rojo25's review against another edition
4.0
I liked this book. First, the cast of characters and the relationship among them is intriguing. But, it’s the time and place of the story. Nobody wants to share any information and it’s literally a frightening place to live. I recommend.
viktoriya's review
3.0
I liked the first half of the book and then it kind of went downhill for me. Something in the book made me loose all interest and it happened really sudden too. It wasn't a specific scene or a plot twist (there wasn't even really a plot twist) Also, the audio book narrator was annoying with his fake accents. Probably that's what killed the book for me in the end.
aszekely's review against another edition
2.0
The atmospherics of the book were excellent. Steinhauer deeply researched life in post-World War II Eastern Europe at the start of the Cold War and it shows. But, the plot and characters were lacking. The plot twists were not terribly original and the characters were two dimensional. After liking [b:The Tourist|4590265|The Tourist|Olen Steinhauer|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1312063136s/4590265.jpg|4639728] so much, I had high hopes for this book, but was left feeling disappointed.
martyfried's review
4.0
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.
kfrench1008's review against another edition
2.0
Too slow. Also, the main character was kind of a drip.
jenaje's review against another edition
5.0
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.
jillianm's review against another edition
4.0
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.
left_coast_justin's review against another edition
2.0
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.
brummelfaoro's review against another edition
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!!!
margardenlady's review against another edition
3.0
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.