Victory Square - (Yalta Boulevard Quintet) by Olen Steinhauer (Paperback)

About the Book

It is 1989 in a small, fictitious Eastern European country set to explode as its 40-year-old revolution teeters on the edge of collapse. At the same time, a murderer is on a rampage. Now head of the People's Militia and nearing retirement, Emile Brod reopens a case that started his career in the 1940s even as he finds his name on a list of elderly people to be eliminated.

Book Synopsis

From the author of New York Times bestseller The Tourist...

The revolutionary politics and chaotic history at the heart of Olen Steinhauer's literary crime series set in Eastern Europe have made it one of today's most acclaimed, garnering two Edgar Award nominations, among numerous other awards. Upon reaching the tumultuous 1980s, the series comes full circle as one of the People's Militia's earliest cases reemerges to torment its inspectors, including militia chief Emil Brod, the original detective on the case. His arrest of a revolutionary leader in the late 1940s resulted in the politician's imprisonment, but at the time Emil was too young to understand how great the cost would be. Only now, in 1989, when he is days from retirement and spends more and more time looking over his shoulder, does he realize that what he did in the line of duty may get him--and others--killed.

By fusing a story of revenge at any cost with a portrait of a country on the brink of collapse, Steinhauer masterfully brings the personal and political together with devastating results and once again raises crime fiction to a stunning new level.

From the Back Cover

Praise for the Novels of Olen Steinhauer
"Dazzling . . . a skilled writer working at the top of his form."
"--Publishers Weekly "(starred review) on "Liberation Movements"
"Brano Sev is Steinhauer's most intriguing hero yet, and that's saying something. . . . With its shifting perceptions, pervasive paranoia, and truly unpredictable plot, this will be savored by readers of well-crafted espionage ranging from Alan Furst to John le Carre."
"--Booklist" (starred review) on "36 Yalta Boulevard"
"A wonderfully taut tale that is part police procedural, part political thriller, part love story. . . . Steinhauer has created a vivid world in a lost time."
--"The ""Washington"" Post Book World" on "The Confession"
""The Confession" is a clever reworking of the police procedural: The narrative-within-a-narrative exposes multiple levels of complicity and guilt that make this an affecting, sobering entry in one of the most inventive series around."
"--""Los Angeles"" Times" on "The Confession"
"Think of the savage brilliance of J. Robert Janes's mysteries about World War II France; of the suspenseful erudition of AlanFurst's thrillers. Steinhauer's debut is right up there on those stellar heights, casting new light on relatively recent history we thought we already knew everything about."
"--""Chicago"" Tribune" on "The ""Bridge"" of ""Sighs"

Review Quotes

"This story catches all the danger and excitement of the historic moment." --The New York Times Book Review

"Clipped, economical prose . . . Steinhauer offers a concrete end to the sins of the past." --Los Angeles Times

"If previous books upped the narrative ante . . . this one goes all in." --Booklist

"Brilliant conclusion of his ambitious Eastern European series . . . Masterful." --Kirkus Reviews

About the Author

OLEN STEINHAUER, the New York Times bestselling author of ten previous novels including The Tourist, is a Dashiell Hammett Award winner, a two-time Edgar award finalist, and has also been shortlisted for the Anthony, the Macavity, the Ellis Peters Historical Dagger, the Ian Fleming Steel Dagger, and the Barry awards. Raised in Virginia, he lives in New York and Budapest, Hungary. Visit OlenSteinhauer.com.