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The Holy Thief: Shortlisted for The 2011 Theakstons Crime Novel of the Year
by W.C. Ryan, William Ryan
W.C. Ryan
The Holy Thief: Shortlisted for The 2011 Theakstons Crime Novel of the Year
by W.C. Ryan, William Ryan
W.C. Ryan
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Overview
Moscow, 1936, Stalin's Great Terror is beginning and, in a deconsecrated church, a young woman is found dead. Captain Alexei Korolev, finally beginning to enjoy the benefits of his success as a detective with the Moscow Militia, is asked to investigate. But when he discovers that the victim is an American citizen, the NKVD - the most feared organization in Russia - becomes involved. Soon, Korolev's every step is under close scrutiny and one false move will mean exile to the frozen camps of the far north.
Committed to uncovering the truth behind the gruesome murder, Korolev enters the realm of the Thieves, rulers of Moscow's underworld. As more bodies are discovered and pressure from above builds, Korolev begins to question who he can trust and who, in a Russia where fear, uncertainty and hunger prevail, are the real criminals. Soon, Korolev will find not only his moral and political ideals threatened, but also his life.
SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2011 THEAKSTONS CRIME NOVEL OF THE YEAR AND THE KERRYGOLD IRISH FICTION AWARD
Impressive.... Ryan, who merits comparison to Tom Rob Smith, makes palpable the perpetual state of fear of being reported as disloyal, besides dramatizing the difficulty of being an honest cop in a repressive police state. Readers will hope Korolev has a long career ahead of him.
Publishers Weekly (starred review)
Ryan writes with narrative drive and urgency, a good sense of place and a central character who is conflicted, moral and above all likeable: whodunnit heaven.
Times Literary Supplement
Ryan can really write — an elegant, evocative English that savours each scene while propelling the action unerringly onwards ... there's much to admire and absorb in this excellent and exciting first novel.
Irish Independent
Such details make The Holy Thief ... one of the year's most exciting mysteries
Sun Sentinel
A feisty detective novel, it's atmospheric, beautifully written and meticulously researched.
Irish Examiner
The mystery at the heart of The Holy Thief is intriguing ... but it is Ryan's details of life in the bad old USSR that make the story so engrossing.
Irish Times
It's a tough, suspenseful premise for a debut, contrasting claustrophobic atmosphere with personal optimism in a way that can only intensify as the series continues.
Financial Times
Set in a vividly imagined Stalinist Russia, where the creeping paranoia of a surveillance state blends perfectly with the brutal serial murders
Metro (Crime Book of the Year)
Ryan's novel has an authority that belies his first-novel status... Ryan demonstrates considerable skill in evoking this benighted period, along with a deftness at ringing the changes on familiar crime plotting moves. The auguries for a series, of which The Holy Thief is the first book, are very promising indeed.
Daily Express
The Holy Thief is an impressive debut from Ryan. It pulls off the difficult task of laying down ample foundations for a scheduled subsequent series without burdening its narrative drive with excessive back-story detail. I look forward to Captain Korolev's further exploits under the cold gaze of Comrade Stalin.
Yorkshire Evening Post
Fans of Phillip Kerr, Tom Rob Smith, and Olen Steinhauer have a treat in store with this strong period thriller from British debut author Ryan . . .A series to watch very closely
Book List
A first novel written with all the narrative assurance of someone who'd been perfecting his art for years. A thriller set amid the paranoia of 1930s Moscow, it was persuasive in all its local and historical details, told its tense story with style and aplomb and had an engagingly troubled hero
Books of the Year, Irish Independent
Remarkable thriller . . . In his solitude and resolve, Ryan's Korolev evokes Martin Cruz Smith's fierce Arkady Renko, while the period detail and gore call to mind Tom Rob Smith
Library Journal
Ryan's research, and the genuine feel he has for the unique place and time, made The Holy Thief an especially good read.
Ellery Queen Magazine
Ryan brings the pain, hunger and poverty of the people to life, adding the mystery of murder to the mayhem.
Bournemouth Echo
While THE HOLY THIEF is a dark book, Ryan peppers the narrative with some grim humor to keep things from becoming too stark. The star of the novel, however, is the plot, which provides a plausible, surefooted explanation for the motive behind the murders. Book Reporter
Ryan captures the pervasive fear of Stalin's reign, where even a joke amongst friends can lead to denunciation and exile to the 'Zone ... An impressive debut.
Historical Novel Society (Editor's Choice)
Committed to uncovering the truth behind the gruesome murder, Korolev enters the realm of the Thieves, rulers of Moscow's underworld. As more bodies are discovered and pressure from above builds, Korolev begins to question who he can trust and who, in a Russia where fear, uncertainty and hunger prevail, are the real criminals. Soon, Korolev will find not only his moral and political ideals threatened, but also his life.
SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2011 THEAKSTONS CRIME NOVEL OF THE YEAR AND THE KERRYGOLD IRISH FICTION AWARD
Impressive.... Ryan, who merits comparison to Tom Rob Smith, makes palpable the perpetual state of fear of being reported as disloyal, besides dramatizing the difficulty of being an honest cop in a repressive police state. Readers will hope Korolev has a long career ahead of him.
Publishers Weekly (starred review)
Ryan writes with narrative drive and urgency, a good sense of place and a central character who is conflicted, moral and above all likeable: whodunnit heaven.
Times Literary Supplement
Ryan can really write — an elegant, evocative English that savours each scene while propelling the action unerringly onwards ... there's much to admire and absorb in this excellent and exciting first novel.
Irish Independent
Such details make The Holy Thief ... one of the year's most exciting mysteries
Sun Sentinel
A feisty detective novel, it's atmospheric, beautifully written and meticulously researched.
Irish Examiner
The mystery at the heart of The Holy Thief is intriguing ... but it is Ryan's details of life in the bad old USSR that make the story so engrossing.
Irish Times
It's a tough, suspenseful premise for a debut, contrasting claustrophobic atmosphere with personal optimism in a way that can only intensify as the series continues.
Financial Times
Set in a vividly imagined Stalinist Russia, where the creeping paranoia of a surveillance state blends perfectly with the brutal serial murders
Metro (Crime Book of the Year)
Ryan's novel has an authority that belies his first-novel status... Ryan demonstrates considerable skill in evoking this benighted period, along with a deftness at ringing the changes on familiar crime plotting moves. The auguries for a series, of which The Holy Thief is the first book, are very promising indeed.
Daily Express
The Holy Thief is an impressive debut from Ryan. It pulls off the difficult task of laying down ample foundations for a scheduled subsequent series without burdening its narrative drive with excessive back-story detail. I look forward to Captain Korolev's further exploits under the cold gaze of Comrade Stalin.
Yorkshire Evening Post
Fans of Phillip Kerr, Tom Rob Smith, and Olen Steinhauer have a treat in store with this strong period thriller from British debut author Ryan . . .A series to watch very closely
Book List
A first novel written with all the narrative assurance of someone who'd been perfecting his art for years. A thriller set amid the paranoia of 1930s Moscow, it was persuasive in all its local and historical details, told its tense story with style and aplomb and had an engagingly troubled hero
Books of the Year, Irish Independent
Remarkable thriller . . . In his solitude and resolve, Ryan's Korolev evokes Martin Cruz Smith's fierce Arkady Renko, while the period detail and gore call to mind Tom Rob Smith
Library Journal
Ryan's research, and the genuine feel he has for the unique place and time, made The Holy Thief an especially good read.
Ellery Queen Magazine
Ryan brings the pain, hunger and poverty of the people to life, adding the mystery of murder to the mayhem.
Bournemouth Echo
While THE HOLY THIEF is a dark book, Ryan peppers the narrative with some grim humor to keep things from becoming too stark. The star of the novel, however, is the plot, which provides a plausible, surefooted explanation for the motive behind the murders. Book Reporter
Ryan captures the pervasive fear of Stalin's reign, where even a joke amongst friends can lead to denunciation and exile to the 'Zone ... An impressive debut.
Historical Novel Society (Editor's Choice)
Product Details
| BN ID: | 2940185595633 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | William Ryan |
| Publication date: | 05/23/2022 |
| Series: | Moscow Noir , #1 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Sales rank: | 544,151 |
| File size: | 995 KB |
About the Author
William Ryan is an Irish author, lioving in London. His first novel in the Captain Korolev series, The Holy Thief, was shortlisted for a Crime Writer's Association's New Blood Dagger, a Barry Award, The Kerry Group Irish Fiction Award and The Theakstons Crime Novel of the Year. The second in the series, The Bloody Meadow, was shortlisted for the Ireland AM Crime Novel of the Year and the third, The Twelfth Department, was also shortlisted for the Ireland AM Crime Novel of the Year as well as the CWA's Historical Fiction Dagger and was a Guardian Crime Novel of the Year.
The Constant Soldier, William's fourth novel was described as "subtle, suspenseful and superb" by The Daily Mail and shortlisted for the HWA's Gold Crown and the CWA's Steel Dagger. A House of Ghosts, (as W.C. Ryan), was published in 2018 and was described as "an intelligent, absorbing, exquisitely spooky mystery" by The Irish Times, while The Winter Guest was called "a serendipitously timed, impeccably researched and utterly intriguing historical mystery that lays bare the societal fractures caused in Ireland's fight for freedom."
The Constant Soldier, William's fourth novel was described as "subtle, suspenseful and superb" by The Daily Mail and shortlisted for the HWA's Gold Crown and the CWA's Steel Dagger. A House of Ghosts, (as W.C. Ryan), was published in 2018 and was described as "an intelligent, absorbing, exquisitely spooky mystery" by The Irish Times, while The Winter Guest was called "a serendipitously timed, impeccably researched and utterly intriguing historical mystery that lays bare the societal fractures caused in Ireland's fight for freedom."
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