false 368250 14 <B>Penzler Pick, August 2000:</B> Winner of the prestigious Gold Dagger Award in the U.K. for the best mystery of 1999, this complex literary thriller may be one of the most satisfying suspense novels to come along in some time. Robert Wilson has written several political thrillers, most of which are set in West Africa, but they are, alas, largely unavailable in the U.S.<p> In <I>A Small Death in Lisbon</I>, the narrative switches back and forth between 1941 and 1999, and Wilson's wide knowledge of history and keen sense of place make the eras equally vibrant. In 1941 Germany, Klaus Felsen, an industrialist, is approached by the SS high command in a none-too-friendly manner and is "persuaded" to go to Lisbon and oversee the sale--or smuggling--of wolfram (also known as tungsten, used in the manufacture of tanks and airplanes). World War II Portugal is neutral where business is concerned, and too much of the precious metal is being sold to Britain when Germany needs it to insure that Hitler's blitzkrieg is successful.<p> Cut to 1999 Lisbon, where the daughter of a prominent lawyer has been found dead on a beach. Ze Coehlo, a liberal police inspector who is a widower with a daughter of his own, must sift through the life of Catarina Oliviera and discover why she was so brutally murdered. Her father is enigmatic, her mother suicidal; her friends were rock musicians and drug addicts.<p> The reader is treated to a wonderful portrait of Lisbon in the aftermath of the 1974 revolution that ousted Salazar from power, and the scars from that conflict are still close to the surface for the citizens of Lisbon, including Coehlo and his colleagues. We also see World War II in a slightly different manner from that to which we are accustomed--through the eyes of the Germans and the Portuguese. The pace of the book is leisurely but compelling as the events of 1941 and those in 1999 merge in an extraordinary climax. <I>--Otto Penzler</I> 358242 1999 A Small Death in Lisbon total:324|5:73|4:136|3:81|2:18|1:16| 324 1204 443 48 2 1 false true Fri May 09 14:43:05 -0700 2008 Sat May 10 03:39:27 -0700 2008
First thing, the author gets exactly right some details about Portugal, namely food and geography. He is totally right about menus and what people eat in restaurants, or the noise the bridge does, or what the n...more...]]> 2 1 false false Mon Jun 02 07:50:32 -0700 2008 Mon Jun 02 07:58:39 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 1 false false Tue May 20 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Feb 04 05:11:10 -0800 2009 Wed Feb 04 05:11:32 -0800 2009 more...]]> 1 0 false false Fri Aug 25 00:00:00 -0700 2006 Thu May 14 21:37:07 -0700 2009 Thu May 14 21:37:47 -0700 2009 more...]]> 2 1 false false Tue Dec 09 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sun Nov 16 15:17:42 -0800 2008 Tue Dec 09 16:20:20 -0800 2008
The story wasn't bad. I didn't like any of the characters. I found them...more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed May 27 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Jun 01 12:41:06 -0700 2009 Mon Jun 01 12:59:05 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Apr 04 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Nov 15 05:06:36 -0800 2007 Sat Apr 04 06:46:01 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Tue Jan 13 07:08:20 -0800 2009 Tue Jan 13 07:12:29 -0800 2009 American Tabloid. Wilson's prose is better than most award nominees for mainstream literature, the dialogue sizzles, and he deals with adult subject matter in an adult manner. This mystery is one of the finest examples the genre has to off...more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue May 05 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri May 08 13:18:21 -0700 2009 Fri May 08 13:21:14 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Thu Oct 08 09:32:00 -0700 2009 Thu Oct 08 09:36:22 -0700 2009 1 0 false false Fri Jul 11 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sat Jul 05 10:02:52 -0700 2008 Fri Jul 11 14:19:57 -0700 2008
The characters wer...more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Apr 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri May 15 12:02:47 -0700 2009 Fri May 15 12:05:51 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Tue Jul 14 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Jul 12 19:54:51 -0700 2009 Tue Jul 14 20:56:20 -0700 2009
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Loved the setting, the characters and the morally ambiguous german protagonist. ]]> 5 1 false false Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2003 Sun Dec 30 09:33:27 -0800 2007 Sun Dec 30 09:40:37 -0800 2007 more...]]> 4 0 true false Sun May 23 00:00:00 -0700 2004 Sat May 23 17:08:16 -0700 2009 Sat May 23 17:13:59 -0700 2009 1
This is an intricately knotted historical and political thriller.

It's very smart, incredibly gripping, and more than a little brutal.

Steve]]> 4 0 false false Tue Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2006 Mon Jul 02 19:37:45 -0700 2007 Mon Jul 02 19:42:53 -0700 2007 more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Sep 21 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 31 12:09:12 -0700 2009 Mon Sep 21 14:31:41 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Thu Mar 26 19:12:03 -0700 2009 Thu Mar 26 19:12:56 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Tue Nov 06 10:20:22 -0800 2007 Tue Nov 06 10:22:51 -0800 2007
Here's an excerpt from a review that says it all:

This is a remarkable and powerful novel, beautifully structured, with characters that make your skin crawl...more...]]>