Liberation Movements: A Novel (Yalta Boulevard Quintet, 4)

by Olen Steinhauer

Book Overview

From the author of New York Time bestseller The Tourist...Olen Steinhauer's acclaimed crime series set in Eastern Europe has taken readers from the first shots of the revolution and through the chaos... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 031233205X
• Release Date: May 2007
• Publisher: Minotaur Books
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.5" x 0.7" x 5.5"

Customer Reviews

Unexpectedly, A Page-turner

That I was so happily surprised reflects badly on me, not the genre. I do not read espionage stories set in the former iron curtain countries because for me it is it is so annoying never to know how any names are pronounced, especially when they are such long names and often with so few vowels. It really slows the pace and I can never remember who is who. Also, everything is always so bleak. Nevertheless, the reviews made me curious about Steinhauer's last book, 'The Tourist,' and when I finally read it I loved it. BUT--it was set mostly in Paris & the US and other places with easy names like Brooklyn. Back on the horns of the same old dilemma, I took a chance and ordered Liberation movements and now look forward to reading all his books. I do have a little more trouble keeping all the characters straight than most of his fans, I think, but I love a good plot--or two or three--and Steinhauer delivers the goods.

A fast, intriguing read

This was one of those rare occasions where, although I wanted to unravel the mystery, I didn't want the story to end. Indeed, the characters are that compelling. Each of the main characters has a dark side, cultivated by past experiences. Those experiences shape who these characters are, perhaps setting the course for future actions. The author does a superb job of interweaving these characters and their experiences. My only criticism is that I did not feel the ending was as strong as the rest of work. The chapters leading up to those last two chapters deserved a more dramatic ending -- something that could have been achieved had the author ended the work on page 278. Sometimes less really is more. I understand that to leave us with a happy-ever-after ending would have been a complete tone break for the work, however, I don't think it would have been such a stretch for the author to have let the novel end with Adrian's last sentiments. If he had simply alluded to what he ended up spelling out in those last two chapters, the ending would have had far greater impact. In the words of Leslie Silbert (from The Intelligencer) "what good was life without romatic dreams, in spite of their foolishness." So why the five stars when I am so clearly frustrated with what the author chose for an ending? Because the first 278 pages are that good.

terrific Iron Curtain historical police procedural

On April 23, 1975, Turkish Airlines Flight 54 explodes in flight following a hijacking by the Armenian Army of the Liberation. Soviet bloc country homicide detective Katja Drdova is assigned to investigate. However, since the incident is an act of terrorism by an enemy of the state, Secret Police agent Gavra Noukas also makes inquiries under the close scrutiny of his mentor Major Brano Sev; as a police peer of the lead cop, Libarid Terzian, is of Armenian descent and was on board. At the same time of the tragedy and the subsequent official investigations, Czech student Peter Husak, a victim of the Soviet crushing of the 1968 Prague Spring, resurfaces. However, the case seems to swing away from Peter towards a female passenger Zrinka Martrich, whose lack of information in official records makes her the prime suspect. Gavra interviews her doctor and her brother. He shares a tryst with the sibling, but finds the medical practitioner murdered. This Iron Curtain historical police procedural is a terrific thriller that hooks the audience from the onset as readers follow an intriguing mentorship that teaches the rookies sleuthing techniques and political considerations that often trump the investigation (sounds like the US Attorneys scenario). Training Sev also controls the official inquires. The story line is fast-paced but it is the unnamed Soviet satellite country bought vividly to life that makes this a top rate whodunit. Harriet Klausner

Intrigue and murder behind the iron curtain

Edgar Award finalist Steinhauer's beautifully crafted novels of crime and political intrigue center on various members of the People's Militia in an unnamed Eastern European country during the Cold War. Each novel moves forward a decade and homes in on a secondary character from the previous book. This fourth (there is one more coming) shifts point-of-view between several characters and moves between the horrors of 1968's Prague Spring, when Soviet bloc troops crushed the Czech liberation movement, and the aftermath of a terrorist attack on a passenger plane in 1975. The book opens with the interrogation of a student, Peter, caught near the Austrian border in 1968. Peter, apolitical, only got involved because of a girl. He's learning to regret it. Over the next few days he befriends a foreign soldier, wallows in envious misery and discovers new abilities in himself. In the next chapter we meet Libarid Terzian, an ethnic Armenian from the People's Militia, traveling to an Interpol conference in Istanbul. He plans to defect and is trying to compose a letter to his wife. A strange woman who seems to know way too much about him and his future sits down beside him on the plane. The chapter ends with her cryptic comments fulfilled in a highjacking of the plane. In Istanbul the People's Militia officers Brano Sev (the main character from "36 Yalta Boulevard") and his young protégé Gavra Noukas, await Terzian's plane. Also waiting is Ludvik Mas, an agent from the Secret Police. "What's he doing here?" Brano asks, just before he learns the plane has exploded in midair. As Brano, Gavra and another young militia officer, Katja Drdova, investigate the terrorist murders, the Prague Spring subplot continues to unfold in tandem, building an intricate, suspenseful story with a surprising, character-driven ending. Steinhauer's complex character development factors in the effect of state repression and secrecy on personality and choices. His atmospheric writing also makes liberal use of irony and humor, much of it sardonic. This is a masterful series, which deserves a much larger readership. -- Portsmouth Herald

Literary Crime fiction

If you haven't read Olen Steinhauer yet, I highly recommend you get his previous books and read them. This latest work is the best yet, however, and doesn't require that you read any of the previous works in his Eastern European crime series. I won't get into the plot as you can get the gist of that from the Book Description above. The story jumps between the events leading up to a hijacking, and the resulting investigation, and the murder of a Russian solider in Prague seven years earlier. The chapters are short and fast paced. At first each character and story line seems unrelated, but as Steinhauer begins to weave the various elements together the suspense and the pace builds. It didn't take too long for me to be hooked. I found myself feverishly reading trying to figure out the clues and unlock the mystery. What unifies each character, besides their connection to the murder investigation, is their search for meaning in the seeming unrelated events that have led them to where they are. Not only are they trying to unravel the mystery of the hijacking but they are also wrestling with where their life is going; with how they got here and why. This theme is also highlighted by the use of a character that may or may not be able to predict the future. Do we truly have free will or do outside forces and the predetermined course of events carry us along? Is each choice we face an opportunity to set a different course or do some choices determine the path our life will take? Will one bad choice mar our lives or do we have a chance for redemption (or revenge)? These are some of the philosophical questions that are the undercurrent of the story. They are subtly weaved into the plot so they don't awkwardly intrude, but they bounce around in your mind as you are reading. Steinhauer doesn't give any answers but he asks some powerful questions. In case the above hasn't made it clear, I found Liberation Movements to be a thoroughly fascinating and entertaining book. Two reasons stick out: 1) The characters. The characters really drive the story and Steinhauer allows the reader to get inside their heads. He manages to keep the reader focused on the "now" of the story and yet keep the tension and pace moving forward. In other words, each character feels fully developed rather than just a stock piece needed to make the plot work; their actions flow naturally. Surprisingly, this is done without pages of backstory and exposition. 2) The quick pace. It doesn't take long before Steinhauer has you sucked into the story. Short, tightly written chapters push the story forward and as events unfold the tension builds. But this is done without losing the style and power of the previous books. Although the pace is quicker you still get the feeling of visiting a foreign country and of getting a glimpse into the lives of the inhabitants of this fictional, yet seemingly real, place. It has the structure in some ways of an airport paperback but has the style and d