The Bridge of Sighs Audiobook

" Pretty good story about post-war (1948) eastern Europe when the Russians haven't completely taken over the government and memories of the Nazis are still fresh in everyone's mind. "

" I bit hard to get through. "

" This book didn't make much of an impression - barely two weeks after reading it I can't remember the characters' names or many details. The protagonist is a police detective in an unnamed Eastern European country a few years after WWII. His first case is a perplexing murder that leads him to a love interest (the widow) and a corrupt, climbing Politburo member. He nearly dies a few times, things are bleak, people commit casual evil, then the book ends and you, the reader, know that this unnamed country has at least another 40 years to go of the same. "

" Post WWII eastern bloc police noir - pulls you along quite nicely, not a roller coaster, but compelling enough for me to get the rest from the library. "

" I tried this, as I'd really enjoyed his later works like The Tourist and The Nearest Exit, but Steinhauer's slow first novel about an Eastern-blok post-WW2 detective just couldn't hold my attention. "

" I "read" this as an audio book and was not too impressed. I know the reader has a lot to do with how a book goes over but still I found it rather dark and it moved slowly for me. If it is accurate about conditions in the east following WWII it's amazing anyone surviived with any hopeful outlooks. "

" This was not good. In fact this Eastern European crime series is not good. Two books were enough to convince me of that. Whatever changed in this author's life that produced the last two books was significant. "

" I had a difficult time getting into this book but did finish it. It's a crime novel set in a post-German occupied country, now under Soviet control at the time the book takes place, 1948. "

" Too slow. Also, the main character was kind of a drip. "

" Did not really enjoy it, may be the reading "

" Very good book for a first novel. Obvious in this book that Steinhauer is a major talent. "

" First in the Steinhauer series. "

" A little slow to get into, but this police procedural heats up with excitement and gives a fascinating look at a frustratingly nameless central European city in 1948. Great characters and unusual relationships. "

" Starts out slow, but picks up speed about 1/3rd of the way in. This book is atmospheric in the same vein as Alan Furst's novels. "

" Blackmail, betrayal, and brutality in post-World War II Eastern Europe. Great read, especially for a first novel, and by a Virginia-raised author. Looking forward to the next 4 in the series. "

" A mystery set in another time and place that gives you little pieces as you go to keep you interested. "

" A tense cold-war era detective novel. Dark and intense. "

" Good, but, like The Tourist, very slow to start. The pacing here is a little bit less even, with too much piled up against the end of the novel, and some less-than-plausible twists to keep the protagonist alive, but still fairly interesting. "

" This book kickstarts Steinhauer's 5-part series of crime/spy/literary/whatever novels about a fictional Soviet satellite nation during the Cold War. Wonderful, smart, engaging. "

" I am just about to finish...another wonderful Russo book...long, but characters are so well developed...Lucy Lynch is a truly lovable person... "

" A fictional Eastern European country murder mystery. "

" Eastern European homicide detective solves first murder in post-war country. Good read. "

" Terrific start to a 5 volume series in the post WWII, eastern European region. "

" Really not a fan of this book. I like crime/murder mystery novels, but I think that this had too much of a historical perspective. "

" This book kickstarts Steinhauer's 5-part series of crime/spy/literary/whatever novels about a fictional Soviet satellite nation during the Cold War. Wonderful, smart, engaging. "

" This was not good. In fact this Eastern European crime series is not good. Two books were enough to convince me of that. Whatever changed in this author's life that produced the last two books was significant. "

" I bit hard to get through. "

" Evokes the paranoia of immediate post-war Europe. Well written, except for the acknowledgment page. (Annoyingly bad prose) "

" Terrific start to a 5 volume series in the post WWII, eastern European region. "

" Very good book for a first novel. Obvious in this book that Steinhauer is a major talent. "

" Really liked the moodiness and sense of place. That bumped a so-so plot up to 4 stars. "

" Eastern European homicide detective solves first murder in post-war country. Good read. "

" Good, but, like The Tourist, very slow to start. The pacing here is a little bit less even, with too much piled up against the end of the novel, and some less-than-plausible twists to keep the protagonist alive, but still fairly interesting. "