What do you think?
Rate this book
Vlado Petric #1
Lie in the Dark
Vlado Petric is a homicide investigator in war-torn Sarajevo. When he encounters an unidentified body near “sniper alley,” he realizes that it is the body of Esmir Vitas, chief of the Interior Ministry’s special police, and that Vitas has been killed not by any sniper’s aim but by a bullet fired at almost pointblank range. Searching for the killer in this “city of murderers,” Petric finds himself drawn into a conspiracy, the scope of which goes beyond anything he could possibly have imagined.Lie in the Dark brilliantly renders the fragmented society and underworld of Sarajevo at war—the freelancing gangsters, guilty bystanders, the drop-in foreign correspondents, and the bureaucrats frightened for their jobs and very lives. It weaves through this torn cityscape the alienation and terror of one man’s desperate and deadly pursuit of bad people in an even worse place.
300 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 28, 1999
84 people are currently reading
730 people want to read
About the author
Dan Fesperman
19 books417 followersDan Fesperman’s travels as a writer have taken him to thirty countries and three war zones. Lie in the Dark won the Crime Writers’ Association of Britain’s John Creasey Memorial Dagger Award for best first crime novel, The Small Boat of Great Sorrows won their Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award for best thriller, and The Prisoner of Guantánamo won the Dashiell Hammett Award from the International Association of Crime Writers. He lives in Baltimore.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 80 reviews
February 2, 2018
I forget how I got turned onto this one, but it was a worthy suggestion! As a teacher, I would always tell students that through reading, they would have the opportunity to experience things that they might otherwise miss out on.
A trip to Sarajevo at the height of the mid-1990s conflict for independence is probably not something that any of us had on our to-do list, but this book plunks us down right in the midst of all of it.
Vlado Petric is a homicide investigator in the midst of war, missing his deceased mentor & working with a young investigator who is as green as Palmolive & seems more interested in skirt-chasing than crime-solving. Petric's wife & daughter have long-ago-since fled for Germany, so he is on his own.
The synopsis makes it seem as though Petric's efforts are the epitome of insanity - investigating murder during wartime, but this is wrong-headed. I am a fan of J. Robert Janes' St. Cyr & Koehler mysteries as well as "The Last Detective" trilogy & they all simply illustrate that being a homicide detective is a calling, not merely a profession. Petric is just doing the job for which he was trained as best he can.
I look forward to the next book in the series.
A trip to Sarajevo at the height of the mid-1990s conflict for independence is probably not something that any of us had on our to-do list, but this book plunks us down right in the midst of all of it.
Vlado Petric is a homicide investigator in the midst of war, missing his deceased mentor & working with a young investigator who is as green as Palmolive & seems more interested in skirt-chasing than crime-solving. Petric's wife & daughter have long-ago-since fled for Germany, so he is on his own.
The synopsis makes it seem as though Petric's efforts are the epitome of insanity - investigating murder during wartime, but this is wrong-headed. I am a fan of J. Robert Janes' St. Cyr & Koehler mysteries as well as "The Last Detective" trilogy & they all simply illustrate that being a homicide detective is a calling, not merely a profession. Petric is just doing the job for which he was trained as best he can.
I look forward to the next book in the series.
November 9, 2011
Dan Fesperman's police procedural, LIE IN THE DARK, was first published in 1999. It is a powerful story about a Bosnian homicide detective, Investigator Petric, who tries to solve crimes while staying honest among corrupt colleagues, gangsters and drop-in newspaper correspondents in wartime Sarajevo.
The copy of the book I read says that Fesperman is a reporter for the Baltimore Sun. He has a way of incorporating relevant information, (about the roots and realities of the conflict between Bosnians, Serbians and Croatians and the sometimes malign influence of the United Nations) into his plot that adds immensely to the story, but doesn't slow it down. However, you will need to have patience with the first fifty pages, as Fesperman puts in place the context.
I totally agree with Ian Rankin, who ranked LIE IN THE DARK as "A quite astonishing first novel which injects the reader into the heart of the darkness which was Sarajevo at the height of the Yugoslav conflict."
The copy of the book I read says that Fesperman is a reporter for the Baltimore Sun. He has a way of incorporating relevant information, (about the roots and realities of the conflict between Bosnians, Serbians and Croatians and the sometimes malign influence of the United Nations) into his plot that adds immensely to the story, but doesn't slow it down. However, you will need to have patience with the first fifty pages, as Fesperman puts in place the context.
I totally agree with Ian Rankin, who ranked LIE IN THE DARK as "A quite astonishing first novel which injects the reader into the heart of the darkness which was Sarajevo at the height of the Yugoslav conflict."
October 12, 2018
The names Slobadan Milosevic, Radovan Karadzic, Ratko Mladic, and Franjo Tudman probably have long receded from our minds. Perhaps places like Srebrenica, Racak, Banja Luka, the sites of massacres during the 1990s Yugoslav civil war might jog your memory, if not Dan Fesperman’s novel, LIE IN THE DARK explores the terrors and murder associated with that dark time concentrating on Sarajevo. The story will take you back to a period of intolerance, ethnic cleansing, and wonderment about the depths of evils that people succumb to.
Fesperman sets the tone of his novel from the outset as homicide investigator, Vlado Petric observes the early morning grave digging crew unearthing bodies that were victims of shelling and sniper fire the previous day. His observations go directly to the absurdity of war as he describes grave digging during a period of genocide, the continuous cycle of snipers and shelling as almost normal vocations. Sarajevo and its environs presented a universe of slaughter, death, and destruction which was the daily norm for the city. It is a story dealing with human depravity, treachery, and ethnic cleansing among Serbs, Croats, and Moslems. To what end was the glory of this national ideal, a belief resting on genocide with groups like the Chetniks, the Ustasha, and others committing murder daily. In this environment Petric believed that what he did made a difference, but his rationalization did not always protect him from the reality of this brutal civil war.
Petric was Catholic and a Croat who had sent his wife and daughters to Germany to escape the civil war, a conflict where the Serbs were bent on leveling Sarajevo layer upon layer if they could not capture it. Fesperman’s description of the morass of the civil war places the reader amid the carnage that was Sarajevo. During the shelling Petric tried to maintain his sanity by painting miniature soldiers from diverse historical periods, an occupation that became his therapy. Petric’s secondary therapy was police work, investigating murders amidst the war raging around him. A world where the paucity of food, supplies and the necessities of life became a battle of scavenging, barter, and other strategies to deal with the black market on which their lives depended.
The novel centers on the murder of Esmir Vitas, the Chief of the Ministry of the Special Police. Petric is placed in charge of the investigation as he is seen as not being tainted by the war, which made him palatable to United Nations bureaucrats. Petric pursues a standard approach to his investigation, but he soon runs into road blocks forcing him to stretch police procedures to their limits. Vitas’ murder goes deeper than meets the eye after Petric conducts a few interviews, and takes the investigation into Sarajevo’s underworld of gangs, war lords, and government and United Nations officials who have their own agendas and cannot be trusted.
Fesperman presents a parallel track in the novel as he describes the dehumanizing nature of the war, and how the ongoing fighting affects people’s daily lives. For the civilian population there is no such thing as a casual stroll. If you went out for food, desperate from hunger you took your life into your own hands, and most likely you would become a target for a sniper. Fesperman spends an inordinate amount of time presenting the lunacy of war, but he does provide glimpses into the bygone age when life was normal, but boys playing basketball off a bent rim with sniper fire all around is a bit disconcerting to categorize as normal. Petric, like others has difficulty coping with the separation from his family as he realizes he does not know his daughter after two years of being apart following her first birthday. He can speak by telephone for a brief time monthly, but this just heightens his anguish.
Perhaps Fesperman’s most interesting character is Milan Glavas, a white haired individual with a hacking cough who was an expert in Yugoslav art and antiquities from World War II to the 1990s. Petric learned from Glavas about the lists of artifacts and other objects that had been stolen since the war. The recovery of objects from the Nazis led to a black market trade that disseminated art works throughout Yugoslavia and other countries. Glavas had gone to Germany at the end of the war to investigate and he became a wealth of knowledge concerning the location of these items. A transfer file had been created which had been destroyed in a fire, but Glavas supposedly was the only source for that information. The novel takes on a different tact as Glavas, “the curator of the world’s most scattered collection. The shepherd, if you will, of all of [Yugoslavia’s] wandering lambs,” is introduced. It seems the black market trade, the role of certain military officials, bureaucrats, and United Nations representatives is greatly involved, and the question is how does Vitas’ murder fit into the main plot. What results is a fascinating story were by a senile woman, a reluctant prostitute, and an English reporter play prominent roles.
Fesperman is masterful story teller with excellent command of the historical information that makes this novel believable. Fesperman is not your typical novelist as he has constructed the netherworld of art seizures and recovery from World War II. He explores how items are smuggled, and the lengths that some go to enrich themselves from this illegal trade. For some the story might be far-fetched, but seen in the context of the 1990s in Yugoslavia, it is an accurate setting. I have read a few Fesperman’s later novels including, THE PRISONER OF GUANTANAMO and THE WARLORD’S SON, and LIE IN THE DARK begins a pattern of excellence that is followed in all of his later books. Fesperman has become one of my favorite practitioners of historical “mystery” fiction, and his gripping style and character development should attract a wide audience.
Fesperman sets the tone of his novel from the outset as homicide investigator, Vlado Petric observes the early morning grave digging crew unearthing bodies that were victims of shelling and sniper fire the previous day. His observations go directly to the absurdity of war as he describes grave digging during a period of genocide, the continuous cycle of snipers and shelling as almost normal vocations. Sarajevo and its environs presented a universe of slaughter, death, and destruction which was the daily norm for the city. It is a story dealing with human depravity, treachery, and ethnic cleansing among Serbs, Croats, and Moslems. To what end was the glory of this national ideal, a belief resting on genocide with groups like the Chetniks, the Ustasha, and others committing murder daily. In this environment Petric believed that what he did made a difference, but his rationalization did not always protect him from the reality of this brutal civil war.
Petric was Catholic and a Croat who had sent his wife and daughters to Germany to escape the civil war, a conflict where the Serbs were bent on leveling Sarajevo layer upon layer if they could not capture it. Fesperman’s description of the morass of the civil war places the reader amid the carnage that was Sarajevo. During the shelling Petric tried to maintain his sanity by painting miniature soldiers from diverse historical periods, an occupation that became his therapy. Petric’s secondary therapy was police work, investigating murders amidst the war raging around him. A world where the paucity of food, supplies and the necessities of life became a battle of scavenging, barter, and other strategies to deal with the black market on which their lives depended.
The novel centers on the murder of Esmir Vitas, the Chief of the Ministry of the Special Police. Petric is placed in charge of the investigation as he is seen as not being tainted by the war, which made him palatable to United Nations bureaucrats. Petric pursues a standard approach to his investigation, but he soon runs into road blocks forcing him to stretch police procedures to their limits. Vitas’ murder goes deeper than meets the eye after Petric conducts a few interviews, and takes the investigation into Sarajevo’s underworld of gangs, war lords, and government and United Nations officials who have their own agendas and cannot be trusted.
Fesperman presents a parallel track in the novel as he describes the dehumanizing nature of the war, and how the ongoing fighting affects people’s daily lives. For the civilian population there is no such thing as a casual stroll. If you went out for food, desperate from hunger you took your life into your own hands, and most likely you would become a target for a sniper. Fesperman spends an inordinate amount of time presenting the lunacy of war, but he does provide glimpses into the bygone age when life was normal, but boys playing basketball off a bent rim with sniper fire all around is a bit disconcerting to categorize as normal. Petric, like others has difficulty coping with the separation from his family as he realizes he does not know his daughter after two years of being apart following her first birthday. He can speak by telephone for a brief time monthly, but this just heightens his anguish.
Perhaps Fesperman’s most interesting character is Milan Glavas, a white haired individual with a hacking cough who was an expert in Yugoslav art and antiquities from World War II to the 1990s. Petric learned from Glavas about the lists of artifacts and other objects that had been stolen since the war. The recovery of objects from the Nazis led to a black market trade that disseminated art works throughout Yugoslavia and other countries. Glavas had gone to Germany at the end of the war to investigate and he became a wealth of knowledge concerning the location of these items. A transfer file had been created which had been destroyed in a fire, but Glavas supposedly was the only source for that information. The novel takes on a different tact as Glavas, “the curator of the world’s most scattered collection. The shepherd, if you will, of all of [Yugoslavia’s] wandering lambs,” is introduced. It seems the black market trade, the role of certain military officials, bureaucrats, and United Nations representatives is greatly involved, and the question is how does Vitas’ murder fit into the main plot. What results is a fascinating story were by a senile woman, a reluctant prostitute, and an English reporter play prominent roles.
Fesperman is masterful story teller with excellent command of the historical information that makes this novel believable. Fesperman is not your typical novelist as he has constructed the netherworld of art seizures and recovery from World War II. He explores how items are smuggled, and the lengths that some go to enrich themselves from this illegal trade. For some the story might be far-fetched, but seen in the context of the 1990s in Yugoslavia, it is an accurate setting. I have read a few Fesperman’s later novels including, THE PRISONER OF GUANTANAMO and THE WARLORD’S SON, and LIE IN THE DARK begins a pattern of excellence that is followed in all of his later books. Fesperman has become one of my favorite practitioners of historical “mystery” fiction, and his gripping style and character development should attract a wide audience.
September 24, 2025
****Recommended!
Lie In The Dark is Dan Fesperman’s first book, my second of his books and the second I highly recommend.
Lie In The Dark is a gripping and atmospheric crime novel set against the backdrop of war-torn Sarajevo in the 1990s; and rises toward the top of this genre by its haunting exploration of morality, survival, and truth in a city under siege. Another major strength is Fesperman’s main character, Vlardo Petric, a weary homicide detective tasked with investigating the murder of a government official. Petric’s search reveals the tangled intersections of politics, corruption and survival instincts in a society where the rule of law has collapsed.
Basically, I’d recommend Lie In The Dark to the same type of crime mystery lover to which I feel Fesperman’s Winter Work would appeal; i.e, those who appreciate realistic history with vivid atmospheric detail, appreciate well-developed complex, sympathetic, yet morally “gray” characters, and enjoy a dense plot with many moving parts.
October 21, 2013
This is an amazing book on so many levels... a cracking detective story, a fascinating insight into life in Sarajevo at its most dangerous, and an emotionally involving story of family love.
It's a long time since I read it... I'm going to buy it and read it again, and look for other books by Fesperman!
It's a long time since I read it... I'm going to buy it and read it again, and look for other books by Fesperman!
December 17, 2012
I have to say that this book is a major disappointment to me.
It comes with excellent praise from Ian Rankin, classing it as a great crime novel.
It tells the story of a homicide detective working in the war torn streets of Sarajvo during the war there in the early ninties. A high ranking official is found murdered by the banks of the river and initially, it looks like another sniper attack. These are constantly referenced in the book and the state of people trying lead normal lives in this state of fear is one of the books highlights.
The other is the central investigation about art theft, which also brings in the 2nd world war and subsquent recovery.... this provides an interesting interlude.
However, the characters are weak and supporting characters are difficult to keep track off. Maybe it is the foreign names, I dont know. The pace is far too slow and a 380 page book becomes a real chore to get through.
Disappointing, as there seems to be a number of good reviews for him, but I can't see me going back for more.
It comes with excellent praise from Ian Rankin, classing it as a great crime novel.
It tells the story of a homicide detective working in the war torn streets of Sarajvo during the war there in the early ninties. A high ranking official is found murdered by the banks of the river and initially, it looks like another sniper attack. These are constantly referenced in the book and the state of people trying lead normal lives in this state of fear is one of the books highlights.
The other is the central investigation about art theft, which also brings in the 2nd world war and subsquent recovery.... this provides an interesting interlude.
However, the characters are weak and supporting characters are difficult to keep track off. Maybe it is the foreign names, I dont know. The pace is far too slow and a 380 page book becomes a real chore to get through.
Disappointing, as there seems to be a number of good reviews for him, but I can't see me going back for more.
August 9, 2016
All woman characters in this book were either virtuous mothers or prostitutes, with several of the mother characters described as being too traumatized to speak. A shame, because this shallowness distracted from an otherwise exciting storyline.
Read
September 13, 2024Read week of 9/10/2034. Fast paced intricate story.
July 25, 2019
A quick check of the historical record indicates that I was, indeed, alive for the duration of the war which took place between a number of the former republics of Yugoslavia, namely Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia. However, this conflict happened during the same generic time frame of the US's involvement in Iraq (of which my father participated) as well as during my high school years (meaning I mistakenly thought the world revolved around me). That being said, I've only been tangentially aware of the conflict and the price paid by all involved. My interest and awareness has grown in recent year with the release of "Once Brothers" by ESPN as well as my interest in The Cellist of Sarajevo.
Lie in the Dark made it on my "To Read" shelf based on Dan Fesperman and some of his other works, but I was excited when it came up and I realized it was about this time frame. By description, it's a police procedural or crime novel. In many ways that's what it is. However, to pigeonhole it strictly as a crime novel is to miss what made it special to read. The setting of the novel and Mr. Fesperman's attention to ambiance is what really makes the whole book work. This was manifest in the way the war impacted everything about the daily life of the people in Sarajevo and surrounding areas and, through the lens of the main protagonist, Vlado Petric, how this also impacted their psychological state and ability to keep going from day to day. It turned a "who dunnit" into a much deeper look at the impact of war, how it affects individuals and their moral reference points. For some, it makes morality more elastic while in others it reinforces their underlying beliefs.
I'm excited to read the second novel in this series.
Lie in the Dark made it on my "To Read" shelf based on Dan Fesperman and some of his other works, but I was excited when it came up and I realized it was about this time frame. By description, it's a police procedural or crime novel. In many ways that's what it is. However, to pigeonhole it strictly as a crime novel is to miss what made it special to read. The setting of the novel and Mr. Fesperman's attention to ambiance is what really makes the whole book work. This was manifest in the way the war impacted everything about the daily life of the people in Sarajevo and surrounding areas and, through the lens of the main protagonist, Vlado Petric, how this also impacted their psychological state and ability to keep going from day to day. It turned a "who dunnit" into a much deeper look at the impact of war, how it affects individuals and their moral reference points. For some, it makes morality more elastic while in others it reinforces their underlying beliefs.
I'm excited to read the second novel in this series.
March 5, 2019
Dan Fesperman knew whereof he wrote in this book. He served in Berlin as a journalist with the Baltimore Sun, covering Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia and Serbia during their wars. 'Lie in the Dark'is the first outing for Vlado Petric, a police Investigator based in besieged, be-rubbled Sarajevo. He uncovers knowledge of vast black market activities run on the surface by criminal gangs, aided and abetted by government personalities who want their share of the profits, and who are prepared to kill and cheat to achieve that end. Because of Fesperman's reporting from and about Sarajevo, we have to accept that his descriptions of the beleagured city reflect the realities on the ground. These of course impacted Petric, the lack of heat, water and food. Thankfully, Vlado's wife and small daughter were able to escape to relative safety in Berlin.
Reading through this "quite astonishing novel which interjects the reader into the heart darkness which was Sarajevo," according to Ian Rankin, it is difficult to not come to the conclusion that the war was prolonged so that evil men could continue to reap profits on the backs of starving Sarajevans desperate for meat, gasoline and cigarettes, the latter having the status of currency and which could be bartered for other necessities. Additionally, art collections were plundered, crated and shipped to Germany on UN flights. An elderly, honest curator was murdered to prevent him from revealing this systematic looting of art. With the assistance of a British journalist, Petric was spurred to uncover the shipping protocols which lead to a nail-bitingly, tense conclusion.
Reading through this "quite astonishing novel which interjects the reader into the heart darkness which was Sarajevo," according to Ian Rankin, it is difficult to not come to the conclusion that the war was prolonged so that evil men could continue to reap profits on the backs of starving Sarajevans desperate for meat, gasoline and cigarettes, the latter having the status of currency and which could be bartered for other necessities. Additionally, art collections were plundered, crated and shipped to Germany on UN flights. An elderly, honest curator was murdered to prevent him from revealing this systematic looting of art. With the assistance of a British journalist, Petric was spurred to uncover the shipping protocols which lead to a nail-bitingly, tense conclusion.
January 27, 2014
il poliziotto di sarajevo GM 2717 �Di notte la citt� sembra una bocca guasta di costruzioni rose dall�interno come denti divorati da una carie. Il buio diventa l�apocalisse. Non c�� traccia di vita. Le sirene degli allarmi sono voci dimenticate da un�allerta che non pare servire pi� a nessuno. Ogni notte Sarajevo muore. La notte � il coperchio che si chiude. I superstiti sono formiche che hanno seguito il destino della citt� per ostinata affezione e sono rimaste murate nella bara. Di notte resta solo il vento, che cala dalle montagne e si aggira come uno spirito inquieto in questa bocca sdentata.� Secondo voi, uno che ha paura che un cecchino faccia saltar via la faccia o ricordando quei momenti, pensa in quel modo? Con quell'albero di natale di metafore?. Al massimo dice "gi� o ti sparano". Infatti il brano non appartiene a questo libro, questo nel suo piccolo � serio.
February 15, 2017
This was a pretty good story with pretty good characters. It was hard to see how the protagonist survived on coffee and beans for the duration of the novel. The atmosphere of wartime Sarajevo was fittingly oppressive. The complexity of the combat was mysterious and overwhelming. Supposedly, the area is again on the brink of warfare. It's so sad, the hate between Muslims and Christians, then also between Catholics and Orthodox. Another book I read about the conflict, Pretty Birds, was not a detective novel, but was better in terms of character development and understanding the conflict.
February 26, 2023
In the beginning, it takes a bit to get used to the characters, the places, and the details of the war going on around them. However, a few chapters in and you’re on track and from there it’s a fascinating story of what starts as a single homicide investigation but turns out to be much more. Great one if you also enjoy mixing in historical fiction as well. Wish there would have been a bit more detail at the ending but I won’t say more than that in case you’re going to read it!
January 29, 2016
What an intense, realistic and poignant description of war-torn and corrupt Sarajevo and one lone detective trying to make a difference. The plot itself was almost secondary (although the tension was relatively well-handled), compared to the characterisation and setting.
May 8, 2012
Slowest book EVER. I dreamed that I finished it, but no I still had more to go. The last part of the book was better and carried me along.
May 16, 2012
It took me a long time to get into this book. It finally picked up toward the end but it was just ok for me.
September 12, 2020
Very readable and interesting. Ending was a bit of a letdown.
June 29, 2024
As a mystery, this is a slow boil -- you don't even get to the criminal enterprise until almost halfway through the book.
But that is not where the mastery of Fesperman's novel lies. What makes this so good is his portrait of the besieged city of Sarajevo in Bosnia during the Balkan war in the 1990s, and all the ways in which inhabitants had to adjust to a deprived, terror-filled existence. Sarajevo residents knew which parts of the city they had to run through at a crouch to avoid snipers. They had all moved their living areas away from the walls where artillery shells might fall on any given day. Cigarettes had become the master currency, along with Nescafe, while every resident had learned how to snake a hose into their living area to provide gas for cooking.
In this wrecked city works homicide investigator Vlado Petric. He has managed to get his wife and daughter out of the city to Germany, and talks to them once a week by satellite hookup, feeling his daughter grow more and more distant from him with each call. His boss is a paranoid bureaucrat who doesn't want to solve any crime that will cast aspersions on the city's leaders, and criminal gangs control much of the city and its black market.
After vividly painting this portrait, Fesperman gives us a case -- the murder of the head of the secret police. The temporary secret police chief asks Petric to investigate in a supposed show of impartiality, but it's clear he would prefer Petric to blame the killing on corruption by the victim and move on with it. But Petric, being stubborn and having an internal moral compass, can't do that, and eventually it will put his life in danger.
I can't give away any more without spoiler alerts, but I can highly recommend this book if you have the patience to wait for the plot to develop as you absorb the portrait of a city which had become a surreal hellscape.
February 19, 2022
Read this for a geographical challenge, and it was excellent for that purpose. Also well worth it for the knowledge of life in a city under siege, as it’s set during the middle of the siege of Sarajevo.
However if what you want is a traditional whodunnit murder mystery, it’s not a good fit. And while it might have as many political factions as a Tom Clancy novel, it is also not a spy thriller. The pace is slow. There is a murder, and it’s a mystery, but investigating it in the middle of wartime, with a newly formed and barely existent government, a lack of basic services (water, electricity, phones, intact roads), and corruption everywhere, is more about navigating those challenges than anything tricky or clever. This is a book about stumbling through difficulties, and hopefully finding the way through without dying from any of a dozen violent causes, accidental or deliberate.
—Recommended as complementary resources—
The fate of the Oympic venues in Sarajevo:
https://www.insider.com/photos-abando...
History of the Holiday Inn in Sarajevo (now Hotel Holiday):
https://www.rferl.org/a/sarajevo-icon...
Maps of the siege of Sarajevo:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Ca...
However if what you want is a traditional whodunnit murder mystery, it’s not a good fit. And while it might have as many political factions as a Tom Clancy novel, it is also not a spy thriller. The pace is slow. There is a murder, and it’s a mystery, but investigating it in the middle of wartime, with a newly formed and barely existent government, a lack of basic services (water, electricity, phones, intact roads), and corruption everywhere, is more about navigating those challenges than anything tricky or clever. This is a book about stumbling through difficulties, and hopefully finding the way through without dying from any of a dozen violent causes, accidental or deliberate.
—Recommended as complementary resources—
The fate of the Oympic venues in Sarajevo:
https://www.insider.com/photos-abando...
History of the Holiday Inn in Sarajevo (now Hotel Holiday):
https://www.rferl.org/a/sarajevo-icon...
Maps of the siege of Sarajevo:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Ca...
July 31, 2021
When I picked up this book, I approached it as detective fiction. I found it a slow going. Then I realized it is really a novel about the siege of Sarajevo and the politics of the Bosnian war that happens to include a character who is a detective. With that changed frame, the book drew me deeply in. It made me very interested in Sarajevo and what happened there, looking up pictures of Sniper Alley and the walls of stacked ruined vehicles, examining maps of the different neighborhoods and looking for other books about what happened there. By the end, the case became engrossing as well and I could not put it down once I reached the last 50 pages. It offers some good plot twists, too. I gave it five stars because it managed to draw me into that period of history in addition to becoming a tense page-turner.
July 14, 2018
Four & a half stars. Vlado Petric is a homocide inspector within the sieged Sarajevo. He is given the case of a high Ministry Police official murdered on the streets. Vlado's friends and associates wonder why he is taken a case when so many citizens are killed in Sarajevo because of the war. Vlado is told "just find someone and everyone will be happy." He persists and finds more than he would like in an atmosphere where no one can be trusted and danger lurks from snipers, artillery shells, criminal gangs and whoever was the murderer. Fesperman was a journalist who covered Bosnia for the Baltimore Sun and gives a visceral feeling of what it was like to live in a besieged city. Highly recommended.
August 11, 2020
I think I need a separate scale for Crime fiction. It was a difficult transition from V.S. Naipaul to Dan Fesperman and so it took me some time to get into the groove of crime writing. About two thirds of the way through, I got there and enjoyed the story, the writing, the educational aspect. Anyone who remembers the awful news that poured out of the former Yugoslavia during the 90s will find this book relevant. It combines politics, war, mystery, corruption, and humanity. Fesperman has credibility due to his personal involvement and I have learned something about the region. I will definitely read another Fesperman when I’m ready for a riveting story. I would like to give this book a 4 but something in me just can’t rank it alongside classics and literature. Snobbery perhaps? 3.7 😂
July 13, 2024
Police Inspector Petric is working in Sarajevo in the middle of the war. The descriptions of what it is like to try to live a "normal" life in the middle of a city in siege was very interesting and depressing. A government official is shot but not as part of the war. Petric investigates the murder but it is very challenging when it is difficult to travel places and interview people who may have important information. Petric has been living without his family for sometime as he sent his wife and daughter away so that they would be safe. He only gets to speak with his wife for a few minutes every month. The novel is very slow moving but the story did build to a suspenseful end. I did like this novel and will probably try the next in the series.
December 4, 2018
I seem to be hitting a spate of three-star books these days. I like Fesperman's works a lot, but this one is a disappointment. It was slooooooooow until I reached the 41-percent mark, before which the author hammered the strife and desolation of war-torn Sarayevo. The novel also is very introspective, with long slogs of prose and very little dialogue at the beginning.
I have several of Fesperman's books yet to read, and I'm looking forward to them. It's just a pity that he didn't condense that first 41 percent of Lie in the Dark by at least helf, thereby pulling this reader into the story more quickly.
I have several of Fesperman's books yet to read, and I'm looking forward to them. It's just a pity that he didn't condense that first 41 percent of Lie in the Dark by at least helf, thereby pulling this reader into the story more quickly.
December 9, 2017
I have to admit that I am a fan of Dan Fesperman, but somehow this book, his debut, has eluded me until now. It is a very good police procedural, but what makes it outstanding is the picture he paints of Sarajevo during the war. He brought home to me the sheer horror of the depravation and the never ending uncertainty as to whether you would survive any day. The lead character is brilliantly depicted and provides the perfect peg on which to hang this tale of corruption at all levels, high, low and in between. I urge everyone to read it!
July 15, 2023
This is a great detective mystery that really paints a vivid picture of life in Sarajevo during the Bosnian War. It actually does a better job than Logavina Street: Life and Death in a Sarajevo Neighborhood, which is non-fiction. The setting is so well described and is really essential to creating such a taut tense story. Highly recommended.
September 30, 2025
The book ends leaving the reader to finish the story. The ending, in my mind, could go several ways. I like to think good things happened to Vlado. But, you never know.
Reading this book, I felt the desperation of its characters. The hardest part of the book was seeing how anyone, even co-workers and neighbors could be against you and your efforts. I get it, faced with starvation and death most people would stop helping anyone but themselves. This book makes you feel the isolation and the threat of living in a war zone and its raw horror in seeing people descend into their worst selves.
Reading this book, I felt the desperation of its characters. The hardest part of the book was seeing how anyone, even co-workers and neighbors could be against you and your efforts. I get it, faced with starvation and death most people would stop helping anyone but themselves. This book makes you feel the isolation and the threat of living in a war zone and its raw horror in seeing people descend into their worst selves.
May 21, 2025
I remember the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo! I also remember the heartbreaking news pictures of the war, and reading about the horrible war crimes. I absolutely loved the ending! It redeemed the hard reading that came before. I am looking forward to Vlado’s next adventure. I’ve always believed…..IMO….the the UN is nothing but a Bottomless money pit, sucking nations dry, instead of their intended purpose. This book confirmed my opinion.
April 16, 2018
A crime fiction novel set during the Siege of Sarajevo featuring Vlado Petric, a police detective, working a murder case. A well craft procedural novel with many twists and turns. It provides a great insight into the war, and is quite a bleak novel with dark overtones. The ending does not have a clear resolution as there is a sequel to the first.
April 1, 2019
This was an interesting thriller set in Sarajevo during the civil war. Fesperman showed how the perception of civilized life can be eradacated quickly in times of war. The main character Petric is well drawn and likeable. Overall the novel gave a glimse into a city that was being torn apart. It was an interesting read.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 80 reviews