Bridge Of Sighs

'Bleak and uncompromising, this powerful novel grips from beginning to end' Sunday Telegraph

Steinhauer's thoughtful and impressive debut... is a welcome addition to wartime ground mapped out by Philip Kerr, Alan Furst and J Robert James

Bleak and uncompromising, this powerful novel grips from beginning to end

Olen Steinhauer was born in Virginia, USA and studied in Romania on a Fulbright Fellowship. While there, he wrote The Bridge of Sighs, his acclaimed first novel. He now lives in Budapest.

It's 1948; three years after the Soviets liberated a tiny nation from German occupation. But the ideals of the revolution have dissipated - the Red Army still patrols the rubble-strewn streets of the Capital; everyone is careful to address one another as Comrade. Lawlessness and corruption are the rules of the City. 
 
The young homicide inspector Emil Brod, fresh from the police academy, is unprepared for the instant hatred his colleagues appear to have towards him. It seems they believe he is a spy. When the wealthy state songwriter, Janos Crowder, is found murdered, the case is, surprisingly, assigned to Emil. It's not long before Emil discovers threads that link Crowder's death to very highest levels of the Party. 
 
Emil's investigations threaten to lead him into more and more danger. And Lena, Crowder's beautiful widow, complicates matters further. But Emil's choice is simple - between the truth and that of his and Lena's safety.

Olen Steinhauer

'Makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up'

'We can only marvel at the rumbling undertone of dread that Steinhauer builds around what appears to be a routine investigation of a suicide but turns out to be just the tip of a murderous political conspiracy'

'Steinhauer successfully conjures up the grey, dehumanised world of a nascent communist state, which provides a suitably chilling backdrop to his hero's quest to unearth a secret that threatens to ruin the lives of many'

'Good enough to suggest comparison with Graham Greene: places the author in the forefront of contemporary suspense writers'

Eastern-bloc Europe, 1956.Ferenc Kolyeszar, homicide detective, is finding his life increasingly frustrating.His career as a published author appears to be at a standstill, his job is acquiring a political dimension that is making him uncomfortable, and his wife is cheating on him with a colleague. 
 
Then the celebrated painter Antonín Kullmann is found dead, his arms and legs shattered, his body set on fire. It's an exceptionally brutal murder and, as an artist himself, Ferenc becomes obsessed with solving the case. Peeling away the layers of deception and duplicity that surround the case, Ferenc discovers a secret - a secret with devastating repercussions, particularly in this politically turbulent time. 
 
As his country moves from a tenuous democracy into a brutal totalitarian state, Ferenc learns what it means to betray others, and what it means to be betrayed.

Olen Steinhauer

Praise for The Confession

'Makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up'

'We can only marvel at the rumbling undertone of dread that Steinhauer builds around what appears to be a routine investigation of a suicide but turns out to be just the tip of a murderous political conspiracy'

'Steinhauer successfully conjures up the grey, dehumanised world of a nascent communist state, which provides a suitably chilling backdrop to his hero's quest to unearth a secret that threatens to ruin the lives of ...

'Makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up'

'We can only marvel at the rumbling undertone of dread that Steinhauer builds around what appears to be a routine investigation of a suicide but turns out to be just the tip of a murderous political conspiracy'

'Steinhauer successfully conjures up the grey, dehumanised world of a nascent communist state, which provides a suitably chilling backdrop to his hero's quest to unearth a secret that threatens to ruin the lives of ...

'Makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up'

'We can only marvel at the rumbling undertone of dread that Steinhauer builds around what appears to be a routine investigation of a suicide but turns out to be just the tip of a murderous political conspiracy'

'Steinhauer successfully conjures up the grey, dehumanised world of a nascent communist state, which provides a suitably chilling backdrop to his hero's quest to unearth a secret that threatens to ruin the lives of ...

Books by Olen Steinhauer

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