Budapest Hand — David Brierley

Eve was dead. This much journalist Bazil Potter distinctly understood. Until the evening when he sees her on the TV news, in a clip filmed in Budapest, the city where she died. A clip all recordings of which are swiftly destroyed on the orders of government, the government Eve worked for. He may have no proof, but Bazil knows what he saw and he knows it was Eve. Because no man forgets his wife. So begins Bazil's journey of discovery. A journey that takes him back to Budapest, a city still tormented by memories of Soviet oppression, a city where shady diplomats and ruthless gangsters lie at the heart of a story Bazil knows he will never be allowed to tell, the city where his parents were born and where he buried his wife. Or at least what was found of her in the Danube. A single, severed hand. International praise for David BrierleyTough...witty...in the best tradition of suspense fiction.New YorkerSuper skilled graft of fiction onto history...an authentic winner.Sunday TimesUnusual, exotic and tantalising.Irish TimesHas the rancid strength of a distillation of the best of Le Carré and Deighton: an authentic winner.Sunday TimesIn the top flight of thriller writers.Natal MercurySmashing action scenes...superb entertainment.New York Times Book ReviewEspionage in the le Carré classThe ObserverBrierley's style is first class, and his evocation of external bleakness...is superb.The Jerusalem PostOne is definitely hooked from the first pageBBC French ServiceWritten with all the sly cynicism of the spy world, along with some wonderful descriptions of a country coming to terms with a changing present while living with memories of a cruel history, this is Brierley's first novel in more than twenty years and an elegant reminder of what a fine writer he is.Mike Ripley's Book of the Month, Shots Crime & Thriller eZine About the AuthorDavid Brierley was born in Durban. He moved to Canada, then England and back to South Africa all by the age of thirteen. Travel and curiosity about different countries is deep in his nature. After Oxford University, he taught at a lycée in France followed by work in London advertising agencies. Once his career as a novelist was established he moved to France. As well as writing, he was a prison visitor. Together with his wife Jill he created a garden that won first prize in a regional competition. Now back in England, they live near Bristol in a small market town whose name - Chipping Sodbury - always raises a smile. Also by David BrierleyNovelsDead Man Telling TalesCold WarBlood Group OBig Bear, Little BearShooting StarCzechmateSkorpion's DeathSnowlineOne Lives, One DiesOn Leaving a Prague WindowThe Horizontal WomanThe Cloak-and-Dagger GirlDeath & Co Short StoriesTo El and Back Safe House Books is an independent British publisher of spy fiction which is reviving quality espionage for a new audience.