by Ben Pastor (Author)
Ukraine, 1943. Having barely escaped the inferno of Stalingrad, Major Martin Bora is still serving on the Russian front as a German counterintelligence officer. At a time when weariness, disillusionment, and battle fatigue are a soldier's daily fare, Bora seems to be one of the few whose sanity is not marred by the horrors of war. Two Russian generals in his custody die within twenty-four hours of each other. Everything appears to exclude the likelihood of foul play, but Bora begins an investigation, a stubborn attempt to solve a mystery that will come much too close for comfort.
Format: Paperback
Pages: 428
Publisher: Bitter Lemon Press
Published: 16 Apr 2015
ISBN 10: 1908524510
ISBN 13: 9781908524515
Ben Pastor's novels featuring a Wehrmacht major are turning into one of the most appealing series in modern crime fiction, combining intriguing plots and characters who defy easy interpretation. This fine novel is packed with tense moments and moral ambiguity. Sunday Times-London
STARRED REVIEW Publishers Weekly W: Set in the spring of 1943, Pastor's excellent fourth mystery featuring Maj. Martin Bora (after 2014's Dark Song of Blood) takes the German army counterintelligence officer to Ukraine. In Krasny Yar, a place shunned by the locals, someone has been savagely killing peasants for no apparent reason. Bora has little time to investigate before a higher-profile case claims his attention. Gen. Ghenrikh Khan Tibyetsky, a tank corps commander with access to the highest level of Soviet military planning, has offered to defect to the Germans. Khan's information could be crucial to the battle looming in the Kursk salient. Bora handles Khan's surrender, but the Gestapo later takes control of the prisoner. When Khan dies in Gestapo custody, an apparent poisoning victim, no one besides Bora, a decent man, seems interested in solving the crime, which may be linked to the murders at Krasny Yar. Pastor effectively melds a well-constructed whodunit with a grim portrayal of the Eastern front. (May 2015)' PW
Bora is a brilliantly developed character, and Pastor's devastated Ukraine is richly atmospheric. Booklist