Stelian Munteanu has had enough of fixing other people’s problems: all he wants to do is make the long-distance relationship with his wife Sofia work.
But when a notorious Romanian businessman asks him to investigate the death of his daughter in the north of England, he reluctantly gets involved once more. This time it turns into a tangled web of shady business dealings and international politics.
Moving rapidly between London, Newcastle, Bucharest and Iasi, Resilience shows just how easy and dangerous it is to fall prey to fake news and social media manipulation.
Resilience by Bogdan HRIB was published on 20 August 2021 by Corylus Books and is translated by Marina Sofia.
My thanks to the publishers who sent my copy for review, as part of this Blog Tour.
Crime fiction crossed with a political thriller, Resilience is a story that gripped me from the opening chapter. I've not read anything by this author before and have been really impressed by the superb translation by Marina Sofia. I really enjoyed the short, sharp bursts of writing which add a sense of danger to the whole story.
Stelian Munteanu is called to investigate the sudden death of a Romanian woman, found dead on a beach in the north east of England. If truth be told, Stelian would rather not get involved but takes himself off to see what he can find. Stelian is not a police officer, he's a private investigator and also a publisher and writer. His wife Sofia, works in a high flying, quite mysterious position and they spend much of their time in different countries. He would far rather be with Sofia than digging around in the murky depths of dodgy business men and their accompanying thugs.
It seems that there is far more to this death than first expected and the reader is thrust into a world of political intrigue and dodgy dealings. Stelian uncovers things that shock him, and the reader and this is not the only death either.
This author shows such insight into the current state of Europe; with the all consuming effects of the UK Brexit decision, and how other countries, and various factions within those have reacted. I have to admit that I didn't have a great deal of prior knowledge of Romania, but after reading Resilience and taking a few trips down the Google rabbit-hole, I have discovered some fascinating things.
Also taking prime position is the issue of social media manipulation that is such a huge issue in our world these days, it's terrifying stuff at times, and gives the reader much to ponder.
Intelligently written with a dry humour at times, this is a story that gripped me from the off. The characters are so well created and their relationships are excellently portrayed.
Whilst the story is complex, it is never complicated and is told with such ease that the reader is never left behind. I really enjoyed my first steps into Romanian fiction and look forward to reading more from the author.
Former journalist, civil engineer by education and now professor at the University in Bucharest, Hrib is the co-founder of Tritonic Books (1993) and has been instrumental in bringing other Romanian crime writers into English publication.
He was the vice-president of the Romanian Crime Writers Club (2010-2012), and the director/organizer of the International Mystery & Thriller Festival in Râșnov (2011-2015), as well as the PR coordinator of the History Film Festival also in Râșnov
He is the author of the crime fiction series featuring Stelian Munteanu, a book-editor with a sideline doing international police work.
Kill the General (2011), the fourth book in the Munteanu series was Hrib’s first novel translated into English, won the Special Award of the Bucharest Writers Association (2012). The Greek Connection is Hrib’s second novel translated into English.
The novel Resilience, the sixth of the series, was published in May 2020, by Tritonic. The story A Bucharest Arrest was published in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine (March-April 2021)
Instagram @bogdanhrib
Twitter @bo_hrib
She was a reviewer for Crime Fiction Lover for more than seven years and has also worked for
Asymptote Literary Journal.
Her previous translation for Corylus Books was Sword by Bogdan Teodorescu.
She is on Twitter and https://twitter.com/MarinaSofia8 and blogs
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