The Zurich Conspiracy [Kindle Edition]

Bernadette Calonego (Author), Gerald Chapple (Translator)

Book Description

Thirty-something Josefa Rehmer is as smart and ambitious as they come, qualities that have earned her the enviable position of events manager at Loyn, an exclusive Zurich leather accessories company. But when Werner Schulmann is appointed to be her new supervisor, Josefa’s professional ambitions are dealt a serious blow. After all, it was Schulmann’s sexual harassment that nearly derailed her career years earlier. Unable to stomach the thought of working for such a man, Josefa resigns, abandoning Loyn for another local firm. But when Schulmann is murdered and Loyn’s CEO commits suicide, Josefa begins to suspect that something other than sexual impropriety is plaguing her former company. She sets out to uncover the truth and soon realizes the two deaths are just the tip of the iceberg. As she digs deeper, Josefa finds herself caught in a complex and dangerous web of blackmail, corporate espionage, and murder. And if she’s not careful, she will be the next one to take the fall. This dramatic tale of corporate intrigue doubles as an intricately plotted thriller about the darkest side of office politics and the people who will do anything to come out on top.

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Scenes from The Zurich Conspiracy

Click on thumbnails for larger images

Paradeplatz, a well-known square in downtown Zurich. Nearby, Josefa Rehmer has a frightening encounter in a high-end hotel. (Photo © Bernadette Calonego)	At Grossmünster, a medieval cathedral in Zurich, Josefa climbs one of the towers in search of important information. (Photo © Bernadette Calonego)	Josefa's mysterious friend Helene, who likes guns as much as animals, saves one of the swans on Lake Zurich. (Photo © Bernadette Calonego)	Fraumünster Church, where Josefa tries to find out what role her old pal Paul Klingler plays in the mystery. (Photo © Bernadette Calonego)

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About the Author

Bernadette Calonego was born in Switzerland and grew up on the shores of Lake Lucerne. A voracious reader from an early age, she fed her imagination with stories such as The Leatherstocking Tales, Ivanhoe, Treasure Island, and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. She was just 11 years old when she published her first story, a fairytale, in a Swiss newspaper. She went on to earn a teaching degree from the University of Fribourg, which she put to good use in England and Switzerland before switching gears to be a journalist. After several years working with the Reuters news agency and a series of German newspapers, she moved to Canada and began writing fiction. She has published stories in Vogue, GEO, and SZ Magazin and is the author of three novels. She lives near Vancouver.

Gerald Chapple is a prize-winning translator of German literature. He received his doctorate at Harvard and went on to teach German and comparative Llterature at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. He has been translating contemporary German-language authors for more than 35 years. His recent prose work includes two books by the Austrian writer Barbara Frischmuth, The Convent School and Chasing after the Wind, completed with co-translator James B. Lawson; Michael Mitterauer’s probing history of Europe from 600 to 1600, Why Europe? Medieval Origins of Its Special Path; and Anita Albus’s wonderfully idiosyncratic book On Rare Birds. Bernadette Calonego’s gripping thriller set in Zurich marks his return to longer works of prose fiction and his debut for AmazonCrossing. After choosing early retirement, he lives in Dundas, Ontario, with his wife, Nina, an architectural historian, and two labradors. When he's not translating, he can usually be found studying birds, butterflies, and dragonflies, reading, or listening to classical music.

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Product Details

• File Size: 797 KB
• Print Length: 417 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1611090938
• Publisher: AmazonCrossing (June 19, 2012)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B007INY3PA
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #17,018 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

67 of 70 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars good scenery, dull writing July 26, 2012

By Pat

Format:Paperback

The book started out interesting from the business sense. Then it quickly got repetitious and boring. Character development is shallow and unappealing. The self-centered heroine is annoying. I think part of that is bad writing and/or translation.

The heroine seems like she's floating through life in a haze. E.g., she's sitting in a hotel room. One of the men behind her is making noises. She's nervous about what he's doing (like about to strangle her or something) but she just sits there frightenend. TURN AROUND AND LOOK!!! Sheesh. This was not uncommon. The writer has the woman worrying about things rather than being proactive about resolving them.

The writer tells of a discussion between the woman and her father. Supposedly the relationship is strained. Yet every single thing the dad says, the woman gives a nasty, negative interpretation. This happens with most other characters as well. Many many little things make the woman furious and angry for no apparent reason.

The relationships and plot are so convoluted and poorly described that I sort of read past them waiting for something to tie it all together.

Another beef. The woman worked a dream job that involved about 99% fast-paced problem-solving. Yet she can't solve the simplest problems in her personal life. Fortunately the writer doesn't try to make her an annoyingly cute, helpless female. The heroine is just frustratingly stupid and stubborn.

Oh, well, that's how I saw it.

29 of 35 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A viciously fine Zurich mystery June 19, 2012

By Rahel McKinley

Format:Paperback

I have worked for some years in a Zurich company and I always thought it would be a great stage for a mystery novel. And here we are! "The Zurich Connection" is the debut novel of Swiss author Bernadette Calonego (who, in the meantime, has published two more books) and it is above all a surprisingly well crafted story with a great plot and many intricate developments that are not the usual patterns found in so many detective stories. I enjoyed every page of it because I was allowed to look behind Zurich`s well-groomed facades of a close-knit society that has its dark sides and wicked intrigues. I also found Josefa Rehmer, the main character, a fascinating, multifaceted figure who kept me on my toes and who is so refreshingly different from all the smoking, depressed and middle-aged detectives.

The past few years have proven that corrupt companies are good fodder for real life suspense and of course for crime novels - and "The Zurich Connection" makes the point convincingly.

When I travel to Zurich next time, I expect shivers down my spine in many of its locations.

15 of 18 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A gripping story June 25, 2012

By alice

Format:Paperback

I found this gripping tale of a young professional woman on the scent of multiple murders in a corporate environment fascinating. I liked the interwoven plot, and I liked the suspense-packed action that keeps one guessing until the very end. The language is skillful and elaborate, and the cliffhangers spot-on.

I had never read a crime novel that takes place in the Swiss city of Zurich before which added to the thrill. Bernadette Calonego created a tenacious and very modern heroine, Josefa Rehmer, who very much appealed to me (Josefa has some skeletons in her closet, too) and I hope there is a sequel to this book.

The story kept me enthralled, I could not put down the book until I had finished it. And I loved the surprise ending - so often one is disappointed on the last pages but not with this book ( I say no more...).