A riveting story set behind the Iron Curtain during the Cold War. It's the first of three books - I think it's three. If I were to learn of a fourth I would be thrilled. ( )

Another winner by Olen Steinhauer. I've enjoyed all the books I've read by this author, and I'm happy to see there's more in this series. The main character in this book is a strange young man named Emil Brod, a new homicide inspector in some Eastern European country in 1948 who doesn't know when to quit. He goes after some higher up politico that has the power to just have someone shot without any apparent consequences, something he demonstrates pretty dramatically, though fortunately unsuccessfully, with Brod, who is told to drop the case. But he can't do that, because the book would be pretty uninteresting if he did. But the good news is that all the people he works with (and for) no longer seem to hate him after this happens, and he even becomes friendly with some, including the one who kicked him in the testicles earlier in the story. ( )

Set in a unnamed Eastern European country a few years after WWII. The main character is technically Emil Brod, a newly minted homocide inspector.

But to me the real main character is the country and the era itself. Overrun by first Germany and then Russia, distrust and re-writing of both national and personal history are hallmarks. A very atmospheric novel. ( )

After World War II, Emil returns from his Arctic fishing expedition with Norwegian crews to his native Eastern European country. He joins the militia as a homicide detective. He gets his first case, but it's clear a cover-up is in the works. It reads like a thriller, particularly when he finally goes to East Germany to follow a lead. The murdered man's wife becomes a romantic interest of the young detective. We learn a little about Emil's family, particularly about his grandfather. I'm not the best fit for thrillers, and this one had its share of problems besides the genre itself. I was interested in the time period and setting, but I found it frustrating in this particular book. I listened to the audio book read by Ned Schmidtke who really didn't make it exciting. I noticed a place where the recording levels did not match, and the narrator sounded different. ( )

*Heavy Sigh* Not bad, but not great.

I had this book on my shelf for a while now. I never read Olen Steinhauer and I heard he was good. I use to gobble up this type of book and decided to go back and see what I have been missing.

Emil Brod, a young Eastern European, comes home to unnamed Soviet Block country after WWII. He goes to the Police Academy and becomes a Homicide detective in The People's Milita. His new co-workers are less than thrilled to have him. Emil's grandfather adds some color to the story,
and I think the other Homicide Detectives, in future books, could lure me back.

The first half of the book was so slow I was ready to throw in the towel, but something kept drawing me back to Emil. I really liked this character, but it really took me a lot time to warm-up to the writing. I had to get over 100 pages in before I really started connecting with the characters and the world they lived in.

This was Olen Steinhauer's first book, I have the rest of the series on my shelf and for now I will leave them.
( )