PRAISE FOR
THE MAN FROM BERLIN
“I’m reminded of Martin Cruz Smith in the way I was transported to a completely different time and culture and then fully immersed in it. An amazing first novel.”
—Alex Grecian, author of The Yard and The Black Country
“From page one, Luke McCallin draws the reader into a fascinating world of mystery, intrigue, and betrayal.”
—Charles Salzberg, author of Devil in the Hole
“Set in 1943 Sarajevo, McCallin’s well-wrought debut . . . highlights the complexities of trying to be an honest cop under a vicious, corrupt regime . . . Intelligent diversion for World War II crime fans.”
—Publishers Weekly
“Luke McCallin’s first novel . . . is nothing if not ambitious . . . Because every surface appearance in the Balkans is deceptive, setting his novel there makes Luke McCallin’s maiden effort an even more notable achievement. Despite such potential pitfalls, the author has produced an extraordinarily nuanced and compelling narrative.”
—New York Journal of Books
Berkley Books by Luke McCallin
THE MAN FROM BERLIN
THE PALE HOUSE
THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP
Published by the Penguin Group
Penguin Group (USA) LLC
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This book is an original publication of The Berkley Publishing Group.
Copyright © 2014 by Luke McCallin.
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eBook ISBN: 978-1-101-59688-3
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
McCallin, Luke, 1972–
The Pale House / Luke McCallin.—Berkley trade paperback edition.
pages cm—(A Gregor Reinhardt novel)
ISBN 978-0-425-26306-8 (paperback)
1. Germany—Armed Forces—Officers—Fiction. 2. Intelligence officers—Fiction. 3. Civilians in war—Crimes against—Fiction. 4. War crimes investigation—Fiction. 5. World War, 1939–1945—Yugoslavia—Fiction. 6. Sarajevo (Bosnia and Hercegovina)—History—Fiction. I. Title.
PR6113.C3585P35 2014
823'.92—dc23
2014006608
PUBLISHING HISTORY
Berkley trade paperback edition / July 2014
Cover art by Danielle Abbiate.
Cover design by Richard Hasselberger.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.
Version_1
To my wife, Barbara,
and my children, Liliane and Julien.
All my love.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
It all began when my editor, Amanda, asked me if I could deliver the second Reinhardt within a year after the publication of The Man From Berlin. Given it had taken me eleven years—give or take a few months—to write the first book, I was more than a little nervous. So, it turned out, was Amanda! Writing The Pale House has been a source of immense personal satisfaction, but also a testament to how much encouragement and help I’ve had along the way. Far more than for The Man From Berlin, writing The Pale House has needed quite a bit of both.
I would like to thank my friend Chelsea Starling in particular for introducing me to Jordan Rosenfeld, a writing coach whose course on plot helped in focusing and refining my understanding of how stories work and come together. For anyone wondering or interested in such courses, look no further than jordanrosenfeld.net.
Thanks again to friends and family who read and commented on the drafts, in particular—as always—to Mum and Dad and my sisters, but also to Severine Rey, Marina Throne-Holst and Marina Konovalova, Jean Verheyden, Ben Negus, Miriam Lange, and Mike Flynn. Thanks to Jennie Rathbone for not only reading the draft, but for putting me in touch with the good people at World Radio Geneva. Special thanks to Professor Emily Greble, who took the time to answer my questions about Sarajevo, to Franz Bottcher for going beyond the call of duty in researching German Army judicial proceedings, and to Tamara for setting my Serbo-Croat straight!
A special thanks to Pamela Cramer and her daughter Anna who, while walking down Lexington Avenue in New York, snapped a picture of a gentleman in a car reading The Man From Berlin, and who was promptly christened the Man From Manhattan! The picture is on my Facebook page for anyone who would like a look at it.
Thanks again to Ryan, Tamara, and Loris at Geneva Fitness for always setting the bar high and keeping me on my toes!
I have been moved by all the reaction to the first book, and hope The Pale House lives up to expectations. I have thoroughly enjoyed meeting so many people through Sofie von Staplemohr’s and Monique Bouvoir’s reading groups, and thanks as well to Xavier Huberson at Payot Books and to Helen Stubbs at Off The Shelf. It has as well been a real pleasure to hear from, and interact with, all those readers who took the time to contact me through the website or on Facebook.
A big thank-you to my agent, Peter Rubie, for keeping things simple. And last, but not least, I want to thank my editor, Amanda Ng, for always pushing me to consider and reconsider Reinhardt’s journey. It was hard, but I enjoyed it, and I hope you all do as well.
CONTENTS
Praise for Luke McCallin
Berkley Books by Luke McCallin
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Note on Pronunciation
Comparative Chart of SS, German Army, and British Army Ranks
Cast of Characters
Prologue
Part One: Blood on a Dying Tree
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Part Two: All Are Not Huntsmen Who Can Blow the Hunter’s Horn
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Part Three: When the Wolf Rises in the Heart
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Part Four: The Dead Ride Quickly
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Epilogue
Historical Note
Note on Pronunciation
c “ts” as in hats
“ch” as in starch
“tch” as in hatch
Dj “dg” as in fridge
Dž “dg” as in hedge
J “y” as in you
Lj “ly” as in million
Nj “nj” as in new
š “sh” as in shut
ž “zh” as in measure
COMPARATIVE CHART OF SS, GERMAN ARMY, AND BRITISH ARMY RANKS
WAFFEN SS
WEHRMACHT
BRITISH ARMY
Reichsführer-SS
-
-
-
Generalfeldmarschall
Field Marshal
SS-Oberstgruppenführer
Generaloberst
General
SS-Obergruppenführer
General
Lieutenant General
SS-Gruppenführer
Generalleutnant
SS-Brigadeführer
Generalmajor
Brigadier
SS-Oberführer
-
-
SS-Standartenführer
Oberst
Colonel
SS-Obersturmbannführer
Oberstleutnant
Lieutenant Colonel
SS-Sturmbannführer
Major
Major
SS-Hauptsturmführer
Hauptmann
Captain
SS-Obersturmführer
Oberleutnant
Lieutenant
SS-Untersturmführer
Leutnant
Second Lieutenant
SS-Sturmscharführer
Hauptfeldwebel
Regimental Sergeant Major
SS-Stabsscharführer
Stabsfeldwebel
Sergeant Major
SS-Hauptscharführer
Oberfeldwebel
-
SS-Oberscharführer
Feldwebel
Staff Sergeant
SS-Scharführer
Unterfeldwebel
Sergeant
SS-Unterscharführer
Unteroffizier
Corporal
SS-Rottenführer
Stabsgefreiter
Lance Corporal
-
Obergefreiter
-
-
Gefreiter
-
SS-Sturmmann
Oberschütze
Private
SS-Oberschütze
Schütze
Private
SS-Schütze
Gemeiner, Landser
Private
CAST OF CHARACTERS
IN THE GERMAN ARMY IN SARAJEVO
IN THE MILITARY POLICE, THE FELDJAEGERKORPS
Captain Gregor Sebastian Reinhardt: a former detective in the Berlin Kriminalpolizei (Kripo)
Colonel Scheller: commander of the Feldjaegerkorps in Sarajevo
Lieutenant Max Benfeld: a young Feldjaeger officer from Alsace, known as “Frenchie”
Sergeant Priller: a machine gunner
Corporal Ossig: communications
Priller, Bader, Pollmann, Triendl: Feldjaeger
IN THE MILITARY POLICE, THE FELDGENDARMERIE
General Herzog: commander of military police in Sarajevo
Major Neuffer: liaison officer to the Feldjaegerkorps
Sergeant Ibel: a patrol officer
Private Günsche
IN THE 999TH BALKAN FIELD PUNISHMENT BATTALION, UNDER THE CONTROL OF THE FELDGENDARMERIE
Colonel Pistorius: commanding officer
Major Erwin Jansky: chief of staff
Lieutenants Brandt and Metzler: officers in the penal battalion
Kreuz: a soldier sentenced to the penal battalion, a recidivist and informant
Thun: a documents clerk
Alexiou: a Greek, a “hiwi,” a foreign volunteer
Kostas and Panos: his twin sons
Georg Abler, Carl Benirschke, Otto Berthold, Bruno Cejka, Jozef Fett Werner Janowetz, Marius Maywald, Jürgen Sedlaczek, Christian Seymer, Ulrich Vierow: soldiers sentenced to the penal battalion, their fate unknown
IN THE SARAJEVO GARRISON
General Kathner: general officer commanding in Sarajevo
Judge Felix Erdmann: chief of army criminal justice in Sarajevo
Judge Marcus Dreyer: serving in the War Crimes Bureau, an old friend of Reinhardt’s from Berlin
Colonel Wedel: in charge of the army’s defense plans for Sarajevo
Captain Langenkamp: army liaison to the Ustaše
Doctor Henke: a military doctor
Captain Prien: an officer in military intelligence
IN THE CITY—THE OPPOSING FORCES, THE CITIZENS CAUGHT IN-BETWEEN
IN THE PARTISANS
Vladimir ‘Valter’ : chief of the Partisans in Sarajevo
Simo: his right-hand man
IN THE USTAŠE
General Vjekoslav ‘Maks’ : commander of the Ustaše in Sarajevo, a man of fearsome reputation
Colonel Ante : his deputy, known as “the Gambler,” an old adversary of Reinhardt’s
Captain Bunda: an Ustaše of imposing size and temper
Captain : Ustaše liaison officer to the German Army
Nikola Marin and Franjo Sutko: Ustaše torturers
Labaš and Zulim: Ustaše soldiers, friends with Bunda
Jovan Buzdek, Svetozar , and Branimir Zulim: Ustaše officers, brutal men, of particular interest to the Partisans
IN THE CITIZENRY
Suzana : one of the directors of Napredak, a humanitarian organization, and mother of Marija, whose death Reinhardt investigated in The Man From Berlin
Inspector : a detective in the Sarajevo police
Almira and Suljo : an elderly couple, refugees rescued by Reinhardt from a massacre
Neven: a boy rescued by Reinhardt at the same time as the
Anica: a woman working at Napredak
Safet : a playwright
&n
bsp; ELSEWHERE AND ELSEWHEN . . .
Carolin: Reinhardt’s wife, died of cancer in 1938
Friedrich: Reinhardt’s son, lost with the German Sixth Army at Stalingrad
Captain Koenig: officer in the Vienna garrison, a member of the German resistance
Rudolf Brauer: Reinhardt’s former partner in the Kripo and his oldest and closest friend
Colonel Tomas Meissner: Reinhardt’s mentor, and regimental commander during WWI, a member of the German resistance, his fate unknown
Major Hassler: former deputy to Colonel Scheller, killed in action in Montenegro
Doctor Muamer : a senior Partisan, a friend of Reinhardt’s, known as “the Shadow”
Inspector Andro Padelin: a Sarajevo policeman and Ustaša, partnered with Reinhardt in The Man From Berlin
PROLOGUE
VIENNA, NOVEMBER 1944
“Tell me again,” the Gestapo officer said. The one slouched behind the desk. “The bit about the car crash. Tell me that bit, again.”
Reinhardt’s mouth felt gummed dry, the blood in his mouth sticky and heavy. They had given him nothing to drink since they had dragged him in here. He breathed heavily through his nose. “We were attacked south of Brod . . .”
“On the way to interrogate General Verhein.”
“No,” said Reinhardt. Something felt wrong in his mouth. There was space and movement where there should not be. He focused on the floor. The tiles were mismatched, different colors, different sizes. He focused on one, fixed his eyes on it, tried to ignore the pacing of the second agent. The one who prowled and struck whenever he wanted to. “We were lost. We ended up going south by mistake.”
“So you weren’t looking for Verhein?”
“No.”
Fingers snaked into his hair, and his head was yanked back. The other agent measured him with his eyes.