Amazon.com: The Confession (Inspector Ferenc Kolyeszar) (9780312338152): Olen Steinhauer: Books

Product Description

Eastern Europe, 1956: Comrade Inspector Ferenc Kolyeszar, who is a proletariat writer in addition to his job as a state militia homicide detective, is a man on the brink. Estranged from his wife, whom he believes is cheating on him with one of his colleagues, and frustrated by writer's block, Ferenc's attention is focused on his job. But his job is growing increasingly political, something that makes him profoundly uncomfortable.

When Ferenc is asked to look into the disappearance of a party member's wife and learns some unsavory facts about their lives, the absurdity of his position as an employee of the state is suddenly exposed. At the same time, he and his fellow militia officers are pressed into service policing a popular demonstration in the capital, one that Ferenc might rather be participating in. These two situations, coupled with an investigation into the murder of a painter that leads them to a man recently released from the camps, brings Ferenc closer to danger than ever before-from himself, from his superiors, from the capital's shadowy criminal element.

The Confession is a fantastic follow-up to Olen Steinhauer's brilliant debut, The Bridge of Sighs, and it guarantees to advance this talented writer on his way to being one of the premiere thriller writers of a generation.

About the Author

Olen Steinhauer was inspired to write his Eastern European crime series while on a Fulbright Fellowship in Romania. His first novel, The Bridge of Sighs, was shortlisted for the Edgar Award, the Macavity Award, the Barry Award, the Anthony Award, and the Ellis Peters Historical Dagger Award. Raised in Texas, he currently lives in Budapest.

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Product Details

Paperback: 336 pages
Publisher: Minotaur Books (March 10, 2005)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0312338155
ISBN-13: 978-0312338152
Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.3 x 1 inches
Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)

Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #48,919 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Inside This Book (learn more)

First Sentence:
Packing up the dacha was a simple, silent affair. Read the first page

Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
art curator

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Nestor Velcea, Brano Sev, Josef Maneck, Yalta Boulevard, Canal District, Malik Woznica, Antonin Kullmann, The Spark, Ferenc Kolyeszar, Svetla Woznica, Comrade Inspectors, Sergei Malevich, Mikhail Kaminski, Central Committee, Comrade Woznica, Victory Square, Fifth District, Louis Rostek, Markus Feder, Mathew Eiers, Boris Olonov, Office of Internal Corrections, Comrade Kolyeszar, Lev Urlovsky, October Square

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Citations (learn more)

This book cites 2 books:

The Bridge of Sighs: A Novel by Olen Steinhauer in Front Matter
Voices from the Gulag: Life and Death in Communist Bulgaria by Tzvetan Todorov in Front Matter

Books on Related Topics (learn more)

The Bridge of Sighs by Olen Steinhauer

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The Confession by Olen Steinhauer

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What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

	62% buy the item featured on this page: The Confession (Inspector Ferenc Kolyeszar) 4.7 out of 5 stars (3) $11.21
	15% buy The Bridge of Sighs: A Novel 3.9 out of 5 stars (11) $10.19
	12% buy The Tourist 4.1 out of 5 stars (137) $16.47
	7% buy Liberation Movements 4.1 out of 5 stars (9) $10.19

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Customer Reviews

3 Reviews

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Average Customer Review

4.7 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great book, August 6, 2007

By	James L. Bumbalo - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I can't believe no one else has reviewed this book. It's a fantastic thriller. If you like Alan Furst, you'll enjoy this book. The writing is eloquent and atmospheric and the story is enthralling. The first book in this series, "The Bridge of Sighs," is also very good. I can't wait to read the remaining books by Steinhauer, who certainly deserves to be much better known and read.

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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Read More Steinhauer , May 2, 2008

By	Douglas S. Wood "Vicarious Life" (Monona, WI) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

The Confession, Olen Steinhauer's second novel set in an unnamed post-war Eastern European country, is a complex multi-layered work - part police procedural, part erotic romance, part noir mystery, part reflection on totalitarian excesses. That's a lot to fit into 326 pages, but Steinhauer deftly manages to pull it off.

Set in 1956, The Confession centers on Ferenc Kolyeszar, a member of a state police unit (the People's Militia) in the Capital, but also an author with connections to the underground literary community. Neighboring Hungarians are experimenting with freedom and pulling away from Moscow until that revolt is brutally repressed. During sympathetic protests in the Capital, the commissar-like Russian Kaminsky puts the police unit in the uncomfortable and unfamiliar role of repressor. Ferenc is less than fully cooperative.

At the same time, Ferenc's partner pursues a seemingly fruitless investigation of an apparent suicide with links to the art world while another member of the unit digs into the unsolved murder of a colleague who had been investigating a rape and murder that others would as soon left alone. Ferenc's own investigation of the disappearance of the beautiful young wife of a powerful industrialist takes an unexpected turn.

Ferenc's marriage is failing and he suspects his police partner is cuckolding him. He takes to heavy drinking and spending nights away from home. Multiple pressures build on Ferenc until he takes some decidedly rash actions.

Steinhauer pulls the various strands of the story together. His close examination of the brutality inside a forced labor camp for political prisoners is both chilling and brilliant. The closing forty pages were as good an ending as I have read in quite some time - a 'wow'. Highly recommended.

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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Worth the Investment, January 12, 2008

By	ZenReader "ZenReader" (washington,dc) - See all my reviews

Of the four novels in this series I have read this one takes the greatest commitment. The first 75 pages seem to stumble along with little connection to a central plot --at one point Comrade Inspector Ferenc Kolyeszar discusses the death of plot and I really started to worry --but almost out of nowhere a strong and emotional story with all the crime and politics you could ask for emerges. The end makes the book worth while. If you get it. Stick with it.

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