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The Istanbul Variations
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Product Description
A beautifully written thriller from the acclaimed Cold War series writer: 'a welcome addition to the wartime ground mapped out by Philip Kerr and Alan Furst' Guardian Prague, 1968: a young student is captured as he tries to flee the country in the wake of Russia's suppression of the Prague Spring. Seven years later, a People's Militia homicide investigator boards a plane for Istanbul. When it is hijacked by Armenian terrorists, the Turkish authorities try to establish contact -- but the plane explodes in mid-air. No negotiation, no explanation. Why? Two investigators are assigned to the case: Gavra Noukas, a homicide detective who lives a dangerous double-life, and Brano Sev, an experienced secret policeman loyal to the state. Both believe their superiors are keeping them in the dark but neither can work out why. As they start unravelling the elaborate mystery, though, a trail emerges -- one leading back to a seven-year-old murder, a seemingly insignificant killing with terrifying consequences.
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #2144260 in Books
- Published on: 2006-11-06
- Original language: English
- Binding: Hardcover
- 352 pages
Editorial Reviews
Observer
'Great stuff.'
About the Author
Olen Steinhauer grew up in Virginia, and has since lived in Georgia, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, Texas, California, Massachusetts, and New York. Outside the US, he's lived in Croatia (when it was called Yugoslavia), the Czech Republic, Italy, and now Hungary. He also spent a year in Romania on a Fulbright grant, an experience that helped inspire his first five books.
In these places, he's worked as a dishwasher, librarian, assembly-line worker, hotel laundry worker, and English teacher.
After earning his undergraduate degree from the University of Texas at Austin, Olen received his MFA from Emerson College in Boston, studying with such fine writers as Gail Mazur, Christopher Tilghman and Andre Dubus III.
He has published stories and poetry in various literary journals over the years. His first novel, The Bridge of Sighs (2003), the start of a five-book series chronicling Cold War Eastern Europe, one book per decade, was nominated for five awards.
The second book of the series, The Confession, garnered significant critical acclaim, and 36 Yalta Boulevard (The Vienna Assignment in the UK), made three year-end best-of lists. Liberation Movements (The Istanbul Variations in the UK), was listed for four best-of lists and was nominated for an Edgar Award for best novel of the year.
