The novel feels like a Bildungsroman and had me deeply involved with it, and with Ralf and his involvement with Oz and all the spying plot in a (West) Berlin where the Stasi agents could be anywhere, could be anyone we knew.

There are a few elements of the plot that don't come as huge surprises when they finally happen but others are much more unexpected. Of course, it’s perfectly understandable that this would be the case because it was turned into a battlefield during WWII and then became a city literally divided by the Cold War. Israel is well aware of the role his Uncle played in his incarceration as well as the hard time he endured behind bars. But I’d never seen an erect penis that wasn’t my own, I’d never seen a pale pink circumcision scar, I’d never seen, piece by piece, how a man’s body joins up, how the landscape of skin and hair changes in texture and tone, from the folds of the lips to the folds of the testicles, the tufts of black on his toes to the perfect triangle of hair above his buttocks on his otherwise hairless back. Israel is instantly a suspect and is interrogated by his corrupt uncle who is the assistant sheriff who has bought half the island.The ending was a bit rushed for my taste, and part of me wished for a more satisfying confrontation between Ralf and certain other characters.

At times I felt I could see exactly what Fergusson was doing, but I willingly went with it, and was rewarded .His relationship with Oz is filled with a young sort of longing, with plenty of awkward flirting and even some tender moments. Like all of my friends, I’d seen the ubiquitous soft-core pornography on late-night German television that our English relatives found scandalous. Showing no remorse for what his nephew did fifteen years earlier, Sterling is quick to want to place serious shade and suspicion upon Israel for this mass homicide.

I really enjoyed this book and I'm definitely going to look out for more books by Ben Fergusson in future. The young are driven by a innate sense of honesty, the desire to see right and wrong as absolutes but the adult world in grey, nuanced, complex. He reports his findings immediately and is visited by both Uncle Sterling and his boss, a tough female Police Lieutenant named Jennifer Salazar.Let's be clear, this is not a tawdry M/M romance although there is some sex, almost all of it suggested and completely tasteful. This is sketched out with typical behaviours and interests especially those shared around their enjoyment of what life outdoors is available (biology, bird and animal life, geology) as they cycle freely around Berlin. It kept me guessing through to the end, and while there were a few issues for me, namely a bit of cheesiness (esp in the denouement) and some oddly described familial dynamics, overall, this book was a profound treat that would appeal to MANY readers. Ben Fergusson's "An Honest Man" reminds us that love can cause us to see with rose-colored glasses but it can also give us clarity to help us see what had been in front of us the whole time. And the novel has a tragic depth that leaves the reader disturbed and in shock as psychological walls dissolve and the truth slowly unwinds.

Ralf is a teenager still, but his interest is aroused by Oz and he becomes embroiled in the other man’s investigation of his neighbour. Although we might not like or forgive Ralf’s parents, Fergusson does give these characters some nuance. All perfectly normal - except this is West Berlin which is still divided by the Wall and awash with spies and paranoia . This is just one of many reasons that Michael Koryta is beloved by his colleagues, critics, and fans. As the conclusion came, I was still in the grasp of the gritty ending even as I realized what was coming.Various film and television adaptations of the books are underway, with The Prophet, So Cold the River, The Cypress House, and Those Who Wish Me Dead all optioned as feature films, and the Lincoln Perry series and The Ridge being developed for television.