Sally McGrane – författare

Max Rushmore is re-hired by the CIA to return to Moscow and investigate the death of a beautiful nuclear waste disposal expert. But Max, who can drink even the Russians under the table, soon uncovers all sorts of inconsistencies: could it even be that she is not dead at all? So begins a game of cat-and-mouse that takes Max across Russia, from St Petersburg to Novosibirsk, as he follows his only clue: a rare Siberian diamond. With all the breathless tension of classic espionage novels, Moscow at Midnight is both humorous and utterly enthralling – in every sense, a fast-paced pageturner of the old school.

Ex-CIA-Mann Max Rushmore reist für einen Routineauftrag in die noch friedliche Stadt Odessa. Doch als die abgetrennte Hand des örtlichen Gouverneurs in einem Fass Sonnenblumenöl auftaucht, ist Max alarmiert. Er stolpert über einen Männerzeh mit demselben verräterischen Muttermal. Der outgesourcte Profi kann nicht anders – er muss ermitteln! Inmitten politischer Spannungen hetzt Max durch die schöne Hafenstadt am Schwarzen Meer und ihre Schattenbezirke. Er trifft dubiose Geschäftsmänner, korrupte Beamte, Katakombenbewohner, Wissenschaftler, Konditorinnen, Dichter, Archivarinnen, Polizisten – und Mörder. In ihrer surrealen Neuerfindung des klassischen Spionagethrillers zollt Sally McGrane literarischen Ikonen von Odessa wie Babel, Gogol, Puschkin und Tschechow ihre Anerkennung und inszeniert gleichzeitig die Drohkulisse eines heraufziehenden Krieges.

Ex-CIA man Max Rushmore travels to a still-peaceful Odesa on routine assignment. But things veer off course when the severed hand of the local governor shows up in a vat of sunflower oil. Max stumbles across a solitary toe, with the same tell-tale markings. The downsized professional can''t help himself – he has to investigate.With the Russian threat in the background, Max''s quest takes him down to the crumbling underbelly of the beautiful Black Sea port city, once the Russian Empire''s glittering third capital. It leads him to dubious businessmen, corrupt officials, catacomb dwellers, scientists, pastry-chefs, poets, archivists, cops – and killers.As global political tensions rise, Max begins to untangle the threads of the case. But he is also being tracked – and not just by Odesa''s network of mafia-minded stray cats, who may be the only ones who really know what''s going on.In this surreal contemporary spin on the classic spy thriller, Sally McGrane pays tribute to one-time Odesa residents like Babel, Gogol, Pushkin and Chekhov, and to the city itself, creating a darkly witty, beguiling and bizarre work of fiction like nothing before.Tokarczuk meets Bulgakov meets Le Carré, in this affectionate portrait of a complex and fascinating city.