The Wolf: Foreign Bodies

Keeping the Wolf Out #1

by Philip Palmer, Leo Bill (Narrator), Clare Corbett (Narrator)

Philip Palmer's detective series is set in communist Hungary in 1963. A former member of the despised secret police has been found brutally murdered. Special investigator Bertalan Lázár must find his killer but not all his colleagues share his zeal.

©2019 Lübbe Audio (P)2019 Lübbe Audio

Genres: Historical Fiction

Audible Audio

First published July 10, 2019

About the author

Philip Palmer is a British science fiction and fantasy novelist and an award-winning screenwriter and radio dramatist whose credits include productions for the BBC starring Iain McDiarmid and Simon Russell Beale.

His novels blend dark humour, genre-bending world-building, and relentless plot momentum. Hell on Earth, his alternate-London crime thriller set in a world where Hell is literally a borough, was named a Finalist in the 2026 American Book Fest Legacy Book Awards. Lavie Tidhar (World Fantasy Award winner) calls his work 'magical madness', and agent and editor John Jarrold calls Hell on Earth 'brilliant: horrific, gripping and darkly humorous'.

His other books include the SF thriller Version 43, the space opera Hell Ship, the novella Morpho, the horror novella Murder of the Heart, and the magical realist thriller The Great West Wood.

Readers who love China Mieville, Ben Aaronovitch, or dark British urban fantasy will find a new favourite here.

Reviews

[Corrie]

I was so impressed by the voice acting of Clare Corbett in She Rises that I did a search in Scribd and found a series of episodes of a BBC Radio play named The Wolf: Keeping the Wolf Out by Philip Palmer.

Philip Palmer's detective drama is set in communist Hungary in 1963. A former member of the despised secret police has been found brutally murdered. Special Investigator Bertalan Lázár must find his killer but not all his colleagues share his zeal.

The high paced play is set up in short chapters of a few minutes each (first part The Wolf is about 45 minutes in total) and the murder investigation grabs you right from the start.

Bertalan Lázár is played by Leo Bill, his wife Franciska Lázár is played by Clare Corbett. I’m excited to get to part 2.

m/f

Themes: communist Hungary, 1963, new type policing, a wife and a mistress, old habits die hard.

4 Stars

[Laura]

From BBC Radio 4 - Drama:
Philip Palmer's Cold War crime drama concludes. Unexpected alliances form when backs are against the wall.

Directed by Toby Swift
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08w...