Too slow. Also, the main character was kind of a drip.

I thought I'd written a review for this book already, but just noticed I hadn't. Oh well, I loved the book, and am excited to read the rest of the series.

Post WWII eastern bloc police noir - pulls you along quite nicely, not a roller coaster, but compelling enough for me to get the rest from the library.

Hint for thriller writers: People who are shot multiple times in the torso are unlikely to be very productive for the rest of the week.

I like all of these novels...I am just always trying to imagine what city they are in and what the hell language they are speaking!!!

Lots of E. European angst...post WWII. This saga was nicely written, well read, and depressing. If you are a WWII fan you'll love it. I am wary that it's the start of a series, but will probably listen to some others. The characters were developed well. The part that was hard for me was the aspect of life in a post WWII easter European country - hard for me to visualize.

Steinhauer's first novel is a strong combination of police procedural and political thriller (leans 3.5 stars). Characters are well developed, plot is interesting, and setting is original. Sometimes his writing is a little repetitive (OK, I GET your motif...move on) and transparently aimed at the literary genre market, but for the most part very well-crafted.

Like a lot of people, I like Steinhauer's later stuff, but this felt weak. A strategic error, in my view, was setting the story in an unnamed East European country, rather than, say, East Germany or Hungary, which Steinhauer knows intimately. Without a real backdrop, the story might as well take place in Freedonia.