Darkening Field -- December 2013

Darkening Field

December 2013

Writer William Ryan was born in 1965 in London, England. An Irish citizen, he went to boarding school at age six  He was educated at Trinity College, Dublin and the University of St Andrews and worked as a lawyer before taking up writing full-time. His first novel, The Holy Thief  was shortlisted for the Theakstons Crime Novel of the Year, The Kerry Group Irish Fiction Award, The CWA John Creasy New Blood Dagger and a Barry Award. His second novel,The Bloody Meadow, was shortlisted for the Ireland AM Irish Crime Novel of the Year. He has written for television and film; he lives in London with his wife and son.

When asked about his fascination with Stalin's Russia, Ryan said in an interview on the Pan Macmillan Web site, "The gradual shift away from the early ideals and hopes of the Revolution to the absolute oppression of the thirties was a tragedy for many Soviet citizens, and one that was repeated around the world."

author’s web site:  http://www.william-ryan.com/

For history, background, pictures -- check the section ‘Korolev’s World’

Series: Investigations of Captain Korolev (Most Recent: Jul 2013)

Alternate series name: Alexei Korolev mysteries

The Holy Thief (2010)

(First book in series) As Stalin's great terror begins, a killer strikes. Moscow, 1936. A young woman's mutilated body is found on an altar in a deconsecrated church. Korolev is asked to investigate. The victim is discovered to be an American citizen, and now one false move will mean exile to the Zone, the frozen camps of the far north.

The Darkening Field ( 2012)

In 1937, Captain Korolev of Moscow's Criminal Investigation Division looks into the suicide of a young loyal party member who was intimately involved with a party director, a case that is unexpectedly linked to a treasonous plot.

Series: Investigations of Captain Korolev, 2

The Twelfth Department (2013)

Captain Alexei Korolev endures threats against his family when a high-level murder is tied to corruption in State Security and the NKVD.

Series: Investigations of Captain Korolev, 3

Read alikes

Nemesis by William Bernhardt In the 1930s Eliot Ness, the famous treasury agent who helped convict Al Capone, accepts a high-ranking public safety position in Cleveland, where the discovery of a dismembered torso soon plunges the city into a state of terror Alan Furst -- Night Soldiers series      An author of what he himself calls historical espionage, Alan Furst writes of reluctant heroes--ordinary, pragmatic men and women--fighting against totalitarianism and fascism in European countries of the 1930s and '40s. Well-researched and suffused with a strong sense of time and place, Furst's novels are written in a spare, cinematic style that keeps the fast-paced action from bogging down in historical detail. First book in series: Night Soldiers.  A young man in Bulgaria in 1938 witnesses his brother's death as a result of being kicked by a gang of thugs. He vows vengeance against Fascism and flees to Moscow, where he is trained as an agent of the NKVD, precursor of the KGB.    Philip Kerr -- Bernie Gunther series      If you've a penchant for confidently written noir that harkens back to the age of Chandler and Hammett, Philip Kerr is your man. Set in WWII-era Berlin, Kerr's hardboiled novels feature everything readers love about the detective genre -- a hard-drinking, sardonic gumshoe with his own moral code. First book in series: The March Violets.  In 1936 Berlin, Bernhard Gunther is a private investigator who solves a case of theft, murder, and corruption within the new Nazi supporting group. Martin Cruz Smith -- Arkady Renko series        Martin Cruz Smith is known for engrossing, well-researched, and labyrinthine plots; introspective, enigmatic, and sympathetic heroes who offer insights into themselves and their environments; and detailed and atmospheric settings that draw readers in. First book in series: Gorky Park.  In contemporary Moscow, Chief Homicide Investigator Arkady Renko unravels the mystery of a triple murder complicated by the shadowy and uncooperative presence of the KGB and by his falling in love.

Tom Rob Smith -- Leo Demidov series      British writer Tom Rob Smith pens thrillers that take place in the Cold War-era Soviet Union. His protagonists are jaded, dogged secret policemen slogging through the daily horrors of Stalin's Russia. Smith lends atmosphere to his fast-paced novels with solid historical detail and entirely convincing characters. First book in series: Child 44.  "Robert Harris meets Gorky Park in Child 44, Tom Rob Smith's stunning thriller--sure to be one of the most talked about debut novels of the year” --from Publisher

LAST POLICEMAN  by  BEN WINTERS

October 2013

Ben H. Winters' writing combines literary fiction with horror and steampunk, social commentary with psychological suspense, science fiction with mystery. He writes both for adults and older kids. Whichever melange or audience he chooses, Winters brings a certain pulp sensibility to the proceedings. He books move at a brisk pace, seldom languishing in digression or introspection. Clear, exuberant writing and straightforward plotting keep the reader engaged, amused, and slightly on edge. Winters's settings are wildly divergent, veering from 19th-century Russia to Regency-era England to modern-day Brooklyn, New York. Start with: Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters (Adults); The Secret Life of Ms. Finkleman (Older kids).

Writings:

Countdown City: the last policeman book II (Jul 2013)

Set three months before a deadly asteroid is due to hit Earth, this Last Policeman sequel chronicles the further adventures of Hank Palace. The Concord Police Department is now operating under the auspices of the U.S. Justice Department, and Hank is outof a job-until he's hired by a business tycoon to help find the man's estranged son. It isn't long before Hank's missing-person case turns into a murder investigation.

The last policeman (Jul 2012)

When the Earth is doomed by an imminent and unavoidable asteroid collision, New Hampshire homicide detective Hank Palace considers the worth of his job in a world destined to end in six months and investigates a suspicious suicide that nobody else cares about.

Bedbugs (Sep 2011)

After Susan and Alex Wendt find their dream apartment, Susan wakes up with small welts believing it to be bedbugs until an exterminator turns up nothing and further investigation points towards something sinister.

Android Karenina (Jun 2010)

When revolutionaries launch an attack on Russian high society's high-tech lifestyle, Anna Karenina and Count Alexei Vronsky must fight back with courage and a sleek new cyborg model like nothing the world has ever seen

Sense and sensibility and sea monsters (Sep 2009)

"As our story opens, the Dashwood sisters are evicted from their childhood home and sent to live on a mysterious island full of savage creatures and dark secrets. While sensible Elinor falls in love with Edward Ferrars, her romantic sister Marianne is courted by both the handsome Willoughby and the hideous man-monster Colonel Brandon. Can the Dashwood sisters triumph over meddlesome matriarchs and unscrupulous rogues to find true love? Or will they fall prey to the tentacles that are forever snapping at their heels?"

For Children:

The mystery of the missing everything (Sep 2011)

When a treasured trophy disappears from the display case at Mary Todd Lincoln Middle School and the principal cancels the eagerly anticipated eighth grade class trip, Bethesda Fielding has no choice but to solve the mystery.

The secret life of Ms. Finkleman (Sep 2010)

Spurred by a special project from her social studies teacher, seventh-grader Bethesda Fielding uncovers the secret identity of her music teacher, which leads to a most unusual concert performance and a tutoring assignment.

Read-alikes from NoveList:        

   

Fuerst, James  Huge

Reason:  Mediocre "detectives" feature in these two hardboiled mysteries, which also                                                                                   contain excellent characterizations and -- for entirely different reasons -- a dark tone. Huge stars    an angry pre-teen, while The Last Policeman is set in a pre-apocalyptic world. -- Shauna Griffin

	Heller, Peter   The dog stars     Reason:  In these dystopian novels, the main characters are not heroes saving the day against zombies; rather, they're ordinary men trying to do the best they can with what they have. In both cases, civilization's collapse is memorably rendered. -- Shauna Griffin McCarthy, Cormac  The road Reason:  Though The Road is a much bleaker, grimmer read, set as it is in a menacing post-apocalyptic United States, its main characters, like in The Last Policeman, embody hope in the face of hopelessness. -- Shauna Griffin Walker, Karen Thompson     The age of miracles                Reason:  Though The Last Policeman is a mystery while The Age of Miracles is literary fiction, both are set in pre-apocalyptic worlds in which the main characters must still continue with their day-to-day lives as the end of the world approaches. -- Shauna Griffin Author’s website: http://benhwinters.com/ http://belmysterygroup.blogspot.com/

LAST POLICEMAN  by  BEN WINTERS

October 2013

Ben H. Winters' writing combines literary fiction with horror and steampunk, social commentary with psychological suspense, science fiction with mystery. He writes both for adults and older kids. Whichever melange or audience he chooses, Winters brings a certain pulp sensibility to the proceedings. He books move at a brisk pace, seldom languishing in digression or introspection. Clear, exuberant writing and straightforward plotting keep the reader engaged, amused, and slightly on edge. Winters's settings are wildly divergent, veering from 19th-century Russia to Regency-era England to modern-day Brooklyn, New York. Start with: Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters (Adults); The Secret Life of Ms. Finkleman (Older kids).

Writings:

Countdown City: the last policeman book II (Jul 2013)

Set three months before a deadly asteroid is due to hit Earth, this Last Policeman sequel chronicles the further adventures of Hank Palace. The Concord Police Department is now operating under the auspices of the U.S. Justice Department, and Hank is out of a job-until he's hired by a business tycoon to help find the man's estranged son. It isn't long before Hank's missing-person case turns into a murder investigation.

The last policeman (Jul 2012)

When the Earth is doomed by an imminent and unavoidable asteroid collision, New Hampshire homicide detective Hank Palace considers the worth of his job in a world destined to end in six months and investigates a suspicious suicide that nobody else cares about.

Bedbugs (Sep 2011)

After Susan and Alex Wendt find their dream apartment, Susan wakes up with small welts believing it to be bedbugs until an exterminator turns up nothing and further investigation points towards something sinister.

Android Karenina (Jun 2010)

When revolutionaries launch an attack on Russian high society's high-tech lifestyle, Anna Karenina and Count Alexei Vronsky must fight back with courage and a sleek new cyborg model like nothing the world has ever seen

Sense and sensibility and sea monsters (Sep 2009)

"As our story opens, the Dashwood sisters are evicted from their childhood home and sent to live on a mysterious island full of savage creatures and dark secrets. While sensible Elinor falls in love with Edward Ferrars, her romantic sister Marianne is courted by both the handsome Willoughby and the hideous man-monster Colonel Brandon. Can the Dashwood sisters triumph over meddlesome matriarchs and unscrupulous rogues to find true love? Or will they fall prey to the tentacles that are forever snapping at their heels?"

For Children:

The mystery of the missing everything (Sep 2011)

When a treasured trophy disappears from the display case at Mary Todd Lincoln Middle School and the principal cancels the eagerly anticipated eighth grade class trip, Bethesda Fielding has no choice but to solve the mystery.

The secret life of Ms. Finkleman (Sep 2010)

Spurred by a special project from her social studies teacher, seventh-grader Bethesda Fielding uncovers the secret identity of her music teacher, which leads to a most unusual concert performance and a tutoring assignment.

Read-alikes from NoveList:

Fuerst, James  Huge

Reason:  Mediocre "detectives" feature in these two hardboiled mysteries, which also contain excellent characterizations and -- for entirely different reasons -- a dark tone. Huge stars  an angry pre-teen, while The Last Policeman is set in a pre-apocalyptic world. -- Shauna Griffin

Heller, Peter   The dog stars

Reason:  In these dystopian novels, the main characters are not heroes saving the day against zombies; rather, they're ordinary men trying to do the best they can with what they have. In both cases, civilization's collapse is memorably rendered. -- Shauna Griffin

McCarthy, Cormac  The road

Reason:  Though The Road is a much bleaker, grimmer read, set as it is in a menacing post-apocalyptic United States, its main characters, like in The Last Policeman, embody hope in the face of hopelessness. -- Shauna Griffin

Walker, Karen Thompson The age of miracles

Reason:  Though The Last Policeman is a mystery while The Age of Miracles is literary fiction, both are set in pre-apocalyptic worlds in which the main characters must still continue with their day-to-day lives as the end of the world approaches. -- Shauna Griffin

Author's website: http://benhwinters.com/