A bookseller's review of The Man from Berlin
The Captain embarks wholeheartedly on the path to discover the motive behind the murder - and the actual murderer - as a way to escape the unhappiness and despair he feels in his own life. He is haunted by his dreams - of his actions performed while doing his duty; torn between being proud to be German and a love of his country, with the utter harshness and brutality of what was expected of him as a soldier. The nightmares he experiences at having killed innocent people as an officer, have created a hollowness within him. This he attempts to dull with alcohol.