Customer Reviews

Opus

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OPUS A novel by Edward Alexander

“Yes...that is incredible. In fact, all of this is incredible. A search for a music manuscript led me into the intrigues of several intelligence agencies, a hunt for a mystery figure, two murders, travel to two Soviet capitals, and finally, the climax here in, of all places, KGB Headquarters.”

This statement by Phil Faljian, the main character in OPUS, may have you wondering if that’s the story in a nutshell. Actually, OPUS is more of a series of stories, some seemingly unrelated, but which serve as catalysts to the complex structure of the main theme to make it potent reading material. Phil Faljian is a highly cultured, curious, energetic, fact-finding American of Armenian descent from New York, with a degree in musicology from Columbia University. During World War II, he serves with the U.S. Army Intelligence Corps in Europe, and after Germany’s surrender he is assigned to the de-Nazification program interrogating Germans who had prominent political and cultural positions in the Third Reich. While processing a certain Dr. Helmuth von Hase, former director of a famous music firm in Leipzig and now a refugee from the Soviet Zone, he learns that von Hase had in his vault the original music manuscript of a Cello Concerto by Beethoven, of which the world had been unaware. Following an Allied raid on Leipzig, however, the safe was blown open and the

manuscript vanished, believed by von Hase and his staff to have been stolen by a visiting Hungarian musicologist. Faljian vows to get to Hungary and find the priceless manuscript. Twenty years later, after joining the Foreign Service and frustrated by service in American embassies in West Europe, Faljian is unexpectedly assigned to Budapest where he engages in an ardent search for the manuscript. His normal diplomatic duties interfere with his quest, especially when he must escort visiting American personalities such as Kirk Douglas, Isaac Stern, ZsaZsa Gabor, Leopold Stokowski and others around Budapest. He is also fending off the attentions of the Ambassador’s wife, even while romantically entangled with the Ambassador’s secretary. His search takes on a totally new dimension when he learns that his Soviet counterpart - with whom he shares a common Armenian heritage is also searching for the very same Beethoven manuscript. Faljian’s interest, however, is purely cultural while the Soviet’s is clearly something else, giving rise to the question in Faljian’s mind - How could music composed by Beethoven 150 years ago be of such intense interest to the KGB, which he suspects his Soviet colleague to be. Their growing friendship develops into a joining of forces whereby, with Soviet help, Faljian flies to East Berlin and goes on to Leipzig where some light is thrown on the significance of the manuscript. The remainder of OPUS - a novel of 482 pages - is taken up with further revelations about the origin of Soviet interest in the manuscript which hark back to Soviet-German intrigue during World War II, the anti-Nazi conspiracy to assassinate Hitler, the involvement of West German and Hungarian intelligence officers in the search, and the edge-of-your-seat culmination in Moscow at the KGB’s Lubyanka HQ. The novel is peopled by a panorama of personalities - Cardinal Mindszenty, Hitler, Stalin, Andropov, and a great number of Hungarian political and cultural figures - and includes highly dramatic events such as the misadventures of the American Ambassador, two murders, and gripping scenes in the Soviet Union, with never a dull moment. Every page has a new slant and an unexpected turn of plot. It is very easy reading, entertaining and informative. The reader learns about the functioning of an embassy, the atmosphere in communist Hungary, especially among the cultural elite, and a great deal about Beethoven - his habits, life-style, idiosyncracies, troubles and music. OPUS is a book for all ages: the professional, the craftsman, the intellectual, the student and the clergy. It is a book of substance, so please get yourself a copy. It will become obvious to you that Edward Alexander has incorporated much of his memoirs into this novel - and deserves a Pulitzer Prize.

Opus

This is a wonderful modern " can't put the book down" mystery.But it is much more than that. I call it a "cultural mystery" because it is entwined in diplomatic intrigue, musicology, and it is a mini travellogue from Budapest to Berlin, Leipzig and Dresden and then on to Yerevan. While billed as fiction it does represent the real world diplomatic, cultural and musicology experiences of the author, a talented retired Foreign Service Officer. After reading the book not only will you have "shorter fingernails", a concise history of Operatic manuscripts, and a knowledge of the best restaurants and cultural sites to visit in the
above mentioned cities.
An easy five stars from beginning to end!

Opus, being a thick book of about 500 pages, reads in a snap. It has everything a good spy novel is entitled to have, big stakes, big suspense, big thrills with twists and turns hardly any other genre can offer. But this novel delivers an extra punch, in what I'd call a chill of authenticity. Take a brief look at the author's biography and you'll realize how much the factual side of the fiction is rooted in the real experiences of a real person during one of the bleakest periods of modern history.
Mr. Alexander, a seasoned U.S. diplomat who went through inevitable rigors of being assigned to an Eastern Bloc country at the peak of the Cold War, knows what he's talking about. His insight and intimate knowledge of how and at what risk and expense things were being done back then give Opus the validity the best works of fiction enjoy.
Talented narration and deft elaboration of the characters, many of whom are put through a galaxy of dramatic and psychologically challenging predicaments, elevate the almost documentary account of the adventures of an American chasing a seemingly impossible dream in the unyielding and treacherous environment of the other side of the Iron Curtain to the level of an outstanding piece of fiction.

This is a wonderful book! The adventure begins in post-war Germany and brings you through many more countries to weave an exciting tale of suspense, intrigue, culture and patriotism.

The hero of the novel is an extremely likeable young man who is confronted early in his career with a story about Beethoven that stirs his passion for music. This passion leads him to encounters with dangerous and unlikely bedfellows. The story has many twists and turns and will keep you riveted until late in the evening.

An exciting novel of intrigue set in Eastern Europe at the height of the Cold War. Travel with the hero - a United States Diplomat - throughout West/East Germany, Hungary, Greece, the United States, and the Soviet Union as he searches for a mysterious musical manuscript. His adventures and experiences serving as a United States diplomat in various countries in Europe contain all of the elements of a diplomatic thriller. You will enjoy this novel. The story is creative and interesting.