Prey on Patmos

Andreas Kaldis #3

by Jeffrey Siger

"[A] suspenseful trip through the rarely seen darker strata of complex, contemporary Greece." —Publishers Weekly

Saint John wrote the apocalyptic Book of Revelation over 1900 years ago in a cave on Greece's eastern Aegean island of Patmos. Today, on the pristine Aegean peninsula of Mount Athos, isolated from the rest of humanity, twenty monasteries sit protecting the secrets of Byzantium amid a way of life virtually unchanged for more than 1500 years.

When a revered monk from that holy island's thousand-year-old monastery is murdered in Patmos' town square during Easter Week, Chief Inspector Andreas Kaldis of Greece's twenty-first century Special Crimes Division is called upon to find the killer before all hell breaks loose.

Andreas' impolitic search for answers brings him face-to-face with a scandal haunting the world's oldest surviving monastic community. He finds that this ancient and sacred refuge harbors some very modern international intrigues that threaten to destroy the very heart of the Church.

Genres: Mystery, Greece, Fiction, Thriller, Crime, Procedural, 21st Century

252 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 1, 2010

About the author

I am an American living on the Aegean Greek island of Mykonos. A Pittsburgh native and former Wall Street lawyer, I gave up my career as a name partner in my own New York City law firm to write mystery thrillers that tell more than just a fast-paced story. My novels are aimed at exploring serious societal issues confronting modern day Greece in a tell-it-like-it-is style while touching upon the country's ancient roots.

Some Mykonian friends told me if I started sprinkling murders with a message across my adopted country's tourist paradises, I'd likely be banished, if not hung. No one was more amazed than I when my debut novel, Murder in Mykonos (a sort of Mamma Mia setting for a No Country for Old Men story), became Greece's #1 best selling English-language novel (and a best-seller in Greek, as well).

As of September 2016 I have eight Chief Inspector Andreas Kaldis novels out there and receive no more than the customary number of death threats. I'm diligently trying to improve my percentage in that regard with posts about Greece each Saturday on the Murder is Everywhere blogsite I share with nine renowned mystery writers from around the world.

It's been a remarkable journey, punctuated most notably by The New York Times selecting the fourth in my Andreas Kaldis series (Target: Tinos) as one of its five "picks for the beach" while calling the entire series, "thoughtful police procedurals set in picturesque but not untroubled Greek locales;" Left Coast Crime's nomination of the fifth in the series (Mykonos After Midnight) in 2014 as Best Mystery in a Foreign Setting; a 2016 Barry Award Best Novel Nomination for my seventh in the series (Devil of Delphi); starred reviews and official government citations; and this quote from Fodor's Greek Islands Travel Guide under a section titled "Mykonos After Dark," which colleagues say I should consider the equivalent of winning an Oscar: "Some say that after midnight, Mykonos is all nightlife—this throbbing beat is the backdrop to Jeffrey Siger's popular mystery, Murder in Mykonos."

My work is published in the US, UK, Germany (German), and Greece (Greek and English), and I'm honored to have served as Chair of the National Board of Bouchercon, the world's largest mystery convention, and as Adjunct Professor of English at Washington & Jefferson College, teaching mystery writing.

Reviews

[Barbara K · Rating 3 out of 5]

The topic (church politics) and, for me, exotic location (various Greek islands, mostly Patmos) drew me to this book. It actually didn't do badly on those criteria. I now know a lot more about the complexities of the current Eastern Orthodox church than I did previously, and the descriptions of various Cyclades and Dodecanese islands were a tempting travelogue.

So that's the good stuff. On the flip side, there was a bit too much testosterone permeating nearly every page for my tastes. This seems to be a problem for me with most crime novels set in southern Europe. This book had a few female characters with speaking roles, but they were each either involved romantically with the male characters or femmes fatale.

And the plot, which started our pretty well, ended up with some preposterous coincidences (see reference to femme fatale above) that would have been more appropriate for an international spy thriller than a police procedural.

Ah well. It did read quickly and kept my attention for the first half. 2.5 stars rounded up to three.

[Aristotle · Rating 2 out of 5]

δεν έχει γεύση

For those who don't read Greek that means 'it lacked taste'.

Dry reading on a dry topic.
Church politics. Sounds fascinating. Not.

A Monk on the island of Patmos is found murdered. The search for the killer.
This was a dull uneventful read. Chief Inspector Andreas Kaldis lacked charisma, the dialogue was dry, the plot moved at a snails pace, and his relationship with his socialite babies momma was dull.
Three straight disappointing reads from this author. Why do i torture myself with this author?

[Cathy Cole · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the third book of this excellent series, Jeffrey Siger has two objectives. One, to show Kaldis's deepening relationship with Lila and their impending parenthood, and two, to show the importance of religion in Greece. He succeeds in both cases.

Kaldis is his normal, acerbic self-- more concerned with putting the bad guys behind bars than he is of being politically correct or of avoiding trampling the feelings of others. But that is his work face and not at all the way his relationship is with the woman he loves. Lila is smart, rich, cosmopolitan, beautiful... and deeply in love with Andreas. The only cloud on the horizon is Kaldis's reluctance to make their partnership a formal one. Watching these two work this out is alternately touching, funny, and downright sexy.

The tougher of Siger's two assignments is showing how important religion is to Greece through the chief inspector's murder investigation. Saint John wrote the Book of Revelation over 1900 years ago in a cave on Patmos, and to this day the Greek Orthodox Church plays a huge role in the lives of the Greek people. I found the entire situation with Turkey, Russia and Greece to be fascinating-- as well as how it could affect monastic life on such a small island.

Jeffrey Siger continues to enthrall me with his savvy characters and his interpretations of life in an ancient and vibrant country. I highly recommend this series.

[J.F. Juzwik · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another fantastic Kaldis story. This one is, as are the previous two, full of Greek history (past and present), and rich with descriptions of the islands and its people. The characters are genuine and three-dimensional, and the plot is complex, yet never confusing.

I really enjoy this series because there is so much to learn about Greece and its culture. These do not read like textbooks and are never tedious, and the more you read, the more you learn and the more you want to learn. They are written in a very engaging style, and the story draws the reader in from beginning to end.

As with the first two in the series, I recommend this highly.

[Demi Stevens · Rating 5 out of 5]

Armchair travel and intrigue

What a treat to be able to "see" and "taste" and enjoy all the sights and flavors of Greece in a time when actual travel is limited. A page-turning story told deftly and with humor!

[Terryls · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vivid descriptions of Patmos & its people. Satisfying resolution of a murder and convoluted conspiracy. Great last line.

For me personally, I chose and liked this book because I once visited Patmos and enjoyed remembering it.

[stormhawk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mysteries can be hit or miss for me as a reader. Some plod along with an occasional interesting plot idea keeping the reader interested, others move along at such a breakneck pace that you forget both where you've been and where you're going. Prey on Patmos does neither of these. The story moves along to a resolution that surprises with unexpected events, and occasionally, forces the reader to drop all expectations of how the story should be told, and thereby enhances the enjoyment.

Prey on Patmos is several books into a series about a Greek police detective, but coming in at the middle of the tales doesn't change or spoil the enjoyment of the story ... there are enough hints about the characters' pasts that what has gone before isn't frustrating in it's vagueness ... the story is not dependent on knowing all sorts of things about the characters and their lives before this book. You learn what you need to know to understand them and their motivations. Throughout, the interactions of the characters seem natural, including the detective's struggles with impending parenthood, woven amongst the other threads of the plot.


I don't know a lot about Greece or it's people, beyond some of the broader bits of history and an occasional yearning for souvlaki. Siger introduces his reader to all of these factors, and introduces some complex, but interesting Eastern Orthodox Church history and intrigue as part of the plot.

Patmos is the Greek Island where the Revelation of Saint John the Divine was written. Here is where the world ends and our story begins, simply, with a dead monk, and a crime scene violated in the name of religious propriety. The story moves forward from this death at a pace that seems natural, and resolves to a false cadence, rises to a crescendo, and resolves peacefully.


I want there to be more of these books, at least I have the several preceding volumes to finish while I await the next!

[Felicity Terry · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nothing special but essentially an OK read. The third instalment in a series of which I haven't read any of the other books. As a standalone novel it worked well however I can't help but feel I'd missed out on getting to know Inspector Andreas Kaldis who I was led to believe (mistakenly as it turns out) was the Greek equivalent of Donna Leon's Italian Commissario Brunetti.

As a character character I didn't particularly take to Kaldis. Not that this should really matter (do we really need to like the characters to enjoy a book?) but, for me personally, I at least like my characters to instil something in me (and I'm not certain Kaldis did) and especially if I'm going to invest my time in what could be a long running series.

Anyway,

Great cover, it took me right back to our visit to Patmos, to all those typically Greek churches we had ever visited - its just a shame the rest of the book didn't. Perhaps, my fault admittedly I'd got so caught up in comparisons between these books and Donna Leon's (where I was transported to Venice) that I was disappointed not to find myself on a Greek Island, that mention of St John's apocalyptic Book of Revelation would be used well instead of which I found myself caught up in a plot involving the Russian and Greek Orthodox churches which in more (capable?) hands might have been interesting but here proved, well, not quite so interesting.

Altogether not a style of writing I enjoyed. Mr Siger and I got off on a 'bad note' on page one with his use of italics. Please use if really necessary, if perhaps its a word that warrants an explanation in a footnote etc, but please don't use just to draw our attention that here is a word we may (or may not) know.

Copyright: Tracy Terry @ Pen and Paper.

[Avid Series Reader · Rating 2 out of 5]

Prey on Patmos (An Aegean Prophecy) by Jeffrey Siger is book 3 of the Andreas Kaldis mystery thriller series. Chief Inspector Andreas Kaldis has been reinstated to a top position in Athens, after previously being demoted and posted to Mykonos police force for political reasons (book 1). His beloved Lila (book 2) is about to have their child. Kaldis is amazed this woman from the highest ranks of society cares about him, since he comes from a modest background. He loves her but does not ask her to marry him. He's afraid she will tire of him, and he does not want to sully her reputation with divorce, a scandal in Greece's religious high society.

An elderly monk is murdered on a remote island during Easter Week. Kaldis is sent to investigate in person. First 2/3 of the book slowly reveals the extensive Eastern Orthodox Church history & politics necessary to understand the crime (not the first murder, but the crime about to be committed). Dull, dull, dull, with an occasional interesting tidbit about Easter celebrations in Greece.

In thriller style, the last third of the book alternates chapters between the thoughts, plans and actions of the evil mastermind, and Kaldis' efforts to figure out what's going on. Once Kaldis is pretty sure he knows crime and motive, he sets traps to distract and eventually catch the perpetrators. The plot depends entirely upon political unrest between Greece, Turkey and Russia, key obstacles unique to Easter Week, and the mounting suspense of being away from home on a remote island while the birth of his child is imminent.

[Viva · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had previously liked books 1 and 2 and after a long hiatus decided to read book 3. But I decided to dnf the book at about 22%. First of all, the series is not a fast series, it's a steady police procedural. I previously liked books 1 and 2 because I liked the characters and the setting and the peoples of Greece.

Spoilers here:
But I didn't like this book because the pace was very slow. There was a lot of talking and background without the plot moving forward, I guess a lot of it was background. But I wasn't really interested in the history of the E. Orthodox Church. To me, the meat of the story should be the police work. When the focus is on something else I lose interest.

This book just didn't hold my interest, especially reading the last series which was a fast action series, I decided to dnf and try something else.

[Cristiana Lupu · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wow... I haven't read a book this bad in a long while. Wait... I've never read such a book. It's an unfortunate combination between what I perceive as Danielle Steele novels - what with the plastered in 'sex' scenes - and some very lame crime movie where the cops are swearing and everything turns out as it should be at just the right moment. And the Greek setting... it does show that there was some sort of documentation for it, but IT SHOWS... Which makes me believe that he was trying too hard to make it authentic. Overall a bad read and I hope this is my first and last bad review of a book...

[Stella · Rating 4 out of 5]

It really amazes me how a New York attorney can portray the caracters, the uniquness, the politics of the Greek church in such a realistic fashion.
Having spent a week in a village near the Holy Mountain and refreshing my memory about the history of its twenty monasteries, and having visited the most beautiful island of Patmos, gave me a much better understanding of this book's intricate storyline!!

[Glen Stansfield · Rating 4 out of 5]

I suppose I am slightly biased towards crime stories as I am writing in the genre, but I have to say I find Jeffrey Siger's writing completely engaging. Not only is the story pacy but his setting of the scene transports the reader to the location. I love Greece and the Greeks and for me to have a detective story set in Greece is as good as it gets.

[Lotti Marjai · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved it!! I bought it in England, and I didn't know if it was a good choice. At the end it turned out, that it's a fantastic crime story about Greece :) The cover is cool too! :) I totaly recommend it!! :)

[Gail Barrington · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting setting but the main character seemed weak and the Russian players confusing near the end. Not a great read.

[Nyssy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not very good. 👎

[Bill Hobbs · Rating 4 out of 5]

(3.5 stars)
It’s Lent. It’s only a few days before Easter, and it’s also Patmos, the Greek island where St. John, enjoying the solitude (and safety) of that cave, received the Holy Vision that inspired him, divinely, to write the Book of Revelation. That was some 2000 years ago and now, it seems, his vision of cataclysm is about to unfold.
In "Prey on Patmos", the Church (and to its view, the whole of Christendom) is about to fall, the “end of days” is about to be revealed. Well, to an extent. Jeffrey Siger’s novel, this the third in the series, features modern day Greece and his chief inspector Andreas Kaldis working of Greek headquarters in Athens.
He is assigned to investigate the death (yes, murder) of one of the priests, highly revered, respected, and listened to, is found beaten to death (clutching a crucifix). It’s no “normal” mugging on this holy island during Easter Week and Kaldis knows this. Of course, when he starts investigating the doors of the situation now is about to be opened wide: to vast conspiracies (mainly between the Greek Orthodox and the Russian Orthodox divisions, in which the leadership and direction of the faith is at stake. And, of course, one clue leads to another and, again, we find the corruption of both politics and religious beliefs become entwined. Off the story goes, reading here and there, so no holy relic is left unturned!
The book generally moves quite fast but what this reader found most interesting was the background of the Greek Church and its influence, world-wide, historically and now. It’s a conspiracy-theory book (hello, Steve Berry, Vince Flynn, Dan Brown!) and with any such theory, there needs to be only one iota of supportable truth for it to take off. This one does. One always needs just a hint of skepticism when reading such stories! This reader also doesn't really need the "sex" scenes or even his love interest. Just solve the murder, please! More depth of character is also needed for the two main policemen.
As Shakespeare must have said, “There’s a conspiracy for everything.” (And somebody to fall for it!)

[Deb · Rating 4 out of 5]

This third in the Andreas Kaldis series, finds the chief homicide inspector for Greece investigating a murder on the island of Patmos and also awaiting the birth of his first child. These two major events compete for his attention with the murder of a monk in the town square of Chora causing professional angst, just as his home life begins to resolve itself. What makes this mystery/police procedural so much fun is all the detils of modern Greek life and the life of the Orthodox Church. The Church is inextricably intertwined with the life of Patmos, but also with the lives of 8 million devout Greeks. All clues in this murder seem to lead one of two places: the Russians or the monasteries of Mount Athos, center of the Church in Greece. The complexity of the politics of all this makes the murder of a humble monk seem more like international intrigue than any mugging Andreas has ever seen before.Complicating everything is the pageantry of Easter Week. When the murderer is unmasked, Andreas is delighted to go home for the birth of his first child, leaving the Church to heal itself and the Russians to sort out their motives.

[Scilla · Rating 3 out of 5]

A monk is killed in the wee hours near the monastery of St. John on Patmos. Inspector Andreas Kaldis is called to investigate the murder. When he gets to the island, the monk has been moved and all his belongings are already stored by the police. No one seems to want to talk to Andreas, but he finally finds that the cross the monk is holding has some papers within it. From two pictures showing a leading monk from all the monastories on Mount Altos and a second picture where the heads have been changed. When Andreas returns to Patmos two interview three visiting monks, they have left. However, since it is holy week and they cannot get back into Mount Altos, Andreas finds from the nearby pub where they are. When they try to escape the coast guard manages to capture them. Finally Andreas figures out the culprit and manages to trick the Russians into taking care of him when the chief of police order him to desist.

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Siger got better as he continued writing. This episode was better plotted and written than the previous two. This one was fun as the story takes place on a couple Agean islands and on Mt. Athos, the peninsula owned by the Orthodox church(s). I toured several of the monasteries there, back in 1968, with a group of Greek and American adult males... only males are allowed there. We went around Agioun Oron via boat and lots of walking. My son is scanning the map and some of photos I took... so I will post them sometime soon. Anyway, the story gets a little 'out there,' but not totally unbelievable. Siger also chose to up the sexual ante, which I hadn't expected. Nothing special, just unexpected. I actually read this, rather listen to an audiobook, as the narrator from the others was just too horrible with pronouncing Greek, even though he had a Greek accent. I will continue the series.

[Robert Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finished 06/03/2014. Andreas Kaldis is sent to the island of Patmos to try to find why a devout monk has been killed. Lila Vardi is about due to deliver their baby. He & Kouros, his assistant make friends with an innkeeper who is also a "retired" spy. The monk's back-up discs & computer have all been stolen & three visiting monks are not available. Everything is being directed by a lowly monk in the lowliest monastery on Athos, who is in fact an escaped war criminal. K uses one of the Russian oligarchs to get the word that the scandal against the Russian Orthodox Church was implemented by the monk on Athos. He is abducted and all turns out well & K & L decide to be married.

[John Hardy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This has been sitting around for nearly a month and is due back soon, so I finally got around to reading it. Having done so, I am done with this series. Inspector Kaldis is not a likeable protagonist. He's a bully, a womaniser and has no concerns about bending the law.
This story appears to be some kind of religious conspiracy, and in that sense it is not a bad story. The underlying love relationship between Kaldis and richcrat Lila, who is now nine months pregnant, is totally unbelievable, and a complete waste of paper. Luckily I saved a sick bag from my last flight four years ago.
There's not enough Greek ambience to balance out this rubbish.
Rating 3.0.

[Jia Cherng · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good, smooth writing with a suspenseful plot. With Lila a main fixture in the series now, the book has a different approach and Andrea's becomes more dimensional.What I like about this book the most is the background tied into Patmos and its history and the history and structure of the Orthodox Church that lends more context and depth to the whole story. As with some of his previous book, the resolution is slightly anticlimactic, the bad guy does not make much sense, a little bit more of his background and motive would be better. A good book nonetheless.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was not one of the best in this series. I had to stop and try it again. I finished it because I brought it on vacation as my almost only book.

Patmos deals with the church and the Russians. Not my favorite topics, which is probably why I did not find it as interesting as other books.

The writing was professional and the characters likeable.

I borrowed a copy from the public library, twice.

[Carolien · Rating 4 out of 5]

Andreas Kaldis is assigned to investigate the murder of an old monk on Patmos, but his murder turns out to be closely linked to politics of the Eastern Orthodox Church and secretive monasteries on Mount Athos. Add in Serbian war criminals and a few Russian connections and you have an interesting plot in a beautiful setting. Andreas remains one of my favourite policemen and I look forward to the next in the series.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was on the fence with this one. Well written with well drawn, likable and interesting characters . But the extensive church background slowed things down. And some of the Russian backgrounding seemed less researched than some more recent novels.

My brother is also a big reader and he said in a conversation today that a certain respected author I like doesn't finish well. Mr. Siger finishes well in all the books I've read so far. Thus 4 stars.

[Juliana · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 - 4 - lots of interesting history here, these are even better if you have been to Greece I find. The main character has def been evolved from the first book to now, in a good way and the supporting characters work so well. If you like international police procedural this is for you.

[M · Rating 2 out of 5]

The plot was intriguing. The fact that Andreas ends up drunk in another woman's bed through the course of his imvestigations (whether he actually sleeps with her or not is another matter) all the while his girlfriend is pregnant and about to deliver his child was not so intriguing. 2.5 stars.

[Stacie Haden · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series doesn't get enough love. It's smart and solid.

[Jule D. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fast paced. Action never stops. Learned a lot about Greece and Greek life and religion. Definitely going to read more in this series.