The Night Reporter - by Yuri Vynnychuk (Paperback)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

The events of the novel The Night Reporter take place in Lviv in 1938. Journalist Marko Krylovych, nicknamed the "night reporter" for his nightly coverage of the life of the city's underbelly, takes on the investigation of the murder of a candidate for president of the city government. While doing this, he ends up in various love intrigues as well as criminal adventures, sometimes risking his life. Police Commissioner Roman Obukh, who was suspended by administrators from the murder investigation, aids him in an unofficial capacity.

Meanwhile, German, and Soviet spies become involved, and Polish counterintelligence also takes an interest in the investigation. The picturesque and vividly described criminal world of Lviv of that time appears before us - dive bars, batyars, and establishments for women of ill repute.

The reader will have to unravel riddle after riddle with the characters against the background of the anxious mood of Lviv's residents, who are living in anticipation of war.The Night Reporter is a compelling journey into the world of the enthralling multicultural past of the city.

This book has been published with the support of the Translate Ukraine Translation Program.

Review Quotes

"If you think all East European novels are long, slow, and heavy, you have not encountered any of Yuri Vynnychuk's historical crime stories. Set in 1938 in the Ukrainian city now known as Lviv, they read like novels set in Chicago or Los Angeles by Raymond Chandler or Mickey Spillane. The central character in The Night Reporter is Marko Krylovych, an investigative journalist who does his research after sunset in the drinking dens of Lviv. The book is written almost entirely in dialogue-quickfire exchanges with few speeches. Description is short and crisp. The story is about gangsters, corruption and murder. The women are beautiful and as ruthless as the men." Edward James, Historical Novel Society