Customer Reviews

Sons of the Black Hand

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The French call it a Macedonian salad....meaning, a little bit of this and a little bit of that, all mixed up in a salad bowl. Well, take that Macedonian mixture and toss it up with a few Serb assassins, a Croat heroine, a German bad guy, a few too many American tow-the-partyline FBI and politician-types and plant them all in the midst of the Balkans war in the 1990s. What you have is a glaring indictment of the powers that BE holding a lighted match in the land of the cultural tinderbox.

Sons of the Black Hand is a non-stop, political thriller, taking aim at the profiteers of war. At the heart of the conflict is Alexandra Miletic, a young journalist of Croatian origin working for a newspaper in Miami and investigating a series of recent mail bomb attacks whose investigation uncovers a deadly link of Serbian assassins, a secret arms running operation filtering guns and ammunition to Bosnia and the U.S. government's desire to keep it all secret.

Simply put, the book is a page turner and you might learn something about a part of the world that has been purposefully complicated for political purposes. Highly recommended for those interested in going beyond front page headline news.

Sons of the Black Hand by Carolyn Kvajic is an excellent debut novel that I found difficult to put down. The story is steeped in history from two World Wars and conflicts between ethnic groups in the Balkans that unravels in the USA. With such a good debut novel I cant wait for her next book.

This is a great book for several reasons.
It introduces the reader into a very complex and poorly understood history of the area which was historically of vital importance for
central Europe as well as for world peace. The area is the Balkan peninsula. It is divided between several ethnic groups, and several major religions. Living in there is like living on the top of a volcano... may erupt anytime.
The last major eruption was in the early 90's. The world became nervous because it was reminded of the 1st. and the 2nd. World Wars.
Major countries became major players on diplomatic as well as on conflict fields.
The writer of the Sons of the Black Hand created an account which is historical, fictional, thriller-like, and solution-seeking, where the only solution points to seeking the world peace. How does one find peace if there is no love?
Absence of love is absence of peace. How does one find love?
The writer tries to explore the problem of love. However, love on purely physical level creates more problems.
The novel The Sons of the Black Hand may be applicable to any War and Peace condition of any time and of any place. What have we learned as the world falls into new wars and ever new conflicts?
Therefore, the problem of war in the world continues until... ?

Sons of the Black Hand by Carolyn Kvajic (PublishAmerica)

Beware of your dreams coming true. When a young, sexy journalist, Alexanda Miletic, of a mixed Croatian-Serbian background, working on a Miami newspaper dreams of covering big, meaningful stories rather than condo association mini-dramas, she doesn't necessarily have in mind a gang of Serbian assassins, Nazi war criminals and an arms running operation to Bosnia. But when she witnesses an explosion and meets a mysterious Slavic man who seems to be connected to it, this is the terrifying world into which she is unwittingly drawn.

Set against the war in Yugoslavia in the early 1990s, the author cunningly juxtaposes Alex's personal story of vulnerability, ambition and dangerous love against an all too real background of misery, violence and corruption. The author clearly knows the territory which makes for a grippingly authentic thriller.

Carla McKay
Daily Mail reviewer

A thrilling international tale filled with intriguing insights. Former journalist Carolyn Kvajic manages to bring a sensational story to life.