The Pale House

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

375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014

USA • Canada • UK • Ireland • Australia • New Zealand • India • South Africa • China

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A Penguin Random House Company

This book is an original publication of The Berkley Publishing Group.

Copyright © 2014 by Luke McCallin.

Penguin supports copyright. Copyright fuels creativity, encourages diverse voices, promotes free speech, and creates a vibrant culture. Thank you for buying an authorized edition of this book and for complying with copyright laws by not reproducing, scanning, or distributing any part of it in any form without permission. You are supporting writers and allowing Penguin to continue to publish books for every reader.

BERKLEY
^®
is a registered trademark of Penguin Group (USA) LLC.

The “B” design is a trademark of Penguin Group (USA) LLC.

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.

To my wife, Barbara,
and my children, Liliane and Julien.

All my love.

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.

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

Å¡    “sh” as in
shut

ž    “zh” as in
measure