The Starlings of Bucharest

Ted wants to be a proper journalist rather than a film critic, but at least the travel is good. He arrives in Bucharest to interview a renowned film director, but suspects the man he sees is an imposter. His guide, Vasile, has involved him in a more interesting story about a missing girl, a puzzle Ted aims to solve while he’s in Moscow at the 1975 International Film Festival. In Moscow, though, the mystery deepens, and Ted finds himself asked to do more than a few dubious favours.

Reviews of The Starlings of Bucharest

'A highly effective, and often disquieting, study of human beings being alienated and remoulded by a climate of constant surveillance, threats and manipulation.' * The Herald * 'A beautifully detailed corrective to the kiss-kiss bang-bang of far too many spy novels.' * The Irish Times * 'A mesmerising, evocative novel in which characterisation and narrative tension are in perfect balance.' — Barry Forshaw