The Lost Soldiers A Novel

"In this madcap detective story, Samson Kolechko, young investigator in Kyiv, is assigned seemingly impossible case . . . In Kurkov's hands, his efforts offer both serious meditations and page-turning diversion." - New Yorker

"The absurdity of war and its aftermath hang over Kurkov's elegantly satirical series of Kyiv Mysteries . . . [The Lost Soldiers is] a Kafkaesque journey through postrevolutionary Kyiv. . . . Though his tale is set more than a century ago, its parallels to conditions today are clear. A darkly comic mystery with deep roots in history."

- Kirkus (starred review)

"Excellent . . . Kurkov excels at capturing the profound political instability of war-torn Kyiv, where citizens walk around with three forms of currency in their pockets: czarist kopecks, Kerensky rubles, and Soviet rubles. These details, and lingering questions about whether daily life under such circumstances might snuff out Samson's tenderness, deepen the tension of the impossible crime at the novel's core. This series continues to impress."

- Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Praise for the Kyiv Mysteries

"Distinguished by its humor, heart, and subtle political urgency, this series deserves a long life." - Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Andrey Kurkov is often called Ukraine's greatest living writer, and it is a gift for crime fiction fans that he writes in this genre." - New York Times Book Review

"[The Kyiv Mysteries] provide timely lessons for anyone living under an oppressive regime. . . . These novels are more than detective thrillers: They are studies in the surprising ambivalence that people living under occupation may feel, even when those in power go to extraordinary lengths to cement their rule through violence, manipulation, and terror. And they are important today not just for their insight into the past but also as a guide for surviving the present." - The Atlantic