The Twelfth Department: A Novel (Captain Alexei Korolev Novels) - Hardcover

Ryan, William

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0312586523 ISBN 13: 9780312586522

Publisher: Minotaur Books, 2013

Synopsis

Captain Alexei Korolev has nothing to complain about. He has his own room in an apartment, a job in the police force that puts food on the table, and his good health. In Moscow in 1937, that's a lot more than most people have to be grateful for. But for the first time in a long time, Korolev is about to be truly happy: his son Yuri is coming to visit for an entire week.

Shortly after Yuri's arrival, however, Korolev receives an urgent call from his boss―it seems an important man has been murdered, and Korolev is the only detective they're willing to assign to this sensitive case. In fact, Korolev realizes almost immediately that the layers of sensitivity and secrecy surrounding this case far exceed his paygrade. And the consequences of interfering with a case tied to State Security or the NKVD can be severe―you might lose your job, if you're lucky. Your whole family might die if you're not. Korolev is suddenly faced with much more than just discovering a murderer's identity; he must decide how far he'll go to see justice served . . . and what he's willing to do to protect his family.

In The Twelfth Department, William Ryan's portrait of a Russian policeman struggling to survive in one of the most volatile and dangerous eras of modern history is mesmerizing.

About this title

About the Author

WILLIAM RYAN is the author of The Holy Thief, which was a Barry Award Nominee for Best First Novel and shortlisted for the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year. Ryan attended Trinity College, Dublin and completed his Masters in Creative Writing at St. Andrews University. He lives in London. The Twelfth Department is his third novel.

Reviews

*Starred Review* Moscow police detective Captain Alexei Korolev is a loyal Russian who fought in the German War (WWI). He’s also a committed Marxist who fought the Whites to overthrow the czar. But it’s now 1937, Stalin’s Great Purge is accelerating, and Korolev struggles to reconcile his loyalties with the gnawing fear every Russian is feeling. Even worse, his ex-wife is under suspicion, and his young son, Yuri, who is visiting him for a week, is telling him about the teacher who is asking Yuri leading questions about his mother’s loyalty. When the director of a secret research institute is murdered, Korolev finds himself working for a department of the NKVD—and being menaced by another department. A second murder, doubtless connected to the first, occurs. Korolev is savagely beaten by an NKVD hard case. His apartment is searched. Yuri goes missing, and Korolev fears that he and everyone he cares about will simply disappear. Ryan’s latest (following The Darkening Field, 2011) has a fine cast of characters, puzzling murders, interesting police work, and a strong sense of the terror that pervaded Stalin’s Russia. But it is his eye for period detail (e.g., scheming apparatchiks who denounce a neighbor simply to move into a larger apartment) that makes this one special. --Thomas Gaughan

Edition details

• Publisher: Minotaur Books
• Publication date: 2013
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0312586523
• ISBN 13: 9780312586522
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 352