The Air Raid Killer is a brilliant historical crime thriller written by Frank Goldammer and translated by Steve Anderson. Though the murder mystery and race to catch a chilling serial killer made for an engaging read, I found the setting to be the most compelling aspect of the book: the city of Dresden at the fall of the Third Reich.

The Germans know that the war is lost, the ferocious Russians are approaching from the east as the Nazis wreak frantic havoc on the refugee-filled city, and a killer stalks the streets, mutilating and murdering during air raid drills. Detective Max Heller—Great War veteran, concerned husband, and worried father—is a great every-man protagonist. He is honorable and dedicated, forced into a balancing act with his fanatic Nazi superiors and later into an unlikely alliance with the vengeful Red Army.

The characters, protagonist and antagonists alike, are well-rounded, complex, and fully-fleshed. Though the narrative becomes bogged down in places, the pace is overall steady and tense, building to a satisfying, surprising climax. The story begins in the winter of 1944 in a city holding its breath in the last pushes of war. The backdrop of the murder mystery is the weeks leading up to the infamous firebombing in February of 1945, and the hunt for the serial killer continues into the spring of that year. Rich in detail, the strength of the story lies in the intimate glimpse into the everyday lives of German citizens surviving in a country first occupied by Nazis and then by the Russians. Mr. Goldammer paints a vivid, harrowing picture of a battered but resilient people struggling to survive in dire circumstances.

Books sometimes suffer in a translation, but Mr. Anderson’s interpretation of the prose flows smoothly. Filled with culture, history, murder, and bravery, The Air Raid Killer is a compelling read and a brilliant study of humanity at its rawest.