Plan D, written by Simon Urban, is a thriller set in an alternate history where the Berlin Wall never came down and West Germany and East Germany remain as separate countries.
Buckle up and brace yourself for suspense, intrigue, and an author whose imagination is on fire. Taking place in and around East Berlin in October 2011, Plan D is too scorching hot for me to do anything but shoot off a batch of bullets:
VICTIM
A silver-haired old man dangles from a noose in a forest next to a critically important gas pipeline, his shoelaces tied together and the noose has a hangman's knot with eight turns, indicating that he's considered a traitor by the Stasi, the East German Secret State Security Service.
However, given the significant political and economic implications of the pipeline running through East Germany, connecting the West with Russian energy, could an interested party have simply staged the scene to make it appear as though the Stasi were the murderers? With so much at stake, including East Germany's economic future, one thing is clear: any clear-cut answer is highly unlikely.
MARTIN WEGENER
Meet the novel's main character, Captain Wegner, a detective with over thirty years of experience in the East German police force. Plan D is written in close third-person, allowing readers to look over Captain Wegener's shoulder as we follow the savvy East German gumshoe from the first page to the last.
Wegener's observations on the things and people he encounters in East Germany are always crisp and sharp, as when the detective spots the doctor sent to examine the dead oldster hanging several feet above the ground. “The man consists almost entirely of straight edges, a square skull with a square chin. Below that, square shoulders. Legs like steel struts underneath his trousers, presumably. Muscled girders for marching extra snappily.”
It's Captain Wegener who is assigned to the case of this murder. And the power players doing the assigning toss in a surprise: to ensure that East German State Security will be portrayed in the best possible light as justice is served, the good Captain will be working with police officers from West Germany.
FRÜCHTL
Captain Wegener frequently conducts mental conversations with Früchtl, his friend and mentor, who is now either dead or, more likely, having been locked away these past few years in a Stasi secret prison. Here's a snip of Früchtl wisdom Wegener hears (I italicize since the novel always italicizes Früchtl's words):
Of course I'd warn you to be mistrustful. And of course they've got you fucked with this job, Martin. Who wants to be drawn into a special investigation where you get a shit-load of trouble if you find anything out and a shit-load of trouble if you don't find anything out? But remember, getting fucked can be a good thing, even if it's your own state that's using you against your will, because everything that happens in your life is just as much disadvantage as advantage; even when you get raped it's all about trying to enjoy it.
KAROLINA ENDERS
Although divorced for nearly two years, Martin Wegener still yearns for Karolina, a stunning thirty-five-year-old redhead who currently holds a high-level government position revolving around the country's energy sources. Wegener recognizes she isn't the same person he knew a year ago. “Perhaps it was the ministry people who'd changed her. Or her career progress. Perhaps you had to coordinate your fingernails and handbag with your hair, as a section head. Perhaps you got promoted if you wore socialist colours particularly often. Karolina was tougher, cooler, more perfect than she used to be. Karolina was more successful. Karolina was even more beautiful. Karolina was further away than ever. And yet just as close as ever.” Do you sense sweet Karolina might play a major part in the unfolding of the mystery Wegener is charged to solve? Nothing like the passion a man can have for a beautiful women to energize and deepen an already supercharged story.
RICHARD BRENDEL
The top West German police officer sent to work with Wegener proves quite the man, arriving in his large, sleek Mercedes. Here's Martin Wegener on first meeting this tall, slim gent with gray hair who is a couple of years older than he is. “Brendel's eau de toilettte got to him before the man himself did. A heavy, saccharine scent slightly reminiscent of sweet-shops. A touch of liquorice. A hint of rose. A bit of sherbet. Wegener noticed simultaneously that he liked the smell and that he found it annoying that he liked it. Then their hands gripped one another, a normal, firm handshake, a brief glance into the blue, blue eyes. Brendel's mouth smiled a subtle smile. Or his mouth was shaped in such a way that it looked subtly smiling from close up. You had to look up to the mouth's owner. He was a least one metre eighty-five, if not one ninety. His features were a good-looking fortress that might be concealing anything at all. Capitalism didn't just have more legroom – it smelled better too.” I included this extended quote to underscore Martin Wegener's keen observation skills, which always includes a tincture of cynicism. And, I can assure you, the Wegener-Brendel detective team proves a highlight in Simon Urban's fast-paced thriller.
EAST GERMANY
In many ways, East Berlin and East Germany are major characters in the novel, especially when seen in comparison with West Berlin and West Germany. Simon Urban's alternate history adds a special tang when it comes to culture and society. Turning the pages, I felt as if I was indeed living in East Berlin, trudging through its rundown streets, looking up at all the soot-darkened tenement buildings, riding in cramped, crappy cars, eating tasteless imitations of bread and meat, sitting in on many nightmarish bureaucratic meetings where men and women have flattened themselves down into two spiritless dimensions.
And how do the East Germans see the West and the West's snazzy products? One short scene speaks volumes. Wegener and Brendel exist a Stasi building and return to Brendel's car. “When they stepped out into the courtyard, about twenty men in Stassi-coloured suits were taking turns to pose by the Mercedes bonnet, photographing each other with their Minsk cameras.” Where's your socialist ideals now, Comrades?!
What is the Plan D of Plan D? A definite answer is given but you'll have to read Simon Urban's thriller to find out. A special nod to Katy Derbyshire for her translating into clear, accessible English. Fans of novels written by authors like John le Carré and Henning Mankell will be in for a special treat with Plan D.
German author Simon Urban, born 1975
Comments
Post a Comment