A Killing Winter: An Inspector Akyl Borubaev Thriller (1) - Couverture souple

Tom Callaghan made his name as a successful advertising executive and filmmaker. Now in A Killing Winter he has created an atmospheric thriller that deftly shines a harsh fluorescent glare on the pitiless work of being a homicide detective on the frozen, mean streets of the post-Soviet 'Stans.

In this neo-noir set in the mountainous Central Asian republic of Kyrgyzstan, hard-bitten inspector Akyl Borubaev mourns the recent death of his beloved wife--the only humanizing force in his otherwise bleak life as a homicide detective in Bishkek. As he struggles to face his personal pain, Borubaev is assigned to investigate the murder of a young woman whose horribly mutilated body is found dumped in a public park in the dead of the forbidding Kyrgyz winter. When the pathologist informs Borubaev that the killer stuffed a fetus from another woman into the womb of the victim, the detective realizes he is hunting a psychopath. Then Borubaev discovers the woman is the only daughter of Mikhail Tekebayev, the powerful and ruthless Minister of State Security, and realizes the case will probably destroy him, regardless of where the evidence leads.
 
Borubaev begins making enemies everywhere he turns, even as he is aided by a motley assortment of dangerous cut-throats: his uncle Kursan, whose cross-border smuggling is the stuff of local legend; the explosive police chief, who wants the case solved as soon as possible; Saltanat, a beautiful and murderous agent of the Uzbek Security Service; an entire police force of bent cops; and members of the Kyrgyz mafia.
 
All of which would just be another day in the life of Akyl Borubaev—if the investigation didn't turn up a blood-chilling connection to multiple homicides in several nearby countries, including one on a military base in Russia.

Even better than Child 44. Akyl Borubaev is a terrific creation (Anthony Horowitz)

Just keeps getting better . . . buy the whole series right away (Peter Robinson, author of the bestselling DCI Banks series)

This is a thrilling, intense debut from a powerfully descriptive writer (The Daily Express)

A Killing Winter is a brilliant debut, and an early contender for one of my top reads of the year (Raven Crime Reads)

[Tom Callaghan's] gloomy atmospheric portrait convinces and he writes with style and panache . . . A lively story and a riveting glimpse of an unknown society (The Times)

Unforgettable (The Sunday Times)

His [Tom Callaghan's] descriptions are wonderful - sickeningly so in fact . . . an impressive debut. (The Book Bag)

It's brutal but not cynical; you feel it. It's a hugely impressive debut; atmospheric and stirring (Killing Time Crime)

Callaghan is a hell of a writer, with a tremendous sense of pace and an arch ear for juicy dialogue, and the pages fly by. (Crime Thriller Fella)

This is a wonderful book . . . the narrative is savage yet at the same time beautifully crafted . . . A Killing Winter satisfies on so many levels (Milo Rambles)