Customer Reviews

Bridge of Sighs

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In Eastern Europe, 1948, twenty two year old detective Emil Brod is given his first murder case for the People's Militia. A famous patriotic songwriter is killed in his home. As Emil investigates the murder he realizes there may have been a political reason for the killing. While questioning the upper hierarchy of the party, he is suddenly suspected of being a spy. With death being the penalty for a convicted spy, Brod now finds his own life in danger. He can expect no help from his colleagues in the People's Militia. Emil, with so much at stake, cannot abandon his search for the truth.
THE BRIDGE OF SIGHS is a period piece historical novel with a major strength being the descriptions of the locale- the exact location of which is unknown. Characters almost play a supporting role to their surroundings. The author keeps things in proper perspective, however, as the plot moves quickly to its clever ending. With the strong reliance on the almost unbearable oppression of the people, one immediately recalls the historical dramas of J. Robert Janes and LIE IN THE DARK by Dan Fesperman. Very well done.

It shows the continuing genius of "Casablanca" that a single verse from that movie can encapsulate the atmosphere of "The Bridge of Sighs." It comes from Annina, the young Bulgarian refugee who tells Rick Blaine, "We come from Bulgaria. Oh, things are very bad there, monsieur. A devil has the people by the throat." That's "The Bridge of Sighs" in a nutshell, and therein lies the challenge to the reader: how to enjoy such a relentlessly cheerless plot.

Moreover, neither the main character, Emil Brod, nor his love interest were particularly engaging. Brod's grandfather, a logorrheic simpleton, drove me to distraction with his tedious and tendentious bromides about the glories of socialism.

The novel was undermined further for a reason that's not the author's fault. I listened to the audio version and found it irritating. The reader made a number of characters sound like Grandpa Simpson, whose voice on "The Simpsons" cartoon television show is perhaps the most grating on television. There's a gay character who the reader caused to sound like the stereotypical mincing homosexual--with an overlay of Grandpa Simpson! The women, young and old, tended to sound octogenarian.

But Steinhauer is a talented writer. If you start by reading "The Bridge of Sighs," you may stop there, which would be a shame. Read Steinhauer's "The Tourist" first. It's a fine thriller, worth five stars. Then turn to "The Bridge of Sighs" and see if you like it. People's tastes vary, and the written text may be easier to absorb than was the audio version.

This novel takes place in 1948 in an unnamed Eastern European country. World War II has come to an end, the country has been liberated from the Germans, and Russian soldiers still occupy the war-ravaged city. Main character, Emil Brod, recent graduate of the police academy, now begins his career as a homicide detective with the People's Militia. Brod, for no reason he can fathom, is shunned by his fellow detectives. After several days of inactivity, Brod is finally given a case--his co-workers wait expectantly for him to fail. A patriotic songwriter for the state has been brutally murdered, and political ties are evident.

The Bridge of Sighs is wonderfully written, rich in vivid and detailed description. Characters are complex in their development, and the book has an overall sense of foreboding.

There's already a couple of plot summaries here, so I won't add to the pile, except to say that THE BRIDGE OF SIGHS succeeds brilliantly in presenting a fresh new take in a genre in which we thought we'd seen all it could offer.

Fans of the pinnacle works of John LeCarre and Graham Greene should take note of Steinhauer. THE BRIDGE OF SIGHS evokes a deep understanding of that cold, bitter world behind the iron curtain, but with a modern sensibility of encroaching history soon to pass. I found myself unable to put this book down.

With its taut, lean storytelling, complex characters and dark, foreboding atmosphere, the book begs to be made into a film - hopefully one that doesn't diminish the book's strengths, as this novel promises to be the first in a vital new series. I await the next instalment with great anticipation.
Jake Steele

The Bridge of Sighs takes place in a very unique time and place -- post WWII (1948) and in a tiny Eastern block country. It's wonderful how the hero of our story, Emil Brod, is relentlessly nailed to the wall right from the beginning. He starts a new job, everybody hates him, and things at home -- living with his grandparents -- aren't exactly great, either. And it gets worse before it gets better.

In a nutshell, this is a wonderful by-the-book detective story, though the by-the-book-ness is perhaps its weakest point. The story has been told a million times before -- the woman in trouble, the corrupt official, the hero going through the ringer before overcoming the villain. I just wish Steinhauer would have gone slightly off the formula to keep it a bit fresher.

But that's a very minor complaint. This is a superbly novel with identifiable, realistic characters and a plot that just keeps on moving. Steinhauer can flat-out write: look for a tightly constructed chapter near the middle of the book where he intercuts a flashback (Brod's fight with his arch enemy aboard the ship) and present-day action (a hooker trying to get Brod's attention). Artful, beautiful, perfect.

In 1948, the aftermath of WW II remains on every street in this tiny eastern bloc nation shrouded behind an Iron Curtain. Though Communist and Russian controlled, murder remains a crime so twenty-two years old Emil Brod is proud when the State selects him to become a rookie homicide inspector. However his comrades, his chief comrade, and the security inspector treat him like a pariah because he safely "hid" in Finland rather than fighting the Nazis.

After a few days of the silent treatment with only filing for work, Emil's boss Chief Moska assigns him to investigate the murder of state songwriter Janos Crowder. Excited, Emil looks around the crime scene and interviews the apartment supervisor Tudor who found the body. Emil realizes the case has top-level connections so Moska assigned it to him to get rid of the newcomer. Later, Moska informs him that Tudor has also been killed. Now partnered with a veteran cop, who punched him in the testicles on his first day, Emil continues to make inquiries knowing that this could be his last investigation.

THE BRIDGE OF SIGHS is a robust historical police procedural that vividly brings to life Eastern Europe in the early Soviet days. The story line contains a strong investigation that alone will hook the audience, but the ensemble cast especially the detectives turn this mystery into a triumph that fans will want to read. Readers will anticipate Olen Steinhauer's second novel in what appears will prove to be one of the better cop series of this decade.

Harriet Klausner

The immediate aftermath of WWII-notably the dropping of the Iron Curtain-provides the mental landscape for this brooding mystery set in the unnamed capital of a fictional central European nation. The story commences with fresh-faced 22-year-old Emil Brod reporting for duty at the homicide squad of the people's militia. As a teenager he fled the war and worked as a fisherman in Finland only to return home to find his parents dead and his small country under Soviet occupation.

In this setting of scarcity and political opression, his first case is the murder of a prominent writer of patriotic songs. The motive is murky, as are some suspicious photos he finds hidden in the songwriter's apartment. As the investigation progresses and apparently leads toward powerful people, he has to decide whether or not his colleagues are trustworthy, and just how far he wants to pursue the case. Further complicating matters is his attraction to the songwriter's rich, estranged wife, who reminds him of the beauty and comforts he briefly glimpsed in the West.

The main plotline of "dark secrets at the highest levels" is not particularly original, nor is the inspector's affair with the wife, however Steinhauer does an excellent job of putting everything together in crisp prose and a compelling setting. The country's atmosphere of suspicion and tension are captured very effectively, and Brod is a convincing novice inspector, lurching across the landscape in his quest for the truth. He's a policeman with a lot of guilt, pain, and ambivalence, but without the world-weariness often prevalent in such characters. Those who like Alan Furst's work, or Philip Kerr's "Berlin Noir" trilogy, or Pavel Kohout's "The Widow Killer" should all enjoy this dark debut.

Olen Steinhauer has spent a lot of time in Eastern Europe, and it really shows in this richly atmospheric crime novel. The Russians have expelled the Nazi invaders from this small nameless country and are hanging around to ensure Liberation Soviet-style takes root. Romantic Ruritania, the mythical pre-war country invented by Anthony Hope, has woken up in the middle of a Stalinist nightmare. Everywhere there is suffering, devastation, paranoia and poverty. But life must go on, and it does in all its complexity. People find their own ways to survive - struggling, scheming, betraying, murdering and ultimately grasping at love and loyalty. The story is a little slow to start, but then it gains momentum and ends like a runaway train. Everything about this book - its characters, plot and setting is convincing and the writing creates such a compelling account that you have to stop yourself grabbing an atlas to confirm the geo-political details he spins out. Luckily this is the first in a series digging into the lives of a group of Militiamen whose individual stories are foregrounded in different ways as we are taken through a convincing 40 year historical narrative. Do the good guys win out in the end? Wait and see!

The only positive for me from reading The Bridge Of Sighs, Olen Steinhauer's first novel, was to learn how much he improved as a writer and storyteller in his latest books, The Tourist and The Nearest Exit; both of which I thought were very good.

In Steinhauer's attempt at a literary crime novel, the plot takes place in 1948, three years after the Russians liberated this small (not specified) Eastern European nation from German occupation. However, the Red Army still patrols the capital's rubble-strewn streets, and the ideals of the Revolution are but memories. In this environment, a young, inexperienced homicide detective, who spent the war years working on a fishing boat in Finland, finally gets his chance to serve his country working for the People's Militia by investigating the murder of a state songwriter.

Based on my strong enjoyment of Steinhauer's The Tourist and The Nearest Exit, I was anticipating liking this book as well. Unfortunately, although I forced myself to finish The Bridge Of Sighs, I disliked it a lot. Steinhauer did moderately well in creating a rich sense of atmosphere but the book was disappointing in all other elements I look for in a good novel. The plot was weak, unoriginal and boring for the most part, the characters were uninteresting, unlikable and lacked dimension, and the book lacked a sustainable level of action and excitement. Suffice it to say that I'm glad I read Steinhauer's last two books before reading The Bridge Of Sighs because I might not have ever read these two books if I read The Bridge Of Sighs first.

The Bridge of Sighs opens in a nameless Eastern European country behind the Iron Curtain in 1948. The Nazis have been vanquished only to be replaced by Stalin's henchmen. Our hero, 22 year old Emil Brod, is fresh from the Police Academy and joins his hometown police force as a homicide detective - to somewhat less than open arms.

After several days of "hazing" he is finally assigned the case of a brutally murdered patriotic songwriter. As Emil begins to investigate the crime he realizes that the case is much more complicated than everyone - especially his superiors - originally thought, as it becomes clear there is a political motive behind the murder and the ones that soon follow.

The good news is that this book is wonderfully written. Having never lived in or visited a post World War II Eastern European country while in the grips of communism, I can only speculate as to what it was like. While reading The Bridge of Sighs it sure felt like I was there - from the ill fitting suits to the cabbage soup hungrily slurped at the dinner tables.

The bad news is that even the highly descriptive narrative can't hide the fact there isn't much of a plot here. Or rather that the plot is unremarkable and unoriginal - one that we've seen and read many times before - with our highly principled hero fighting against the oppressive all powerful government; his peers in crime-fighting initially suspicious but finally coming around to Emil's side; and there's even a young rich beautiful woman to rescue.

There's a similarity here - conscious or not - to Alan Furst's books as well as to Martin Cruz Smith's Arkady Renko series, unfortunately without the plot sophistication or depth. That being said The Bridge of Sighs piqued my interest sufficiently that I'll pick up at least one more book in the series, i.e. there is potential here.