highly recommended.
  
  (Review based on uncorrected advance proof.)
• 
  Sharon Michael

  Almost anything with a realistic dog/handler connection works for me and this is a very good example. The police procedural/mystery is good, the trauma/PTSD the main character battles is handled well and the interaction between the main character and the dog are excellent.
  
  Two things dropped this from 5 to 4 stars for me. The flashbacks seemed more intrusive than necessary, I felt they could have been fewer in number and introduced somewhat more smoothly. I also found myself somewhat uncomfortable with the continued interaction with the killer/arsonist. Perhaps for me it resonated a bit of the interaction between Hannibal Lecter and Clarice Starling in the Hannibal series, a series which I did not care for.
• 
  Liz

  Not a fast paced mystery by any stretch. This novel seemed to be designed to set up our knowledge of the main characters for future stories. Still, decent character development and I can see reading more of Russell's work.
• 
  Michael Sherer

  Alan Russell may be the most underrated, least well-known best-selling thriller writer around. I met Alan at Bouchercon in Pasadena in 1992, and he’s been turning out books ever since. I hadn’t read one of his for a long time until picking up BURNING MAN, recently released by Thomas & Mercer.
  
  A police procedural as much as it is a thriller, BURNING MAN quickly establishes a terrific character in LAPD K-9 cop Michael Gideon, and masterfully provides back story by walking its hero and sidekick Sirius, a German Shepherd, through the fires of hell, literally, when Gideon traps and arrests a serial killer in the middle of a raging brush fire in the L.A. hills.
  
  Still in mourning his wife’s death, when Gideon recovers he does the only thing that will keep him sane—he returns to duty with an assignment to head up a Special Cases Unit investigating untypical cases that require out-of-the-box thinking. Haunted by dreams of the fire that disfigured him and the serial killer who caused it, Gideon and Sirius tackle two special cases simultaneously.
  
  Two-thirds of the way through this book I’d begun to marvel at how similar Russell’s style and content are to the much better known Michael Connelly and his Harry Bosch series, especially since I’d just finished THE DROP. And what to my wondering eyes should appear in BURNING MAN but a reference to said book.
  
  Unfortunately, Gideon’s defense mechanism against all that haunts him is a sardonic, almost flip attitude. He uses humor to ward off his demons and anyone who tries to get to close to him or what’s really bothering him. While it’s endearing for a while, by the last third of the book, the tone began to grate. By the end I don’t think I could endure another wisecrack, and rather than the smart but flawed (and scarred) cop Russell wanted me to see, I began to envision Rodney Dangerfield.
  
  Russell deserves the kind of accolades that Connelly gets. He’s a damn fine writer. I hope his next outing sees the sharp eyes and red pencil of a terrific editor before getting to print. In the case of BURNING MAN, I think it would have made a very good book an excellent one.
  
• 
  Monnie

  When I was offered the chance to get this book for 99 cents as an "earned credit" at Amazon.com, I read the synopsis, checked customer reviews and learned that author Alan Russell, the author of 10 books, has won several writing awards. Satisfied that my almost-dollar probably wouldn't be wasted (and any event it wasn't much to lose), I downloaded it. When I ran out of other things I wanted to read a couple of months later, I decided to find out if I'd won or lost.
  
  And wow! This, my friends, is (pun intended) a real sizzler. Not only did I have trouble putting it down, but the closer I got to the end the more I realized I didn't want it to.
  
  The story begins as LAPD officer Michael Gideon and his K-9 partner, dubbed Sirius, are reassigned to head up a new Special Cases unit after suffering bad burns while capturing a serial killer, who was severely burned as well and now on death row. Essentially, Gideon is told, they'll take on out-of-the-ordinary cases, and the first is a doozy: a teenage boy is found crucified in a city park. At the same time, the body of a days-old infant - apparently left in a box to die by an uncaring mother - turns up near a bridge. Gideon identifies with the infant and vows to find the mother and see that she's prosecuted to the fullest extent.
  
  Juggling those two cases - one official and one unofficial - forces Gideon to come to grips with demons of his own (not the least of which are recurring dreams of burning alive). And, he must deal with an ongoing, but reluctant, relationship with the serial killer, who may hold the key to the boy's murder. Complicating matters even more is a budding romantic relationship with a woman who has made it her job to see that abandoned babies are not forgotten.
  
  There's no shortage of blood and guts stuff here, and it helps that Gideon is a bit of a jokester (well, no belly laughs for me, but I admit to chuckling at quite a few of the one-liners and groaning at a few others). Gideon tends to diffuse situations, including his own reluctance to deal with his own emotions, with humor, and it really works.
  
• 
  Anne

  This book... I TRIED to like it, I really did. I read all the way to the end, hoping it would get better. I endured the quippy cops who spoke so unlike any human being in real life. I made it through the tired cliches. I even tried to ignore one of the most annoying narrators in any book I've ever read. But then came the ending which, I won't spoil it, is unsatisfying. Seriously. I don't recommend this book. I'm hoping that another book by the same author that I've started reading (I impulse bought both, so I may as well finish them) will be better. Such a wasted plot in this one.
• 
  Christopher Everest

  Admission of Guilt .... I like dogs. I like crime fiction. I love smart-arse detectives with a fine line in witty one-liners. I like emotion in a book. This is clearly the start of a beautiful relationship between myself and Mr Russell's books. I admit sections upset me (the death of infants is a difficult concept) but this is a series I can heartily recommend. For those readers that appreciate the genealogy of crime fiction and have travelled the road from the Golden Age of Sayers, to Sherlock, to Travis McGee, to the Noir of Chandler and Hammett, to Roberts Parker and Crais this series of books might well end up in such distinguished company. I like the minor characters : Seth the Shaman, The Saint Lisbet, Father Pat, Jenny the wife who died of in flew enza - each beautifully constructed with their own voices and fitting into the psychological narratives of Detective Gideon and his German shepherd Sirius. I love the humour - the bad jokes, the references to films and television, the understatedness of a hero who is simply doing his job (down those mean streets). Even the procedural aspects of gritty political police business is countered by the setting of Los Angeles and Hollywood with its weirdness displayed with biting wit and satire by a couple of knowledgable protaganists one of whom has four legs and does not speak. But the point is - he does - and we hear Gideon and Sirius - and we like them. Gonna start book 2 immediately now. Who needs sleep anyway.
  
• 
  Maureen DeLuca

  LAPD cop Michael Gideon and his police dog partner Sirius became famous for capturing a serial killer in the midst of an inferno. Both suffering burns and then they did rehab together. When they were both able to come back to work a new unit was designed for them- to tackle out even the most bizarre cases - Gideon’s narration included a lot of humor and wit keeping the story flowing quite nicely. The police procedural/mystery is good, the trauma/PTSD the main character battles is handled well and the interaction between the main character and the dog are excellent.
  
  When I first started reading this book, and well over 1/2 way- my first thought was to give it 5 stars, but I had to bring it down a bit. Gideon's flashbacks were in this book more than I felt necessary, and his interaction with this serial killer was a bit over the top as well which didn't sit will with me, especially towards the end of the book. But, having said that this still is a very good read- ESPECIALLY if you are a dog lover. I will definitely read the second and third in this series.
• 
  John Devlin

  Starts out promising with an effective if sentimental tale of a cop and his dog. The murder that follows and the illogic of the suspects begins to grate, the snappy repartee, the ripped off Hannibal Lecter trope, and the romance all are more of the same.
  
  Specifically, his romance with the woman who furnishes a cemetery for discarded babies shows promise, but the character is as normal as apple pie w/no glitches or even goth sensibility to make her interests in dead babies anything more than just something she does.
• 
  Tulay

  This is a sad story but you'll be laughing too.
  
  Detective Michael's humor will make you laugh, while you're reading his torment and dreams. Sirius is incredibly sensitive and well trained dog. Case of Rose comes so close to his own beginning. Bullies, drugs and murder. Some very strong friends all around him. Wish him happy days ahead, please stay away from fires.
• 
  Mike Steinharter

  Not a bad murder mystery, but dialogue gets on your nerves after a while..just too cute. The dog is the best.
• 
  Indy Quillen

  I've read other novels by Alan Russel and greatly enjoyed them...but for some reason hadn't read the Gideon & Sirius series yet. So glad I picked up this one. Looking forward to the next ones!
• 
  Patrick

  If you like dark humor this one's for you. Good story as well.......
• 
  Scott

  Perfectly acceptable mystery/thriller -after a run of several hard-boiled crime sagas in a row, I needed a palate-cleanser and the hook with this one was a K-9 partner(I'm a sucker for anything animal related) as mentioned, a fine procedural example with better than average writing. a few quibbles: it feels the author has used this book to set up the rest that are sure to come (LOTS of exposition and backstory) also, there were several chunks of the book where it didn't seem to matter if the dog was integral or not. (to be honest the case could probably been solved if he were present or not) but all-in all not a bad who-done-it.
• 
  Msjodi777

  Now this one I liked, even though it repeated itself quite a bit. Some of the narrator's characterizations seemed a bit odd to me, but the story was good, so I could overlook it. I'd recommend it. <><
• 
  Deb

  Chasing a serial killer, catching him in a California forest fire gone wild, not wanting to let go. This is how it all began. How dedicated can a detective be where he would be willing to give his give his life for his partner and not give up. This was a good detective story and I enjoyed every moment and it was left with questions about a sequel.
• 
  Janice Workman

  I had read a later book in the series and decided to go back and start from the 1st one. It kept me intriqued, but I got a bit squimish in some parts - which doesn't happen often. I like books where dogs are portrade well, and this was, so that helped. I didn't like that there was what seemed like a incidental back story which turned out to be the only plot that was answered of several. Still debating if I will continue on. Perhaps if I had not read other books in between - but, that's not what happened.
• 
  Sara the Book Slayer

  3.5 Stars
  Great story about an LAPD cop and his canine partner. Michael and Sirius get injured while going after a bad guy. This book follows them while they investigate several different cases. I will definitely be reading books 2&3.
  The dialog Michael has with females was a big turn off to me while reading this book. He can't have a normal conversation with a woman. All jokes and short choppy sentences .. got quite annoying after the first dozen chapters. I hope that settles down in book 2.
• 
  A Voracious Reader (a.k.a. Carol)

  4.5
  
  *Book source ~ Purchased on Amazon
  
  Michael Gideon and his K-9 partner Sirius are everyday LAPD cops. Until the day they became famous for capturing the Santa Ana Strangler while in the middle of an inferno and getting severely burned in the process. All three made it out alive. After a year of skin grafts and physical therapy, Gideon wants to go back to work even though Sirius’s injuries put him in early retirement. Lucky for him & Sirius, the new Chief has just the job for them. Though he wants the golden apple of Robbery-Homicide, Gideon agrees to give the chief’s newly created Special Cases Unit a try since he’d be pretty much autonomous and even better, Sirius can still be his partner. Win-win. When the case of a crucified teenager comes his way, he investigates, but for some reason this case is stirring up his PTSD more than usual. Will he and Sirius solve the case before his PTSD becomes general knowledge? What is Ellis Haines, The Santa Ana Strangler, cooking up behind bars? And finally, will Gideon screw up a possible relationship with a woman dubbed the Saint? Only time will tell and sometimes time is the fire in which we burn.
  
  What a great read! First, you gotta love a good mystery in which one of the detectives solving it is a German Shepherd. Then there’s all the leads to follow where you don’t have a clue who the killer is. In addition, the dialogue is snappy and on point. And finally there’s a bit of the paranormal to it. Though I’m not sure how much is paranormal and how much is Gideon’s subconscious talking. I choose to put a bit of a paranormal spin on it because that’s what I love, but others may see it differently. There’s also some romance and definitely humor. The only reason I didn’t give this an all out 5 is because sometimes the humor was a bit much and sometimes I didn’t get the references being made. Other than that, I loved it and can’t wait to read the next book.
  
• 
  Jonathan

  Another solid if unspectacular detective novel, the first of the novels featuring LAPD detective Michael Gideon and his police dog Sirius. They are both recovering from a horrific burning, as they brought a serial murderer out of a flaming canyon. In a Hannibal / Clarissa like twist, he gets to visit the serial murderer on death's row in San Quentin to probe his psyche. And in a very
  The Following kind of way, the serial killer seems to be manipulating folks on the outside to mess with Gideon.
  
  While all this goes on, he has to solve 2 mysteries - who killed a dead baby (bringing up his own orphan beginnings) and who crucified a high schooler.
  
  It's all a bit pedestrian, although the dog interactions are, of course, wonderful. Sirius does come in for some deus ex machina usage, though, which is annoying. Other annoying traits of the book are dreams/nightmares that open the way for "special insights" and the habit of a first person narrative to suddenly hide information from the reader that the narrator knows. And I did have to flip back to figure out just who the hell Simeon zeroed in on as the high school killer, having totally lost track of this character many chapters before. It would have been nice if he could have said both his name and who the heck he was, before dashing head long, once again, into an inferno.
  
  I already have the second book,
  Guardians of the Night, on my tablet, so I'll give that a read but otherwise I'm not particularly enamoured with it.
• 
  Jack

  Burning Man, by Alan Russell, ignited my attention from the beginning prologue chapter and smoldered in my consciousness throughout my reading experience.
  
  Michael Gideon, an LAPD detective, and Sirius, his canine partner, were very nearly killed in a fire set by a serial killer they apprehended. To be fair, the serial killer was nearly killed, too, which would have been sweet charred poetic justice, but alas, he survived. Gideon, a widower, and Sirius form a new special cases unit to investigate special unusual cases.
  
  The first case involves a dead infant, which might be the worst kind of case to handle. While at the scene, Gideon and Sirius are called to another homicide, a young man who has been killed in a most cruel and unusual manner, and quite publically, too. And how does serial killer Ellis Haines aka the Santa Ana Strangler aka The Meteorologist figure into any of this?
  
  I loved nearly every line of this book. It’s full of humor and movie references, has a wonderful dog that is more than just a pet, and has an intriguing plot to tie it all together. There are some unresolved issues, though, that will clearly become explosive in some future chapter of the story of Gideon and Sirius. I look forward to that resolution.
  
  One thing that struck me was the name “Michael Gideon”. Michael is one of two archangels mentioned in the Bible, and Gideon was a reluctant prophet of God. Both of these aspects figure into the character of Michael Gideon.
  
  This is highly recommended, 5 stars.
  
• 
  Deb

  I may have found a new author! This is the first book of a series, and I purchased it because I received the second book free as part of my Kindle Prime subscription. I enjoyed it quite a bit. LA police detective Michael Gideon and his canine partner Sirius are trapped in a California wildfire with a serial killer, and all three are badly burned. After a long period of convalescence, Gideon and Sirius return to active duty as investigators in a new special unit. Gideon's job is to investigate unusual cases or cases that catch his interest. He is in the midst of investigating a throwaway baby incident when he is called into a bizarre murder; a teenager has been shot and crucified. The two investigations proceed concurrently as does Gideon's psychological recovery from his trauma. This was a fast paced book. Although I am not sure that Gideon's unhealed mental state would go unnoticed by so many people in real life, I was willing to overlook this. I liked both characters (and Sirius is a major character), and I liked the interactions between Gideon and a woman he's met. I am looking forward to reading the second book in the series.
• 
  Lori Budd

  The book was just ok. ****SPOILERS*****As I was reading, I kept trying to find a way to get the two deaths to connect. And I guess, I just wanted them to be connected. I get there is meaning behind the "moments" after the burning, but to solve the murder because of hyphenated names like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Olivia Newton-John, was just annoying. I never truly "felt" for Gideon. He wasn't a character that I became enamored with. I read the book, but didn't really ever get into it. I was disappointed in the ending, thinking there would be so much more. The story seemed to be dragged on, and then when the revelation of solving the murder came, it was wrapped up too short and sweet.
• 
  Laz the Sailor

  This stand-alone book is a combination of Robert Crais and Michael Connelly, and written with some flair. There is the self-effacing patter, the isolated cop and the lone woman who will save him, the police chief and other interesting characters - it's all there. The writing is solid and the mystery is thrilling. Bonus points for a truly scary ending, with a twist for the "bad guy".
  
  The only weak part of the entire thing was the relationship with the dog. Read
  The Sentry to see how you tell a story about a police dog.