The Confession. Olen Steinhauer [Paperback]

Olen Steinhauer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 2005

The small, unnamed Eastern bloc country of Olen Steinhauer's debut novel "The Bridge of Sighs" is making its first tentative steps towards democracy. By command of the party chairman, the labour camps are being emptied of innocent civilians. The amnesty has begun. But life isn't easy for the celebrated author, Ferenc Kolyeszar. He suffers from writer's block; the gnawing suspicion that his wife, Magda, is cheating on him with his best friend and partner, Stefan; and a malaise that has affected his day job as a homicide inspector. Then the artist Anton-n Kullmann is found dead, his arms and legs shattered, his body set on fire. It's an exceptionally brutal murder. Peeling off the layers of deception and duplicity that surround the case, Ferenc discovers a secret that has ruined the lives of three men, and could ruin the lives of many more, particularly his own. As the country moves from a tenuous democracy into an even more totalitarian state, Ferenc learns what it means to be betrayed, what it means to be the betrayer.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Postwar Eastern Europe chillingly evoked by a storyteller... who understands the relentless conjunction between character and suspense.... Good enough to suggest comparison with Graham Greene; place the author in the forefront of contemporary suspense writers..."
-Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"This is a gripping and fully realized portrayal of a man whose strengths, flaws, struggle, and ultimate fall are emblematic of the fate of Eastern Europe itself. While skillfully developed, the intricacies of plot, particularly the story behind the diverse crimes, fade to relative insignificance in light of Ferenc's heartrending 'confession'. Densely atmospheric and strongly recommended..."
-Library Journal (starred review)

"Beyond delivering an involving police procedural in an intriguing setting, the author relates with spare irony his narrator's psychological journey.... [The Confession] is enthusiastically recommended for fans of well-made hard-boiled and noir fiction."
-Booklist (starred review)

"Bigger in scope... than The Bridge of Sighs [...Steinhauer's original and mesmerizing first mystery]... the novel makes readers wonder just what Steinhauer will do for the next book in his series..."
-Publishers Weekly (starred review)

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

About the Author

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

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Arrow Books (July 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 009945338X
• ISBN-13: 978-0099453383
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,466,877 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More 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 and Italy. He also spent a year in Romania on a Fulbright grant, an experience that helped inspire his first five books. He now lives in Hungary with his wife and daughter.

http://www.olensteinhauer.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Read More Steinhauer, May 2, 2008

By 

Douglas S. Wood "Vicarious Life" (Monona, WI) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Confession (Inspector Ferenc Kolyeszar) (Paperback)

The Confession, Olen Steinhauer's second novel set in an unnamed post-war Eastern European country, is a complex multi-layered work - part police procedural, part erotic romance, part noir mystery, part reflection on totalitarian excesses. That's a lot to fit into 326 pages, but Steinhauer deftly manages to pull it off.

Set in 1956, The Confession centers on Ferenc Kolyeszar, a member of a state police unit (the People's Militia) in the Capital, but also an author with connections to the underground literary community. Neighboring Hungarians are experimenting with freedom and pulling away from Moscow until that revolt is brutally repressed. During sympathetic protests in the Capital, the commissar-like Russian Kaminsky puts the police unit in the uncomfortable and unfamiliar role of repressor. Ferenc is less than fully cooperative.

At the same time, Ferenc's partner pursues a seemingly fruitless investigation of an apparent suicide with links to the art world while another member of the unit digs into the unsolved murder of a colleague who had been investigating a rape and murder that others would as soon left alone. Ferenc's own investigation of the disappearance of the beautiful young wife of a powerful industrialist takes an unexpected turn.

Ferenc's marriage is failing and he suspects his police partner is cuckolding him. He takes to heavy drinking and spending nights away from home. Multiple pressures build on Ferenc until he takes some decidedly rash actions.

Steinhauer pulls the various strands of the story together. His close examination of the brutality inside a forced labor camp for political prisoners is both chilling and brilliant. The closing forty pages were as good an ending as I have read in quite some time - a 'wow'. Highly recommended.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Worth the Investment, January 12, 2008

By 

ZenReader "ZenReader" (washington,dc) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Confession (Inspector Ferenc Kolyeszar) (Paperback)

Of the four novels in this series I have read this one takes the greatest commitment. The first 75 pages seem to stumble along with little connection to a central plot --at one point Comrade Inspector Ferenc Kolyeszar discusses the death of plot and I really started to worry --but almost out of nowhere a strong and emotional story with all the crime and politics you could ask for emerges. The end makes the book worth while. If you get it. Stick with it.

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great book, August 6, 2007

By 

James L. Bumbalo - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Confession (Inspector Ferenc Kolyeszar) (Paperback)

I can't believe no one else has reviewed this book. It's a fantastic thriller. If you like Alan Furst, you'll enjoy this book. The writing is eloquent and atmospheric and the story is enthralling. The first book in this series, "The Bridge of Sighs," is also very good. I can't wait to read the remaining books by Steinhauer, who certainly deserves to be much better known and read.