SlowRain reviewed Victory Square by Olen Steinhauer
Review of 'Victory Square' on Goodreads
3 stars
During the fall of communism in Eastern Europe, a Militia chief is investigating a seemingly simple heart attack of a State Security officer. But events take a turn when it's discovered the dead man was reviewing the chief's very first investigation at the start of his career 40 years ago.
This is book five in Steinhauer's Yalta Boulevard Sequence, and, like the others, it takes place in his fictional, Eastern European country which he describes as "the intersection of Poland, Slovakia, Ukraine, Hungary, and Romania". Even if you read the other novels out of sequence, which I don't really recommend, this one must be read last because of spoilers and poignancy. It provides a nice conclusion for all the other characters in the previous novels, even if the story itself is rushed and unsatisfying.
And, that's the problem. I think Steinhauer was getting tired of his little world that …
During the fall of communism in Eastern Europe, a Militia chief is investigating a seemingly simple heart attack of a State Security officer. But events take a turn when it's discovered the dead man was reviewing the chief's very first investigation at the start of his career 40 years ago.
This is book five in Steinhauer's Yalta Boulevard Sequence, and, like the others, it takes place in his fictional, Eastern European country which he describes as "the intersection of Poland, Slovakia, Ukraine, Hungary, and Romania". Even if you read the other novels out of sequence, which I don't really recommend, this one must be read last because of spoilers and poignancy. It provides a nice conclusion for all the other characters in the previous novels, even if the story itself is rushed and unsatisfying.
And, that's the problem. I think Steinhauer was getting tired of his little world that he had created and was feeling restless and wanted to move on to something else. It shows in the plot, which seems complicated at first, but quickly descends into run-of-the-mill thriller territory. It's a little sad that the author who gave us Ferenc Kolyeszar's story in The Confession and the enigmatic Brano Sev, especially in 36 Yalta Boulevard, couldn't carry the momentum through to the return of Emil Brod in this novel. For all the tragedy and thematic elements that this story could have delved into, it stays safely in generic territory.
If you've read the first four books, I'd still suggest you read this one, but I think he topped out with the second book.