Berlin, 1940. The city is paralysed by fear. But one man refuses to be scared. Otto, an ordinary German living in a shabby apartment block, tries to stay out of trouble under Nazi rule. But when he discovers his only son has been killed fighting at the front he's shocked into an extraordinary act of resistance, and starts to drop anonymous postcards attacking Hitler across the city. If caught, he will be executed. Soon this silent campaign comes to the attention of ambitious Gestapo inspector Escherich, and a murderous game of cat-and-mouse begins. Whoever loses, pays with their life. 'Extraordinary ... redemptive ... as morally powerful as anything I've ever read' Charlotte Moore, Daily Telegraph 'One of the most extraordinary and compelling novels written about World War II. Ever' Alan Furst 'Terrific ... a fast-moving, important and astutely deadpan thriller' Irish Times 'Fallada assembles a cast of vivid low-life characters, stoolies, thieves and whores' James Buchan, Guardian 'An unrivalled and vivid portrait of life in wartime Berlin' Philip Kerr