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Commander Jana Matinova #1
Siren of the Waters
Jana Matinova entered the Czechoslovak police force as a young woman, married an actor, and became a mother. The regime destroyed her husband, their love for one another, and her daughter’s respect for her. But she has never stopped being a seeker of justice.
Now, as a commander in the Slovak police force, she liaises with colleagues across Europe as they track the mastermind of an international criminal operation involved in, among other crimes, human trafficking. Her investigation takes her from Ukraine to Strasbourg, from Vienna to Nice, in a hunt for a ruthless killer and the beautiful young Russian woman he is determined either to capture or destroy.
Now, as a commander in the Slovak police force, she liaises with colleagues across Europe as they track the mastermind of an international criminal operation involved in, among other crimes, human trafficking. Her investigation takes her from Ukraine to Strasbourg, from Vienna to Nice, in a hunt for a ruthless killer and the beautiful young Russian woman he is determined either to capture or destroy.
336 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2008
24 people are currently reading
562 people want to read
About the author
Michael Genelin
15 books26 followersMichael Genelin, a graduate of UCLA and the UCLA Law School, has served in the LA District Attorney's Office and the US Department of Justice in Central Europe. He has written for film and has been an adviser to television series. He now lives with his wife and daughter in Paris.
Series:
* Commander Jana Matinova
Series:
* Commander Jana Matinova
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 86 reviews
December 11, 2022
Siren of the Waters by American author Michael Genelin is the first book in his Commander Jana Matinova crime series, set in Slovaka. It's an excellent intro to the series and will keep me exploring it. The book moves from the present where Jana investigates the murder of a truckload of prostitutes traveling through Slovakia from Ukraine and leads her to Ukraine and then France. It also shifts to Jana's past, her relationship with husband Dano, a radical trying to overthrow the Communist government and its consequences on her marriage and career.
The investigation is a bit of a strange one. Matinova goes to Ukraine to meet with a bent copper, Mikhail, to find out about the dead folks and learns about Koba, an international criminal with a murderous bent. He likes using ice picks... Enough said. She is then invited to an EU conference in Strasbourg by Moira Simmons, who chairs the committee that is investigating international trafficking. While there, there are a number of other murders that both Matinova and a Russian delegate, Ivan Levitin, investigate. It's kind of confusing but at the same time, quite different and interesting.
As well, Matinova is trying to arrange a meeting with her estranged daughter Katya. This estrangement is explained throughout the story in a series of flashbacks. So we get to understand Matinova's life, her police career, etc. Also very interesting.
All in all, it's a nicely paced, interesting crime story, with interesting characters with whom you can empathise. Matinova is a tough, smart cop and I grew to like her very much. Her 'partner', Levitin and her boss, Trokan, is also excellent, loud, blustery and supporting Matinova through all of her trials and tribulations. Excellent intro to what I hope will continue to be an entertaining series. (3.5 stars0
The investigation is a bit of a strange one. Matinova goes to Ukraine to meet with a bent copper, Mikhail, to find out about the dead folks and learns about Koba, an international criminal with a murderous bent. He likes using ice picks... Enough said. She is then invited to an EU conference in Strasbourg by Moira Simmons, who chairs the committee that is investigating international trafficking. While there, there are a number of other murders that both Matinova and a Russian delegate, Ivan Levitin, investigate. It's kind of confusing but at the same time, quite different and interesting.
As well, Matinova is trying to arrange a meeting with her estranged daughter Katya. This estrangement is explained throughout the story in a series of flashbacks. So we get to understand Matinova's life, her police career, etc. Also very interesting.
All in all, it's a nicely paced, interesting crime story, with interesting characters with whom you can empathise. Matinova is a tough, smart cop and I grew to like her very much. Her 'partner', Levitin and her boss, Trokan, is also excellent, loud, blustery and supporting Matinova through all of her trials and tribulations. Excellent intro to what I hope will continue to be an entertaining series. (3.5 stars0
January 1, 2011
Commander Jana’s Matinova investigation of the deaths in a van crash leads her into the murky world of human trafficking. The story is set against flashbacks to Jana’s past and the destruction of her family in Communist Czechoslovakia. The villain is extraordinarily brutal and Jana’s pursuit takes her to the Ukraine as well as southern France. I had difficulty rating the novel. The writing was at times quite compelling and it would probably appeal to those who like their mysteries grimly realistic. However, as the victims multiplied and the Jana’s character became so tragic as to veer into melodrama, I found the darkness a little overpowering.
July 30, 2009
Just have to say I have discovered another fine author. I'm only about 1/3 the way through this crime novel, and am quite impressed with Genelin's language and storytelling. Commander Jana Matinova of Czeschlovak police is more interesting than any female cop I've read since Maron's Sigrid Harald.'
Just finished reading it. It only got better. I'm glad there's a second book of his to read.
There is intrigue, changes in setting including some time in Nice which was lovely, and involvement of Russia, France, Slovakia, and the United States. Did I leave out anything? Poland.
Just finished reading it. It only got better. I'm glad there's a second book of his to read.
There is intrigue, changes in setting including some time in Nice which was lovely, and involvement of Russia, France, Slovakia, and the United States. Did I leave out anything? Poland.
June 2, 2009
Several times while reading this book, I searched the cover - and the Library of Congress info inside the cover - for the name of the person who had translated it into English. In my experience, even with an excellent translator, a translated book can leave a feeling of distance between me and some parts of the story, which I'm sure is a result of difficulties in translating cultural nuances and my own lack of knowledge of any cultural references. That's why after finishing this book, I went to Michael Genelin's homepage to learn a bit more about him. To be honest, I thought that Siren of the Waters might have been translated into English, which would have explained a bit of the distant feeling I had while reading it, as well as the prevalence (in my opinion)of things that simply didn't make any sense. But that doesn't appear to be the case. The author was born in New York and lived in California.
Genelin has spent time in Slovakia however, and the book is at its best when describing everyday life in Communist Slovakia. My enjoyment of the first half of the book was based on that glimpse of a world I am not very familiar with. Unfortunately, the book is labeled a "mystery" which requires another plot to be superimposed upon the everyday lives of the characters and, in my opinion, that's where the problems start. And after the story moves on to France, and begins to rely more and more on the mystery to hold it together, the holes in the plot become larger and harder to hide, until in the end I felt that all I was left with was a piece of lace, vaguely resembling a story.
If Mr. Genelin ever writes a non-mystery book set in Slovakia I will pick it up and give his writing another try.
Genelin has spent time in Slovakia however, and the book is at its best when describing everyday life in Communist Slovakia. My enjoyment of the first half of the book was based on that glimpse of a world I am not very familiar with. Unfortunately, the book is labeled a "mystery" which requires another plot to be superimposed upon the everyday lives of the characters and, in my opinion, that's where the problems start. And after the story moves on to France, and begins to rely more and more on the mystery to hold it together, the holes in the plot become larger and harder to hide, until in the end I felt that all I was left with was a piece of lace, vaguely resembling a story.
If Mr. Genelin ever writes a non-mystery book set in Slovakia I will pick it up and give his writing another try.
March 9, 2018
Commander Jana Matinova’s first outing of this series by Michael Genelin is a great read. I read this for a PassportLitsy challenge as my pick for Slovakia. This book covers both the politics of communism in the country and the ways in which the people have to cope- the toll on personal and professional lives. This story spans several years and employs flashbacks to give us Jana’s backstory. The investigation covers international smuggling operations and travels to Nice and Russia in pursuit of answers. I love that there are strong women and Jana is smart and practical. Will carry on with this series- this book is part of the SoHo Passport to Crime series as well.
June 21, 2018
Siren of the Waters by Michael Genelin is the first in a series featuring Commander Jana Matinova from the Czechoslovak police force. She must liaise with other officers in Central Europe to capture a master criminal involved in extortion, murder, and kidnapping. Throughout the search, she is also dealing with family issues involving her estranged daughter. A good first start to an interesting new series.
February 1, 2021
A van is in an accident in post-Communist Slovakia. When Commander Jana Matinova reaches the scene the vehicle is still engulfed in flames. The six passengers and the driver had all been thrown from the car, and all were dead. Six women, one man. The police soon established that the women were prostitutes, likely from different countries. Slovakia was known as a pathway for traffickers, taking women from one country, though Slovakia, to other countries.
As we follow the investigation we also learn more about Jana's personal life and motivations. And about the motivations of certain strange characters.
I read this short book quickly and I have not retained a great deal about the story, but I am interested in reading others in the series.
As we follow the investigation we also learn more about Jana's personal life and motivations. And about the motivations of certain strange characters.
I read this short book quickly and I have not retained a great deal about the story, but I am interested in reading others in the series.
September 16, 2011
At halfway through this book, I considered giving it a terrible review. On finishing it, the story has convinced me to temper my feelings on it. I did feel like the first half the book was very slow introduction and that the author missed the point where the action begins. Up until the last half of the book, the story leads the reader to believe that this is a book about an investigation into the illegal sex trade. The main character, Jana, acts irritated with her investigation and there seems to be no emotional connection to the affected characters at all. Even as the characters attend a UN conference for solving this issue, there seems to be little empathy by the victims of these heinous acts. In fact, there's little concern about it to the end of the book, which is disconcerting.
Where Siren of the Waters redeems itself slightly is the end of it becomes a thriller story where you begin to see the connections forming between all the characters. Jana appears to be less an uncaring police woman and more intrigued and intertwined in the entire story. Unfortunately, one has to read the first one hundred and forty pages to get to the point where things become intriguing.
In the end, I felt like the cold handling of forced prostitution awkward. In the first chapter, when it is brought up as an issue, my mind had visions of the movie Taken, which I found thrilling. It quickly dissipated when it became clear this was not a story that addressed the issue at all, let alone in any sympathetic way. I have to wonder why the author brought it up at all as a main point through the first half of the book. However, I'm glad I read to the end, because I would have left this book believing Jana was a callous and robotic individual. And as this appears to be the first book in a series, one can only hope that this book was so rough and the other novels will improve now that there is less need to establish who Jana is and the details of her life.
I would be remiss if I did not mention the character of Trokan. Jana's commanding officer is the humorous and fatherly note in the book. He has ten times more character than the main character and is delightful to read about. The way his dialogue is crafted makes it easy to imagine him. It left me confused as to how so little could be put into the main character, leaving Trokan to overshadow her.
When I initially wrote this review, I forgot to mention that the sentence structure seems really short and rapid fire. At times, I felt like I was reading someone who had quickly scrawled down a story on paper and did not go back and edit it. I will note that this too improves by halfway through the book.
Where Siren of the Waters redeems itself slightly is the end of it becomes a thriller story where you begin to see the connections forming between all the characters. Jana appears to be less an uncaring police woman and more intrigued and intertwined in the entire story. Unfortunately, one has to read the first one hundred and forty pages to get to the point where things become intriguing.
In the end, I felt like the cold handling of forced prostitution awkward. In the first chapter, when it is brought up as an issue, my mind had visions of the movie Taken, which I found thrilling. It quickly dissipated when it became clear this was not a story that addressed the issue at all, let alone in any sympathetic way. I have to wonder why the author brought it up at all as a main point through the first half of the book. However, I'm glad I read to the end, because I would have left this book believing Jana was a callous and robotic individual. And as this appears to be the first book in a series, one can only hope that this book was so rough and the other novels will improve now that there is less need to establish who Jana is and the details of her life.
I would be remiss if I did not mention the character of Trokan. Jana's commanding officer is the humorous and fatherly note in the book. He has ten times more character than the main character and is delightful to read about. The way his dialogue is crafted makes it easy to imagine him. It left me confused as to how so little could be put into the main character, leaving Trokan to overshadow her.
When I initially wrote this review, I forgot to mention that the sentence structure seems really short and rapid fire. At times, I felt like I was reading someone who had quickly scrawled down a story on paper and did not go back and edit it. I will note that this too improves by halfway through the book.
April 5, 2011
In the first book in Michael Genelin’s new series begins as Jana Matinova examines the site of a car crash that killed seven people. Most of them are prostitutes from Eastern Europe.
Jana Matinova entered the Czechoslovak police force as a young woman, married an actor who eventually became an enemy of the state. The regime destroyed her husband, their love for one another, and her daughter's respect for her.
She has a very good reputation and is sent to liaise with colleagues across Europe as they track the mastermind of an international criminal operation involved in, among other crimes, human trafficking.
Her investigation takes her from Ukraine to Strasbourg, from Vienna to Nice, in a hunt for a ruthless killer and the beautiful young Russian woman he is determined either to capture or destroy.
The plot is complex but easy to follow. The personalities are very well drawn, as are the localities. Michael Genelin shows that he knows Europe well. While Slovakia calls itself capitalist, the country hasn’t fully shed its communist tendencies as is seen in the careful way Matinova treads while doing her work.
This story was compelling up to the final page. Fortunately has two other books in this series.
Jana Matinova entered the Czechoslovak police force as a young woman, married an actor who eventually became an enemy of the state. The regime destroyed her husband, their love for one another, and her daughter's respect for her.
She has a very good reputation and is sent to liaise with colleagues across Europe as they track the mastermind of an international criminal operation involved in, among other crimes, human trafficking.
Her investigation takes her from Ukraine to Strasbourg, from Vienna to Nice, in a hunt for a ruthless killer and the beautiful young Russian woman he is determined either to capture or destroy.
The plot is complex but easy to follow. The personalities are very well drawn, as are the localities. Michael Genelin shows that he knows Europe well. While Slovakia calls itself capitalist, the country hasn’t fully shed its communist tendencies as is seen in the careful way Matinova treads while doing her work.
This story was compelling up to the final page. Fortunately has two other books in this series.
May 26, 2017
Jana Matinova is a commander (like a chief inspector) in the Slovakian police. Slovakia is a former Soviet state, and it is still heavy with bureaucracy and mistrust. Her marriage to an actor-turned-dissident is a casualty of that distrust, and of his recklessness and frustration with life in Slovakia. Jana's highly developed competence protects her, as does her immediate boss, Colonel Trokan, but the case that she is involved with brings great personal danger, as well as professional risk. She has tracked the master criminal behind a human smuggling ring (not the only crime the ring has committed), and the criminal is more dangerous than anyone she has encountered. (He is a bit of a Keyser Soyse characters, if you know your "The Usual Suspects.") The writing starts a bit stiffly, almost as though in translation (it is not), but Matinova's integrity and force of character propel the book, which is the first of five novels. Slovakia is an interesting setting, and Commander Matinova is an interesting character.
November 20, 2008
This is one of the Soho Mystery series of international mysteries. Commander Jana Matinova of Bratislava, Slovakia investigates multiple murders. She begins with a van crash in Bratislava that burns too fiercely to be natural. A crime lord is suspected. Koba reveals his hand in the grisly, but appropriate deaths he deals to the opposing organization. Jana is helped by a Russian,Levitan, who is hunting for his sister. They end of in Nice, France, where Jana hopes to see her estranged daughter and grand daughter.
The writing is uneven. At times the lack of subtlety is jarring. Overall, a good read.
The writing is uneven. At times the lack of subtlety is jarring. Overall, a good read.
May 12, 2019
I was not sure how I felt about this story about a Slovakian police inspector until I got close to the end. It was a bit too eerie in tone at the start. Well, it started out with her becoming the reluctant guardian of two mistreated blind cats.
I am not familiar with post Communist Eastern Europe, so that also made a strange read for me, although the action eventually moved to France. Does anyone understand how they do things in France?
This was the first book in a series and I am going to reserve judgement until I read the second book.
I am not familiar with post Communist Eastern Europe, so that also made a strange read for me, although the action eventually moved to France. Does anyone understand how they do things in France?
This was the first book in a series and I am going to reserve judgement until I read the second book.
June 13, 2010
Slogged through about 40 pages of stilted dialogue and awkward phrasing before giving up on this. The translation really fell flat, and makes this feel so dry and stiff that there just didn't seem to be much soul to it. Judging from the reviews here, it doesn't get much better, so I'm quitting while I'm ahead.
October 15, 2018
Terrific mystery thriller as you travel through Europe, pre- and post-collapse of the Soviet Union. Jana Matinova, Commander in the Slovakian Police, navigates the treacherous world of human-trafficking, never knowing who is trustworthy or deadly.
June 25, 2020
Enjoyed it.
I have one question, why did Katka's husband look like Jana's husband Dana? Katka was Dana & Jana's daughter. I was really confused about that. Other than that, I really enjoyed the book.
I have one question, why did Katka's husband look like Jana's husband Dana? Katka was Dana & Jana's daughter. I was really confused about that. Other than that, I really enjoyed the book.
Read
January 27, 2020Didn’t finish it. (Actually, I gave it up after about 35 pages.) I found I was feeling more critical than connected, so I looked at some of the reviews here and decided to put it down.
April 20, 2020
One of my very favorite international police thrillers. Should read them all in order.
August 18, 2021
A mystery but also a story about the importance of family, set in modern day Slovakia.
November 4, 2021
3.5
Very well-written, but a little too much in the end. Classic case of less being more would have been more. Part Robert Ludlum, part somebody else. Jane Austen?
Very well-written, but a little too much in the end. Classic case of less being more would have been more. Part Robert Ludlum, part somebody else. Jane Austen?
June 22, 2017
A complex Eastern European investigation by a female police inspector with a very complex past. Interesting enough to get me to want to follow further cases.
April 16, 2016
A crashed van, with several bodies scattered in the snow – all but one young women, all from various east European states, one known sex worker; the single man, the driver with two passports under different names. A tragedy, lost inside what seems to be the world of human trafficking of women on their way being enslaved in Europe’s sex trade or as unwilling domestic workers if they’re lucky. Very quickly, Bratislava’s police, through the case’s senior investigating officer Commander Jana Matinova, is drawn into a high level Europe-wide conflict between organised crime gangs at least one of which has a decidedly Russian flavour. Matinova’s investigation takes her to Kiev, Vienna, Strasbourg and Nice, brings her up against corrupt police officers, thugs in suits and their enforcers in not-so-sharp suits, EU conferences goers and emigre Russians yearning for the pre-revolutionary world.
Running in the background to all of this is Matinova’s family history: her marriage to an actor (never a good thing for a police officer in communist-era Czechoslovakia), repeated close calls with the security police, an estranged daughter and protective allies in the state – but all that predates 1993’s Velvet Revolution (the novel is set in Slovakia). The narrative breaks to allow this back story to develop are relatively unobtrusive and for the most part allow us to step out of the contemporary to get a sense of the context for various developments in the overall story. While at one level this back story allows the construction of Matinova as that staple of police procedurals – the flawed cop who is a bit of an lone wolf and who has insights others don’t, Genelin successfully avoids overplaying the intuition element and in this specific case the back story performs the equally if not more important role of explaining some of Matinova’s decisions, such as the one to go on to Nice, where her daughter lives, when the trail barely hints at its significance.
Genelin has a low key style, a matter of fact tone of voice that can, in places, seem a little stilted but has the more significant effect of making incredibly ordinary the brutality and banality of the kinds of organised crime Matinova keeps coming up against. It also serves to make commonplace the sociopathic elements of at least one of the ‘crime bosses’. It is also fitting for police procedural format; this is not the wisecracking Stephanie Plum or Sam Spade and neither is it the politically engaged V I Warshawski – police procedurals do not suit the style of the hard-boiled loner (my preferred sub-genre).
I’m not usually a reader of police procedurals; the cop-as-hero as agent of the state I find problematic, while the all too common dependence on the intuitive officer’s ‘mystical’ solutions is just annoying; Genelin avoids most of the tropes of both traps. On top of this, to a large extent Matinova and while in France her Russian associate seem to be being led by ‘crime lords’ – a sense enhanced by the open-ended un-resolution of the case, even though there is some sense of the bad guys getting their comeuppance. What’s more, Matinova is sufficiently flawed to be engaging but seems to have a little too much autonomy – which might be a result of the allies in higher places.
I picked this up in need of a plane-and-train book, and wasn’t disappointed – and don’t think I would have been if it wasn’t a book-for-travelling; this isn’t a challenging novel but it is a decidedly better-than-average example of its genre, and what's more there are more Matinova cases to come.
Running in the background to all of this is Matinova’s family history: her marriage to an actor (never a good thing for a police officer in communist-era Czechoslovakia), repeated close calls with the security police, an estranged daughter and protective allies in the state – but all that predates 1993’s Velvet Revolution (the novel is set in Slovakia). The narrative breaks to allow this back story to develop are relatively unobtrusive and for the most part allow us to step out of the contemporary to get a sense of the context for various developments in the overall story. While at one level this back story allows the construction of Matinova as that staple of police procedurals – the flawed cop who is a bit of an lone wolf and who has insights others don’t, Genelin successfully avoids overplaying the intuition element and in this specific case the back story performs the equally if not more important role of explaining some of Matinova’s decisions, such as the one to go on to Nice, where her daughter lives, when the trail barely hints at its significance.
Genelin has a low key style, a matter of fact tone of voice that can, in places, seem a little stilted but has the more significant effect of making incredibly ordinary the brutality and banality of the kinds of organised crime Matinova keeps coming up against. It also serves to make commonplace the sociopathic elements of at least one of the ‘crime bosses’. It is also fitting for police procedural format; this is not the wisecracking Stephanie Plum or Sam Spade and neither is it the politically engaged V I Warshawski – police procedurals do not suit the style of the hard-boiled loner (my preferred sub-genre).
I’m not usually a reader of police procedurals; the cop-as-hero as agent of the state I find problematic, while the all too common dependence on the intuitive officer’s ‘mystical’ solutions is just annoying; Genelin avoids most of the tropes of both traps. On top of this, to a large extent Matinova and while in France her Russian associate seem to be being led by ‘crime lords’ – a sense enhanced by the open-ended un-resolution of the case, even though there is some sense of the bad guys getting their comeuppance. What’s more, Matinova is sufficiently flawed to be engaging but seems to have a little too much autonomy – which might be a result of the allies in higher places.
I picked this up in need of a plane-and-train book, and wasn’t disappointed – and don’t think I would have been if it wasn’t a book-for-travelling; this isn’t a challenging novel but it is a decidedly better-than-average example of its genre, and what's more there are more Matinova cases to come.
July 21, 2016
Having had the opportunity to read the fifth in this series a while ago I've been champing at the bit to go back to the start - SIREN OF THE WATERS. Sneaking this in amongst a lot of required reading recently was quite a treat, although now I'm wondering when I'll get a chance to read two, three and four now. Hopefully before a lot more of them come out.
This series debut starts out with a car crash that has killed seven people, most of whom are prostitutes from Eastern Europe. Quickly the investigation switches to one about human trafficking, and organised crime. Along the way the background of Matinova is built up - from a young woman in the Czechoslovakian police force, married to an actor, with a young daughter. The novel looks back in a fair amount of detail, woven into the current day story, to the time that her marriage disintegrated; her much loved husband became more erratic, ultimately going on the run as an enemy of the state; and the eventual estrangement of her only daughter.
The plot quite quickly becomes rather complicated with a lot of elements thrown at the reader so you'll need to pay attention. Whilst she finds and works with colleagues wherever she goes, always, at the middle of everything is the taciturn and complicated Matinova.
You really get a sense of what it must have been like to live in a Communist regime like the one in Czechoslovakia. The constant foreboding, the little steps required to put yourself out of favour with the regime, and the lengths that families had to go to in order to survive. Matinova's family story is particularly sad, and goes to explain a lot about her character style and motivation. Having said that, reading a book further on in the series first means she is less morose, more determined; less humourless and more introspective.
Once the complications of the plot start to reveal there's a decent balancing act maintained between that and the character development, with the focus being very much on Matinova, but providing some context for her friendship with her boss - Trokan. He's a great character, not just because he's supportive of her, but because he's a bit larger than life, and very good at working the system to have survived in the way that he does.
There's something very nice about having a series to look forward to, especially now with the opportunity, finally, to go back to the start. Am now really looking forward to filling in more of the gaps.
https://www.austcrimefiction.org/revi...
This series debut starts out with a car crash that has killed seven people, most of whom are prostitutes from Eastern Europe. Quickly the investigation switches to one about human trafficking, and organised crime. Along the way the background of Matinova is built up - from a young woman in the Czechoslovakian police force, married to an actor, with a young daughter. The novel looks back in a fair amount of detail, woven into the current day story, to the time that her marriage disintegrated; her much loved husband became more erratic, ultimately going on the run as an enemy of the state; and the eventual estrangement of her only daughter.
The plot quite quickly becomes rather complicated with a lot of elements thrown at the reader so you'll need to pay attention. Whilst she finds and works with colleagues wherever she goes, always, at the middle of everything is the taciturn and complicated Matinova.
You really get a sense of what it must have been like to live in a Communist regime like the one in Czechoslovakia. The constant foreboding, the little steps required to put yourself out of favour with the regime, and the lengths that families had to go to in order to survive. Matinova's family story is particularly sad, and goes to explain a lot about her character style and motivation. Having said that, reading a book further on in the series first means she is less morose, more determined; less humourless and more introspective.
Once the complications of the plot start to reveal there's a decent balancing act maintained between that and the character development, with the focus being very much on Matinova, but providing some context for her friendship with her boss - Trokan. He's a great character, not just because he's supportive of her, but because he's a bit larger than life, and very good at working the system to have survived in the way that he does.
There's something very nice about having a series to look forward to, especially now with the opportunity, finally, to go back to the start. Am now really looking forward to filling in more of the gaps.
https://www.austcrimefiction.org/revi...
January 26, 2016
Siren of the Waters is the first book in a series featuring Jana Matinova, a police detective in Slovakia. The story opens with a car accident in which several women and one man are killed. The emergency rescue team call in the police, and Jana and her somewhat incompetent assistant, Seges, determine the crash was not an accident. The dead man has two passports in different names from two countries and it seems that the women were prostitutes. Her boss, Colonel Trokan, theorizes the victims were probably being transported across borders in an international sex trafficking ring. Before long, the body of an older woman is found in the river, murdered, and also implicated in the sex trade. The investigation takes Jana all over Europe, from Kiev to Strasbourg to a costume ball in Nice during Carnival.
Jana's past is explored in flashbacks and we can see how she was made to suffer politically by her marriage to a dissident. We know she is estranged from her only child, her daughter Katka, and the details of how this happened are also revealed through the flashbacks interspersed with the current investigation. This is very interesting and I think it is well done. This is the first book in the series and we need to know and understand Jana and what makes her tick.
The author does a great job describing the vivid locations of the investigation. Some of the characters are extremely real and well-rounded, including Jana and her boss, Colonel Trokan. Some of the others are not that believable. This is the author's debut novel and I feel confident that the next books in the series will expand more on the characters and their relationships to one another. I found the ending to be a bit abrupt but that won't stop me from reading the next book in this series, titled Dark Dreams.
Jana's past is explored in flashbacks and we can see how she was made to suffer politically by her marriage to a dissident. We know she is estranged from her only child, her daughter Katka, and the details of how this happened are also revealed through the flashbacks interspersed with the current investigation. This is very interesting and I think it is well done. This is the first book in the series and we need to know and understand Jana and what makes her tick.
The author does a great job describing the vivid locations of the investigation. Some of the characters are extremely real and well-rounded, including Jana and her boss, Colonel Trokan. Some of the others are not that believable. This is the author's debut novel and I feel confident that the next books in the series will expand more on the characters and their relationships to one another. I found the ending to be a bit abrupt but that won't stop me from reading the next book in this series, titled Dark Dreams.
November 1, 2008
In Mystery Fiction, it is among the necessities of the genre that bad things happen to nice, or at least undeserving, people. Sometimes murder and worse happens, as it must, to propel the investigation, or the gears of the plot that lead to the resolution.
If something ferociously nasty has to happen, (and I think you'll find that the Masters of the Mystery Art don't need it, or at least won't let it happen onstage)-- generally good writers will allow the reader to arrive at the conclusion, rather than painting the walls and ceiling red with blood.
Readers have all sorts of sensibilities, of course, and there is always vast gray area between the truly necessary plot elements, and their proximity to the needlessly grotesque. But I for one don't have any time for authors who play games of one-upmanship with how much gore, how elaborately flayed, they can bring to the page.
Here in Mr Genelin's (first, and looks to be a series bid) plodding mystery he comes to a point where he needs to expound upon the capital-e Evil of the bad guy. Some standard misdeeds get listed, you know, death, dismemberment and all that --- and at the end he mentions that the villain has also, by the way, done a double rape of a 2-yr-old and and an infant. In order to shame and discourage their father, a "rival", who is made to watch.
Sorry, Mr Genelin, your cheesy little book is a crap basis for inventing really horrific crimes against humanity. Keep your little book, keep your little imagination. Keep it under lock and key.
On somebody else's shelf.
Dumpster.
If something ferociously nasty has to happen, (and I think you'll find that the Masters of the Mystery Art don't need it, or at least won't let it happen onstage)-- generally good writers will allow the reader to arrive at the conclusion, rather than painting the walls and ceiling red with blood.
Readers have all sorts of sensibilities, of course, and there is always vast gray area between the truly necessary plot elements, and their proximity to the needlessly grotesque. But I for one don't have any time for authors who play games of one-upmanship with how much gore, how elaborately flayed, they can bring to the page.
Here in Mr Genelin's (first, and looks to be a series bid) plodding mystery he comes to a point where he needs to expound upon the capital-e Evil of the bad guy. Some standard misdeeds get listed, you know, death, dismemberment and all that --- and at the end he mentions that the villain has also, by the way, done a double rape of a 2-yr-old and and an infant. In order to shame and discourage their father, a "rival", who is made to watch.
Sorry, Mr Genelin, your cheesy little book is a crap basis for inventing really horrific crimes against humanity. Keep your little book, keep your little imagination. Keep it under lock and key.
On somebody else's shelf.
Dumpster.
May 18, 2015
Siren of the waters
Jana Matinova is a police detective in Slovakia and get in a case about a man and some women found dead on a Van, what looked a case of human trafficking gone wrong is soon linked to one of Eastern Europe biggest killer Koba, but then Jana travel to France for a conference on human trafficking and more murdered people start to show, are they Koba’s work or a rival? Can Jana stop the murders before they reach her? Also while there she finds her estranged daughter who has a little kid.
So the mistery was more like procedural trying to first find Koba, then find the other actors in the human trafficking network. It was interesting up to the point of the Russian party, from there it became obvious that one of the “good people trying to stop human trafficking” was actually one of the crime bosses, later confirmed when the other possible suspect basically attacks the girl. Also mixed is the Russian detective Sister search that kind of looks too coincidental but does fits once all players are exposed.
As a side drama we have Jana’s past story with his husband and daughter, how they had to live when he first become an unwanted by the government and later a rebel, sad to read how her daughter decided to cut ties over her lack of understanding how her dad died.
Also the ending part of Jana’s granddaughter, sad, very sad.
All around was a good book, interesting enough to maybe check the next one
4 stars
Jana Matinova is a police detective in Slovakia and get in a case about a man and some women found dead on a Van, what looked a case of human trafficking gone wrong is soon linked to one of Eastern Europe biggest killer Koba, but then Jana travel to France for a conference on human trafficking and more murdered people start to show, are they Koba’s work or a rival? Can Jana stop the murders before they reach her? Also while there she finds her estranged daughter who has a little kid.
So the mistery was more like procedural trying to first find Koba, then find the other actors in the human trafficking network. It was interesting up to the point of the Russian party, from there it became obvious that one of the “good people trying to stop human trafficking” was actually one of the crime bosses, later confirmed when the other possible suspect basically attacks the girl. Also mixed is the Russian detective Sister search that kind of looks too coincidental but does fits once all players are exposed.
As a side drama we have Jana’s past story with his husband and daughter, how they had to live when he first become an unwanted by the government and later a rebel, sad to read how her daughter decided to cut ties over her lack of understanding how her dad died.
Also the ending part of Jana’s granddaughter, sad, very sad.
All around was a good book, interesting enough to maybe check the next one
4 stars
June 24, 2009
The adage "you can't tell a book from it's cover" rings more true with this book than any other I have read. Also, the fact that it took place in Europe, & the main characher is Czech- led me to check it out.
It is a fast paced, action type of story. The main charachter is interesting, besides her nationality, she's a chic in a man's world and the author explores the nuances of this. He does such a good job, that I thought it was written by a woman!
It's also fun to read b/c the background is different countries than America, although I doubt people from Europe would find this interesting.
I DID try to push myself through it. I DID. However, there isn't enough "story" for me. It's more of a police mystery/investigation.
Perhaps it is written so differently from the standard mystery/suspense formula, that it is actually a different genre within a genre.
It is a fast paced, action type of story. The main charachter is interesting, besides her nationality, she's a chic in a man's world and the author explores the nuances of this. He does such a good job, that I thought it was written by a woman!
It's also fun to read b/c the background is different countries than America, although I doubt people from Europe would find this interesting.
I DID try to push myself through it. I DID. However, there isn't enough "story" for me. It's more of a police mystery/investigation.
Perhaps it is written so differently from the standard mystery/suspense formula, that it is actually a different genre within a genre.
October 15, 2015
I looked forward to reading Siren of the Waters with a great deal of anticipation. It takes place in a part of Europe I know little about and deals a bit with the old Communist regime. Unfortunately the book has some problems that kept me from truly enjoying it.
For all the amazing cities that the book takes place in, the settings are rather ordinary and never come to life. And in speaking of coming to life, Jana is the only fully-fleshed character in the entire story. The rest of the characters are two-dimensional at best.
The story of Siren of the Waters depends heavily on Jana's backstory in Communist Slovakia, but it doesn't really advance the current investigation. When I finished reading this mystery, I had no real feel for where the series is headed and no real interest in the characters. I doubt very much that I'll be visiting Jana Matinova again.
For all the amazing cities that the book takes place in, the settings are rather ordinary and never come to life. And in speaking of coming to life, Jana is the only fully-fleshed character in the entire story. The rest of the characters are two-dimensional at best.
The story of Siren of the Waters depends heavily on Jana's backstory in Communist Slovakia, but it doesn't really advance the current investigation. When I finished reading this mystery, I had no real feel for where the series is headed and no real interest in the characters. I doubt very much that I'll be visiting Jana Matinova again.
August 16, 2010
This felt like a freshman attempt at a novel with very uneven writing. Dialog at times flowed and at other times felt contrived. The plot twists made no sense - first we are in Slovakia then somehow we make it to Nice, France. The plot does not fully allow for this strange ending.
The novel in short was simplistic. The climax wasn't even believable; nothing had hinted that one of the secondary characters would end up being what they were. True, there was a strange scene where that character ends up crying for no reason in Martina's room. But perhaps even that scene would have been more believable if that character used that opportunity to go through Martina's case files, something that made any of that character's actions even remotely plausible.
The novel in short was simplistic. The climax wasn't even believable; nothing had hinted that one of the secondary characters would end up being what they were. True, there was a strange scene where that character ends up crying for no reason in Martina's room. But perhaps even that scene would have been more believable if that character used that opportunity to go through Martina's case files, something that made any of that character's actions even remotely plausible.
May 6, 2012
True rating: 4.5 stars.
Though marred by an unnecessary and contrived event near the end of the book (which derails the momentum of the storyline just as it reaches its climax), Siren of the Waters is otherwise an extremely well-written, perfectly paced, intriguing novel. If I could, I would quote the whole of chapter two here; it's a beautifully constructed and written chapter, and provides a taste of what the reader can expect for the remainder of this outstanding work. Strong characters, vivid and novel settings (Slovakia, for one), all propelled by consistently fine prose makes this an entertaining and memorable read.
Though marred by an unnecessary and contrived event near the end of the book (which derails the momentum of the storyline just as it reaches its climax), Siren of the Waters is otherwise an extremely well-written, perfectly paced, intriguing novel. If I could, I would quote the whole of chapter two here; it's a beautifully constructed and written chapter, and provides a taste of what the reader can expect for the remainder of this outstanding work. Strong characters, vivid and novel settings (Slovakia, for one), all propelled by consistently fine prose makes this an entertaining and memorable read.
June 25, 2013
This is a book my cousin gave me several years ago. I always think that I don't like mysteries, but they do tend to draw me in. The setting of this book, Slovakia and France also made it interesting and enjoyable. I also liked the strong woman protagonist. One thing I don't like about mysteries is all the characters and especially when there are foreign names, it can be hard to keep everyone straight. I should keep a list! All the characters were both good and bad, which really made it compelling.
This book was well-written and kept my interest. Apparently there are others "Jana Matinova Investigations", so this may be an author I look for again.
This book was well-written and kept my interest. Apparently there are others "Jana Matinova Investigations", so this may be an author I look for again.
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