Siren of the Waters (Commander Jana Matinova Investigation) [Hardcover]

Michael Genelin (Author)

Book Description

Series: Commander Jana Matinova Investigation | Publication Date: July 1, 2008

"In the end, we must acknowledge that we have been held spellbound by a master storyteller. Highly recommended.”—Library Journal Starred Review

“A truly fine novel. It’s filled with exactitude of place and people, taking us into a world that seethes with dangerous secrets. On that treacherous journey, Michael Genelin makes unfamiliar worlds seem knowable, and does so with great style.”—Pete Hamill, author of North River

“A terrific novel by a man who knows crime, knows Europe, and knows how to write. Siren of the Waters is a genuine pleasure.”—Thomas Perry, author of Silence

Jana Matinova entered the Czechoslovak police force as a young woman, married an actor, and became a mother. The regime destroyed her husband, their love for one another, and her daughter’s respect for her. But she has never stopped being a seeker of justice.

Now, as a commander in the Slovak police force, she liaises with colleagues across Europe as they track the mastermind of an international criminal operation involved in, among other crimes, human trafficking. Her investigation takes her from Ukraine to Strasbourg, from Vienna to Nice, in a hunt for a ruthless killer and the beautiful young Russian woman he is determined either to capture or destroy.

Michael Genelin, a graduate of UCLA and the UCLA Law School, has served in the LA District Attorney’s Office and the US Department of Justice in Central Europe. He has written for film and has been an adviser to television series. He now lives with his wife and daughter in Paris.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

A slightly below-average first novel by an American lawyer displays some weaknesses in plot and characterization. Commander Jana’s investigation of the deaths of a crashed and burned van of imported prostitutes leads her across Europe. Set in Slovakia, Ukraine, and southern France, the novel never really takes advantage of the rich atmosphere of these locales. Of the various characters, only Jana and her nemesis, an unknown criminal mastermind, are fully fleshed out; most of the other players are either two-dimensional or stereotypical. With a heavy reliance on backstory here—Jana’s past in Communist Czechoslovakia—it’s not clear where the author plans to go with this series in future installments, but despite this novel’s problems (a too-pat ending is also troublesome), there is still potential for the series, if Genelin can take advantage of his relatively untapped setting and improve on his character building. Fans of the international crime novel should give the series at least one more chance. --Jessica Moyer

Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Soho Crime; First Edition edition (July 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1569474842
• ISBN-13: 978-1569474846
• Product Dimensions: 5.4 x 1.1 x 7.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #893,106 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Michael Genelin is a writer, lawyer and international consultant in government reform. He is also the author of four highly acclaimed novels, Requiem For a Gypsy, The Magician's Accomplice, Dark Dreams and Siren of the Waters. He's a graduate of UCLA School of Law and was a deputy district attorney in the LADA's office, prosecuting hundreds of cases. He also supervised the prosecution of all major gang crimes as Head Deputy of the DA's Hardcore Gang Division. Leaving the DA's office Michael worked as an international consultant in government reform for, among others, the US State Department, Department of Justice and the US Agency for International Development in Slovakia, Palestine, Nepal, South Sudan, Indonesia and Tanzania specializing in such areas as anti-corruption, criminal justice reform, government reorganization, freedom of information, due process, etc. He has also written for the stage, movies and television.

Michael now lives in Los Angeles is now focusing on writing novels, all of which have been applauded by the public and critics, including the Boston Globe, The New York Times, The Globe and Mail, The Washington Post, Library Journal (starred reviews), Publishers Weekly, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Kirkus Reviews and others. He has recently completed the fifth novel in the Jana Matinova series, For the Honored Dead, and is now working on a stand-alone novel, The Book of Thieves.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Promising But Has Problems, October 5, 2009

By 

J. Moran (Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Siren of the Waters (Commander Jana Matinova Investigation) (Paperback)

This is the first in a series featuring Commander Jana Matinova of the Slovak Republic's national police. We first see her on the scene of a possibly suspicious traffic accident. She finds a burning van and seven bodies. The lone male has two passports. Five of the six dead women are foreigners and all are prostitutes.

Matinova quickly concludes that the "accident" is murder and that the Slovak Republic is a transit point in the flesh trade in Europe. Her superiors quickly grant the request of the chair of the EU committee dealing with the flesh trade and send Matinova to Strasbourg to attend and speak at the meeting, a meeting that is promptly disrupted by the murder of a participant, soon followed by the killing of another.

Matinova finds herself on the trail of Koba, a ruthless and brilliant master criminal whom few have ever seen. He is now fighting back against attempts to kill him and seize control of the criminal organization that he created. It is not the first time. He has been "killed" often but never stayed dead. He strikes unexpectedly, swiftly and invisibly. He has never lost. His enemies, powerful but terrified of Koba, are also reacting violently.

Matinova is a good character. She is a tough, honest and brilliant detective in a society that gives cops great leeway in their work but where, because of the Communist past, the public mistrusts the police and many of the cops are corrupt. The novel comes alive when Matinova is on stage. Unfortunately she is the only fully realized character in the story. Everyone else is supporting cast at best.

Koba is obviously a superman. He is a phantom not only to the other characters but to the readers, who are told nothing of his methods. Matinova's immediate superior seems to have no function other than to be endlessly supportive of her, with no clear motivation for the risks he takes. Matinova's husband's actions under the Communist regime (told in flashbacks) are so dangerous and stupid as to defy belief. The back history, motivations and actions of other key players are total blanks, leaving yet more holes in the plot. Nonetheless the story rips along at an exciting pace and is enjoyable. There is promise here but work to be done also.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars terrific European police procedural, July 2, 2009

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Siren of the Waters (Commander Jana Matinova Investigation) (Paperback)

The van skidded on ice near Bratislava, Slovakia before bursting into an inferno roasting to death the occupants, a pimp and his six hookers. Slovak Criminal Police Commander Jana Matinova believes this was no accident that the victims were murdered. Evidence seems to point to human sexual slave trafficking from the east coming through Bratislava to the west.

Meanwhile Police Chief Trokan sends Jana to Strasbourg, France to attend a conference on prostitution. When two of the guest speakers are killed with the murder weapon being an ice pick and with the E.U. approval, Jana teams up with Russian Levitin; both believe the culprit in Strasbourg and Bratislava is master criminal Ivan "Koba" Makine. As they search for evidence, he seeks his missing sister allegedly part of Friends of Russia Ball in Nice and she prays for reconciliation with her married daughter who holds her culpable for the death of her father under the communists.

This is a terrific European police procedural with plenty of misdirection that takes the heroine and readers to the Ukraine and France. The story line is fast-paced and fabulously supported and enhanced with a subplot involving Jana's relationship with her spouse and surviving under the communist regime. She makes the tale work, past and present, as her attitude is take no prisoners not even her daughter. Fans will relish this strong whodunit.

Harriet Klausner

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fast-paced thriller, June 25, 2008

By 

Tale Bearer (Florida) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Siren of the Waters (Commander Jana Matinova Investigation) (Hardcover)

This is a page-turner which skillfully interweaves a wrenching love story from the past with a present-day mystery. I didn't know much about life in SSRs like Slovakia, either before the communist regime or afterward... but 'Siren of the Waters' gave me a sharp taste of that place and time.

The protagonist is a female police commander who's seen too much but never lost her dedication nor her ironic wit. Fans of television's Jane Tennyson/Prime Suspect stories will enjoy Jana Matinova. The book is set up as the first in a series... I'll be waiting for the next to appear.