The Seacoast of Bohemia [Mass Market Paperback]

Nicolas Freeling (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 1996

A missing boy is presumed to be just another runaway, until Brussels-based Inspector Henri Castang discovrs that the boy's grandfather--a former SS officer--has an illegitimate son in the Czech Republic. The deeper he digs, the more Castang believes the boy's disappearance is really a dark and savage cqse of kidnapping in which the boy's half-brother is exacting a very personal retribution.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In his latest case, Brussels' Henri Castang (Love in Amsterdam et al.), once a policeman but now an "Advisory Expert on criminology" in the vast bureaucracy of the European Community, agrees to investigate the disappearance of Anita and Arnold Rogier's son, Maurice, kidnapped four years ago, when he was eight years old. Mme. Rogier insists she has just received a call from her son, but few believe her. Castang's search leads him and his wife, Vera, born in Czechoslovakia, first to Mme. Rogier's father, an SS officer during WWII, and then to Bohemia, in the Czech Republic, where the past catches up with the present. In the end, the motivation for the kidnapping is unclear, and a leap from that crime to another is too great. Although Freeling touches on some of the ironies of post-Cold War Europe, this tale, shifting point of view between past and present, lacks a clear focus. The result is that Castang's wry, dark musings, even against the backdrop of Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale (as indicated in the title), spread a murky fog over events rather than cast their usual revealing sidelight.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Henri Castang, former French police commissaire turned Brussels bureaucrat, is not averse to playing sleuth if the case offers a respite from his usual desk jockey^-paperwork routine. When the wealthy Madame Rogier appears in his office, swearing she's had a telephone call from her young son, who was kidnapped four years ago and is presumed dead by the baffled police, Castang is at first skeptical but soon becomes intrigued--by Madame Rogier; her wheelchair-bound husband; her father, a former Nazi sympathizer; and the odd circumstances of the kidnapping. Nothing will do but for Castang to go poking about in the Rogier family's past, which means trekking off to Bohemia and Copenhagen on a case that becomes more mysterious and complex by the day. While the plot is tre{‚}s intriguing, it is Castang, full of Gaelic charm, wry humor, and long-suffering patience with the vagaries of life, and bearing more than a passing resemblance to that beloved British barrister Rumpole, who makes this lively adventure, the latest in a long-running series, such a delight. Emily Melton --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Mysterious Press (July 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446403717
• ISBN-13: 978-0446403719
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 3.9 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 1.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,250,493 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A big waste of time, June 19, 2002

By 

CMBohn "cmb" (Orem, UT USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Seacoast of Bohemia (Mass Market Paperback)

A little boy disappears. Four years later, his mother gets a call she swears comes from her son, saying he's fine. Henri Castang, former French police officer, agrees to investigate. So far, so good. But then it turns out that the grandfather of the little boy was a former SS agent who had a illegitimate child with a Czechoslovakian woman, and of course, that explains the kidnapping.

This plot was really far-fetched. The characters were unbelievable and flat. But the really awful part was the writing. I can accept a thin plot if the characters are interesting and the writing is good. But it was very frustrating trying to read this. I gave up after 6 chapters and just skimmed through the rest. The writer puts in whole conversations without identifying the speakers. He treats thoughts and words the same way. The characters, especially Castang, will carry on two conversations, one real and one imagined, at the same time. I had no idea what was going on. I will not read another one of these books.