The Books
The Holy Thief
Moscow, 1936 and Stalin’s Great Terror is beginning. In a deconsecrated Church, a young woman is found dead, her mutilated body displayed on the altar for all to see.
Captain Alexei Korolev of the Criminal Investigation Division of the Moscow Militia, is asked to investigate. But when he discovers that the victim is an American citizen, the NKVD – the most feared organisation in Russia – becomes involved.
Read more and download the first chapter>>
The Bloody Meadow (US: The Darkening Field)
Following his investigations in The Holy Thief, which implicated those at the very top of authority in Soviet Russia, Captain Alexei Korolev finds himself decorated and hailed as an example to all Soviet workers. But Korolev is uneasy– his new-found knowledge is dangerous, and if some of his actions during the case come to light, he will face deportation to the frozen camps of the far north.
Read more and download the first chapter>>
The Twelfth Department
Moscow, 1937. Captain Korolev, a police investigator, is enjoying a long-overdue visit from his young son Yuri when an eminent scientist is shot dead within sight of the Kremlin and Korolev is ordered to find the killer.
It soon emerges that the victim, a man who it appears would stop at nothing to fulfil his ambitions, was engaged in research of great interest to those at the very top ranks of Soviet power. When another scientist is brutally murdered, and evidence of the professors’ dark experiments is hastily removed, Korolev begins to realise that, along with having a difficult case to solve, he’s caught in a dangerous battle between two warring factions of the NKVD. And then his son Yuri goes missing . . .
Just finished TDF, Outstanding plot and great characters, Can’t wait for the next offering.
Thanks Sam and I very much appreciate you getting in touch. Great to hear you enjoyed it!
Best wishes
Bill
Thank You. Thank You Thank you Thank You! I love Captain Korolev. Both books are brilliant and I can’t wait for more – just tell me when I can expect the next one.
Thanks Rose, that’s great to hear. The next one won’t be out until next year but so far it feels like it’s coming along nicely. I’m setting up a mailing list so I’ll be sure to put you on it so I can let you know what’s happening closer to the time.
Very kind of you to get in touch
Best wishes
Bill Ryan
Just read both the books last week and enjoyed them immensely. I found the whole criminal tattoo aspect of the story really fascinating. So much so, that I had to do some research on my own. It’s amazing that even in such an oppressive, totalitarian system, these people still managed to live somewhat outside the system. You do a great job of giving us a glimpse into what it was like living in the Soviet Union of that period and just how oppressive it was. On the other hand though, I do like how you show the humanity that still exists, even in some of the NKVD agents; I’ve always wondered what the people who worked for such organizations were like and if they lost their humanity completely in doing the job. Look forward to the next one.
Thanks Tim – I’m glad you liked them. There’s a section ont the tattoos in Korolev’s World – but the three volumes of The Russian Tattoo Encyclopedia are really quite amazing if you’re looking for more detail and well worth investing in.
All the best
Bill
Another good read. Will the coming novel have a kindle edition? As an avid reader kindle saves a fair bit over the year. In theory, it really means I can buy more books.
Hi John,
All the English language edition shave kindle/ebook versions but they may not be available in specific countries (For example, I think there’s a problem in Australia with kindle). Certainly in the US and the UK both books are on Kindle and the third will be as well. I’ll take a note of your email adress and let yu know when it’s coming out and thanks very much for letting me know you liked the book.
Best wishes
Bill
I also save money with ebooks even thought that ebooks were a great invention until I realized you can not ask the author to sign it.
I like the main character, Korolev, an honest man in a very difficult enviroment especially if you are a detective. I am used to western detectives so I found it original.
I was surprised how normal people honestly believed in the Soviet system where nobody trusts anybody.
It also struck me how they believed they were helping Spain in our civil war with their comunism.
I’m looking forward to reading the next book
Sorry for my bad English
Hi Marta, thanks for the getting in touch – it’s a really fascinating period of history and I’m glad you enjoyed the books. I think ordinary people wanted to believe that all the sacrifices were worth something – and you have to remember that life certainly did improve for many peope under the Soviets – women in particular. But it was at a terrible cost. The relationshop between the USSR and Spain in the 1930s is worth a book in itself, of course …
Anyway, if you’re ever in London – drop me a line.
All the best
Bill Ryan
Dear William,
I stumbled onto your books while shopping in the Kindle store. I appreciate the quality and depth of your characters. The settings and locations truly come alive. The only issue I have with your writing is that you have not done enough of it.
Like many others I want more of your gift. Korolev has become real to me. I particularly like that he has held on to hope and his faith in the most turbulent times. The way you have weaved the little details into all of the characters is excellent.
Sincerely,
Jay C Powers
Hi Jay,
I’m really pleased you like the books and the good news, I hope, is that I’m finishing off the next one at the moment and it should be out next year.
Thanks for getting in touch – and I’ll try and remember to drop you an email when the new one will be coming out
All the best
Bill
I just finished your second book & loved it as much as the first. You have captured the mood and the turbulent times so well. I loved Korolev & the Kolya connection is also very interesting. Am looking forward to your next book.
Antoinette
Hi Antoinette,
That’s great news – I’m pleased to say Kolya rears his ugly head once again in the next novel and, as usual, is up to no good.
I’ll try to remember to send you an email closer to the time to tell you when it’s coming out but I’m afraid it won’t be until next year.
Thanks for the message
Bill
Just finished The Bloody Meadow and already got withdrawal symptoms having discovered we have to wait until next year for the third book. Absolutely brilliant books that work at so many levels. Please don’t kill or retire Kolorev for a few books just yet!!
Hi John,
I’ll do my best to keep him going, and thanks very much for getting in touch!
As an aside, if you like the Korolev novels, you might like J.Robert Janes’ Kohler and St Cyr novels – you can buy them second hand on amazon but I think Mysterious Press are reissuing them in ebook form this year. They’re set in World War 2 France and feature a German policeman working with a French detective during the Nazi occupation. They’re pretty good novels on any level, so might be worth a look. And, of course, if you haven’t read Martin Cruz Smith then he’s a great writer and his Renko novels are also, at least initially, set in Soviet Russia.
Hopefully, by the time you’ve worked your way through those I’ll have another Korolev novel ready for you. It’s scheduled for early next year ..
I’d just thought i’d leave a comment having just bought the bloody meadow. I really enjoyed The Holy Thief and its got its own special spot on my bookshelf, although its currently with one of my friends as I reccomend it constantly. Hopefully Capitain Korolev will have his own shelf too over the next few years. Consider me a new fan.
Hi Ben,
Thanks for getting in touch and for letting me know you enjoyed The Holy Thief. I hope you enjoy The Bloody Meadow as well and please drop back to let me know how it goes,
Thanks again
Bill
I bought the ‘Holy Thief’ at a booksale and expected maybe a good read but also lots of jarring anachronisms. I do think I know a bit about Russian history between 1914 and 1945, having several bookshelves of historical fact and fiction on it at home. Amazingly, you recreate a sense of time and place that feels entirely authentic. Your novel made me understand the soviet perspective better than what dozens of works of historical scholarship could achieve.
If I were teaching in this field I’d use your novel as course material. Do keep up the good work!
Thanks Hans Peter,
I’m really delighted to hear that – I’ll be interested to hear what you make of the sequels if you get round to them.
All the best
Bill
I picked up “The Darkening Field” by chance. I love books where the story takes me to different countries. The cover of the book told me that the subject matter had to do with Russia. Being an Armenian I was interested in a book that was about those dark years and what my people, along with all the Soviet citizens, went through under that regime. Of cours I know the history and your representation of the citizen’s lives, attitudes and fears is one hundred percent authentic. As soon as I finished the book I found the “The Holy Thief” and finished it in two days reading it all through the night. In your website I discovered that there is another book “The Darkening Field” which makes them three books. How come some of your readers are waiting for the third book. I love Korolev. I am hooked to your books and I, also, can’t wait for the next Korolev book to come out. Please let me know when the new book is coming out.
Thanks Zivart,
I’m not sure the books are 100% accurate – at the end of the day, they’re fiction and I sometimes have to make compromises – but I do my best and I’m delighted to hear that you enjoyed them. I’m just finishing the third Korolev novel now which will come out early next year and I’ll post a few chapters sometime shortly to give you a feel for it. I’ll be sure to send you an email when they’re a firm publication date.
Many thanks again
Bill Ryan
p.s. If you’ve enjoyed the books and have the time, it’s really helpful to leave reviews on Amazon or Goodreads …
just read bloody meadow.
was brillant,good story brillant charactors.
keep up the good work
asim
Thanks Asim – much appreciated! And thanks also for the Goodreads review – very kind of you
The bloody Meadow will be translate to spanish? I read the holy thief ( in Spain is Requiém Ruso) and I loved it.
Hi Victoria
Thanks – I’m delighted you enjoyed it. I’m not sure exactly when it’s going to be published in Spanish – but some time next year, I think.
I’ll send you an email when I know more.
Hope all is well
Bill
Good day to you sir, I have recently finished reading The Holy Theif in French during my summer holidays upon recommendation from my sister in law.. I will look up for * The Bloody Meadow* in English…. I very much enjoyed your novel and am looking forward to finding an English copy of your latest novel. I am sure that an English copy will prove even more enjoyable even if the translation was quite acceptable.
regards, Gilles
Hi Gilles,
Thanks for getting in touch – The Bloody Meadow is published as Film Noir a Odessa in French in case you don’t manage to find it in English. I think Jean Esch does a good job at the translation but, as your English is excellent, it’s probably always better to read books in the original. I’m very pleased you enjoyed it and hope it lives up to the first.
Incidentally, the third in the series will be coming out next year and I’ll post more details in the next couple of months.
Best wishes
Bill
I have read The Holy Thief and I immediately started reading The Bloody Meadow. Both books are fantastic and set in such an interesting and traumatic time in Russian history. I had no idea of the existence of the Moscow Thief’s before reading your book, I was very surprised, given the ruthlessness of the Stalin Regime that such criminal activity was quite widespread, and your books have made me look into the Russian Civil War, it does seem that for large portions of it’s recent history the ordinary people have suffered terribly and the casulties from war, revolution, famine have been enormous.
Looking forward to the third book and with the horrors of the Second World War around the corner I can’t imagine what trials and tribulations the characters, especially Korolev will be going through.
Hi Grant,
Thanks for that – I’m really pleased you enjoyed them and got in touch to say so. The third novel is set in the summer of 1937 in Moscow and is a little different in tone I think (possibly because there isn’t much snow involved). I’m really pleased with it. You’re quite right to predict that Korolev will end up in the second world war but probably not for a few books yet – I have a plot idea set around the Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939 which is slowly coming together at the back of my mind.
All the best
Bill
Your books come to me highly recommended and I am looking forward to reading them. (They are on the top of the pile of must-read books on my desk.) I was told that Issak Babel is a minor character in your books. I want to thank you for that. I have strong feelings about his work that you can read in a recent post that was inspired by your use of Babel as a character: http://dandomench.blogspot.com/
You are an inspiration.
Dan
Thanks for the kind mention, Dan, and I hope the books live up to your aniticipation. Funnily enough I’m not the only recent writer to bring Babel back to life – you might be interested in Travis Holland’s The Archivist which deals with an NKVD filing clerk’s attempt to save some of Babel’s short stories. Anyway, come back and let me know what you think of the books.
All the best
Bill
My friend gave me your two books as a present which you had kindly signed for her, thank you very much, I will treasure them. I have now read both and thoroughly enjoyed them. I specially enjoyed “The Bloody Meadow” now that I am familiar with the characters and I must say, I look forward to the next book, I presume set in 1938.
What a nice change to have a Russian main character. Also you can really feel the terror and oppressing atmosphere the Russian people must have endured in Stalinist Russia, something I was not aware of.
Until the next book.
Best wishes
Claude
Hi Claude, great to hear from you – the next book is out in May and is called The Twelfth Department. It’s set in August 1937 and has come out really well, I think. Incidentally, if you enjoy the Korolev books you might also like Martin Cruz Smith’s Renko novels. They’re set a bit later but they’re great reads and Gorky Park is a great place to start,
All the best
Bill
Dear Mr. Ryan,
I absolutely love novels set in this time period, central and eastern Europe and Russia. Thank you. I am almost embarrassed to make a suggestion to a published author but here it is: Can you you add another 100 pages to your novels? The reading experience ends too quickly. I have read/purchased Holy Thief and Darkening Field. Looking forward to Bloody Meadow. Thank you!
Hi David,
Great to hear from you but please don’t buy The Bloody Meadow – it’s the same as The Darkening Field (US vs. UK titles). As for the length of the novels – I’ll bear it in mind. It seems to me though that the stories need a certain length of time, no more and no less, so even when I try and stretch them out it feels like they get a little flabby. But I’ll do my best. The good news is there is a new one out in May – called The Twelfth Department – and it’s pretty good (I think anyway). Have you read Maarek Krajewski – they’re set in 1930s Breslau (now Wroclau in Poland but then part of Germany). They’re a little intense – but very good.
All the best
Bill
Dear William Ryan
I read Holy Thief when it was first published in paperback, and quickly devoured Bloody Meadow when it came out. I now have a Kindle and look forward to the next book. I come from a forces family and spent two tours of duty in Germany as a child; the first was only eight years after the end of WW11, and my father took it into his head to take me on a ramshackle bus full of German country folk to the site of Belsen Concentration Camp. I was only five and hadn’ t a clue what it was, but the atmosphere, and my powerful impression of the place have haunted me since. The strangeness of being in Germany at that time has provoked a strong curiosity in both my brother and myself about what it was like to live under the regime of psychopaths like Hitler and Stalin – your books express the ever present fear that everyone, even the most powerful,must have experienced; the despair that led to suicide so often, the exhaustion of constant watchfulness. Phillip Kerr is our favourite read on the German side of things.
With regards
Ann
Hi Ann,
That sounds like the kind of experience that should show up in a novel at some stage. I’m also an admirer or Philip Kerr but there’s another writer you might enjoy by the name of J.Robert Janes. His St Cyr/Kohler series are set in occupied France and are excellent (Kohler is a German detective and St Cyr is his French partner). And my new novel, The Twelfth Department, will be coming out on 23rd of March.
Thanks for getting in touch and very pleased you enjoy the books
Bill
Have been living the (Australian) ex-pat life in Moscow for 12 months now, on leave from Australia. A friend gave me The Holy Thief to read, loved it. Just today moved into an apartment at Petrovka 17, I look out the window for Korolev – I don’t think it’s changed much. Have since read The Bloody Meadow and will grab The Twelfth Department. Great reads and your insight into Moscow brings it to life on paper. The historic setting only adds to my great experience here.
Thanks, keep up the great story telling
Thanks for getting in touch, Peter – great to hear you’re enjoying the books. The Twelfth Department is set back in Moscow and I think it’s possibly the best of the three – so I hope you like it as well.
All the best
Bill
Dear William Ryder
I just finished The Holy Thief and cannot wait to continue with The Darkening Field. The way you describe the fear ordinary citizens lived under and how the whole situation was legitmized was very insightful. You can be certain that I will recommend your books to all my friends here in Finland.
Thank you for letting me catch a glimpse of the pre WWII Soviet.
All the best
Tea
Hi Tea
Great to hear from you and thanks for getting in touch – just in case I should warn you that The Darkening Field is the same book as The Bloody Meadow. I wouldn’t want you to buy it twice. There’s also a third novel – The Twelfth Department – coming out in May (in the UK – July in the US).
Anyway – thanks again for letting me know you enjoyed The Holy Thief. It’s lovely to hear from readers and I’m always grateful.
All best
Bill Ryan
Hello! Big fan here:) So pleased there’s a new one out, and shall go looking for it. I was telling a 15 year old boy that I like to read detective stories, not for the murder per se but because, while gripped by the thread of solving the mystery, I can learn so much about an unknown place and the people in that place. In really good books, that is. Like yours.
He has just got into the genre, and now can’t wait to start learning about Stalinist Russia from you. ‘Twill bring his dry history books alive!
So, many thanks from us both.
Thanks Ann and great to hear from you. If you’re in London on the 21st of May, please come along to the launch of The Twelfth Department – details to follow shortly.
All the best
WR
I just discovered your books and devoured the first one in record time. I can’t wait to tell my Dad about this series, as he too, loves this genre. Thank you for a highly enjoyable book. I’m looking forward to starting the second one.
Thanks Lori – and great to hear from you. Hope the second one is as enjoyable for you …
All the best
Bill