What do You think about Lie In The Dark (2015)?
Dan Fesperman's police procedural, LIE IN THE DARK, was first published in 1999. It is a powerful story about a Bosnian homicide detective, Investigator Petric, who tries to solve crimes while staying honest among corrupt colleagues, gangsters and drop-in newspaper correspondents in wartime Sarajevo. The copy of the book I read says that Fesperman is a reporter for the Baltimore Sun. He has a way of incorporating relevant information, (about the roots and realities of the conflict between Bosnians, Serbians and Croatians and the sometimes malign influence of the United Nations) into his plot that adds immensely to the story, but doesn't slow it down. However, you will need to have patience with the first fifty pages, as Fesperman puts in place the context. I totally agree with Ian Rankin, who ranked LIE IN THE DARK as "A quite astonishing first novel which injects the reader into the heart of the darkness which was Sarajevo at the height of the Yugoslav conflict."
—John Gaynard
il poliziotto di sarajevo GM 2717 �Di notte la citt� sembra una bocca guasta di costruzioni rose dall�interno come denti divorati da una carie. Il buio diventa l�apocalisse. Non c�� traccia di vita. Le sirene degli allarmi sono voci dimenticate da un�allerta che non pare servire pi� a nessuno. Ogni notte Sarajevo muore. La notte � il coperchio che si chiude. I superstiti sono formiche che hanno seguito il destino della citt� per ostinata affezione e sono rimaste murate nella bara. Di notte resta solo il vento, che cala dalle montagne e si aggira come uno spirito inquieto in questa bocca sdentata.� Secondo voi, uno che ha paura che un cecchino faccia saltar via la faccia o ricordando quei momenti, pensa in quel modo? Con quell'albero di natale di metafore?. Al massimo dice "gi� o ti sparano". Infatti il brano non appartiene a questo libro, questo nel suo piccolo � serio.
—Procyon Lotor
I am a fan of historical mysteries. This one is set in Yugoslavia during the ethnic wars of the 1990's. A homicide detective in a pared-down Sarjevo PD. His friends kid him about his job comparing him to a plumber fixing someone's leak in the middle of a flood. With all the ethnic cleansing going on, why concern yourself with a murder? But, when the head of the National Police is murdered and, to avoid further suggestions of corruption and coverup, the national police turns the investigation over to this lowly detective. They obviously had no idea he was so diligent in his work. Lots of twists and turns with an ending that is actually not a let down or a simple wind down as so many books have. This ending leaves room for speculation but still with a hint of completion. I think satisfying endings are a novelist's biggest challenge and Fesperman got this one right.
—Geo Forman
