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Ben Pastor: Ben Pastor, born in Italy, lived for thirty years in the United States, working as a university professor in Vermont, and is now back in her home country. She is the author of other novels including The Water Thief and The Fire Waker (set in Roman times and published to high acclaim in the US by St. Martin's Press), and is considered one of the most talented writers in the field of historical fiction. In 2008 she won the prestigious Premio Zaragoza for best historical fiction. She writes in English.
Ben Pastor s novels featuring a Wehrmacht major are turning into one of the most appealing series in modern crime fiction, combining intriguing plots and characters who defy easy interpretation. This fine novel is packed with tense moments and moral ambiguity . Sunday Times-London STARRED REVIEW Publishers Weekly W: Set in the spring of 1943, Pastor s excellent fourth mystery featuring Maj. Martin Bora (after 2014 s Dark Song of Blood) takes the German army counterintelligence officer to Ukraine. In Krasny Yar, a place shunned by the locals, someone has been savagely killing peasants for no apparent reason. Bora has little time to investigate before a higher-profile case claims his attention. Gen. Ghenrikh Khan Tibyetsky, a tank corps commander with access to the highest level of Soviet military planning, has offered to defect to the Germans. Khan s information could be crucial to the battle looming in the Kursk salient. Bora handles Khan s surrender, but the Gestapo later takes control of the prisoner. When Khan dies in Gestapo custody, an apparent poisoning victim, no one besides Bora, a decent man, seems interested in solving the crime, which may be linked to the murders at Krasny Yar. Pastor effectively melds a well-constructed whodunit with a grim portrayal of the Eastern front. (May 2015) PW Bora is a brilliantly developed character, and Pastor s devastated Ukraine is richly atmospheric. Booklist
