Kismet

August 30, 2010
Hard-boiled detective fans should welcome German author Arjouni's U.S. debut, the fourth book in his popular series (Happy Birthday, Turk! etc.) featuring Kemal Kayankaya, a wisecracking Turkish immigrant PI. When a ruthless gang calling itself the Army of Reason demands 6,000 marks a month from a Frankfurt restaurateur acquaintance of Kemal's, Kemal and his sidekick, Slibulsky, wind up in a gun battle that leaves two thugs dead. In 2001, the year this novel was first published, Balkan refugees were streaming into Frankfurt. Kemal must deal with Croatians trying to move in on territory already divided among German, Albanian, and Turkish bosses as well as searching for a wealthy woman's lost dog and protecting an all too worldly 14-year-old Bosnian girl. While Kemal lacks charm, this entry will whet readers' appetite for the three earlier Kayankaya mysteries.

October 15, 2010

Established racketeering in Frankfurt--fairly peacefully divided among German, Albanian, and Turkish crime bosses--is upset when the mysterious Army of Reason suddenly starts asking business owners for exorbitant sums and lopping off their thumbs when demands aren't met. After restaurateur Romario becomes a victim, he turns to PI Kemal Kayankaya for help. His plan to scare off the Army of Reason, carried out with friend Silbulsky, turns into a shoot-out that leaves two extortionists dead, Kayankaya scratching to trace the new crime organization, more people killed and buildings blown up in retribution, and another country vying for a piece of the Frankfurt crime action. Winner of the German Thriller Prize and best sellers in Europe, Arjouni's four-book series featuring the wisecracking PI of Turkish descent who's not above using bribery and lies and calling on sources inside and outside the law to get what he needs is now being released in the United States for the first time. VERDICT Germany is a roiling melting pot in Arjouni's noir fiction with a light touch. A good bet for readers of the genre. [This title launches the publisher's new Melville International Crime imprint, previewed in Wilda Williams's "Passport to Mystery," LJ 4/15/10.--Ed.]--Michele Leber, Arlington, VA

Copyright 2010 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 15, 2010
Frankfurt, Germanys criminal underworld is calm under a triumvirate of German, Turkish, and Albanian bosses. But in attempting to drive off a new gang selling protection, Kemal Kayankaya, the Turkish private eye (and German citizen), becomes the linchpin for a lethal battle between brutal, war-hardened Croatian thugs and the somewhat complacent, established criminal order. Kemal, a voluble, wisecracking, sometime rogue, employs the hard-boiled Mike Hammer technique of sleuthing: walk into the enemy camp, ask blunt questions, and get beaten senselessbefore finally setting things right. Its difficult to take him terribly seriously as a tough, Marlowe-esque PI, but for readers who enjoy armchair travel with their crime, Kismet offers an illuminating glimpse of the multicultural New Germany, the burgeoning racism Kemal confronts almost daily, and the plight of refugees from the vicious ethnic conflict in what was once Yugoslavia.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)