The Confession
It is 1956, and while the Hungarian Revolution rages just over the border, Inspector Ferenc Kolyeszar must track down a murderer through the labyrinth of the Capital while coming to terms with his crumbling marriage.
FIRST CHAPTER - NOTES - GROUP GUIDE (PDF)
STARRED reviews in ALL the pre-publication journals: Publisher's Weekly, Library Journal, Kirkus Reviews, and Booklist.
New York Magazine: "The Best Novels You've Never Read" 2007
[A] first-rate thriller...Set in a beautifully realised, fictional Eastern European state in 1956. ...elegant...this is a powerful, thought-provoking literary thriller in the mould of Philip Kerr's Berlin Noir trilogy. I hope it is the second in a good, long series.
--Toby Clements, the Daily Telegraph
"...we can only marvel at the rumbling undertone of dread that Steinhauer builds around what appears to be a routine investigation of a suicide but turns out to be just the tip of a murderous political conspiracy." --Marilyn Stasio, New York Times Book Review
Steinhauer's bold follow-up to The Bridge of Sighs is simply brilliant. It is not your usual police procedural but a well-crafted mystery that mixes murder and political intrigue with the human element.
--Scott R. DiMarco, Library Journal (audio review)
Ferenc himself is so humanly contradictory we are drawn to him immediately ... and around him are all the staples of the Cold War thriller: secret policemen, informers, rendezvous in nameless bars. But Steinhauer takes his familiar material and brilliantly infuses it with noirish twists and dark psychology to make this second in a planned series utterly compelling. --TimeOut
"Steinhauer successfully conjures up the grey, dehumanised world of a nascent communist state, which provides a suitably chilling backdrop to his hero's quest to unearth a secret that threatens to ruin the lives of many." -- The Daily Mail
"Here's an elegant excursion into unknown territory. ... Ferenc's dogged independence and often morose refusal to mind his Ps and Qs is redolent of Martin Cruz Smith's hero in Gorky Park, but this is a different time, with entirely different priorities. ... This skilful confession often makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up." --Matthew Lewin, The Guardian
"[The] plot ... has more twists than a plate of fusilli and enough characters to fill the next three books in the series. ... "The Confession" is about much more than murder. ... [it] is a clever reworking of the police procedural: The narrative-within-a-narrative exposes multiple levels of complicity and guilt that make this an affecting, sobering entry in one of the most inventive series around." --Paula L. Woods, Los Angeles Times
"ambitious in scope and action" --Dick Adler, the Chicago Tribune
"... mesmerizing and richly atmospheric ... meticulously researched ... entertainingly captures the fear and frustration of a 'society of discontent'..." --Michelle Kung, Entertainment Weekly
With The Confession, this series ... [promises] to turn its author's potential into a firmly entrenched and thriving career. ... Steinhauer's world is a dynamic one, and his beautiful prose paints a heartbreaking portrait of a country in flux. --Sarah Weinman, in The Rap Sheet
"Steinhauer is a terrific writer ... searing and insightful ..." --David Forsmark, the Flint Journal
"... awfully good ... [Steinhauer] skilfully makes you feel as if he was there in '56, as if he knows. ... I always wanted to know what happened." --Andi Shechter, Reviewing the Evidence
"Postwar Eastern Europe chillingly evoked by a storyteller ... who understands the relentless conjunction between character and suspense.... Good enough to suggest comparison with Graham Greene; place the author in the forefront of contemporary suspense writers..." Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"This is a gripping and fully realized portrayal of a man whose strengths, flaws, struggle, and ultimate fall are emblematic of the fate of Eastern Europe itself. While skillfully developed, the intricacies of plot, particularly the story behind the diverse crimes, fade to relative insignificance in light of Ferenc's heartrending 'confession'. Densely atmospheric and strongly recommended..." --Ronnie H. Terpening, Library Journal (starred review)
"Beyond delivering an involving police procedural in an intriguing setting, the author relates with spare irony his narrator's psychological journey.... [The Confession] is enthusiastically recommended for fans of well-made hard-boiled and noir fiction." --David Wright, Booklist (starred review)
"Bigger in scope... than The Bridge of Sighs [...Steinhauer's original and mesmerizing first mystery]... the novel makes readers wonder just what Steinhauer will do for the next book in his series..." -- Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"[A] sharp tale of murder, political intrigue and human failings..." Publishers Weekly (audio review)