William Ryan’s Captain Korolev Novels have been shortlisted for numerous awards, including the Theakstons Crime Novel of the Year, The Kerry Group Irish Fiction Award, the Ellis Peters and John Creasey Daggers and the Irish Crime Novel of the Year (twice). William teaches on the Crime Writing Masters at City University in London. His latest novel The Constant Soldier has been described by AL Kennedy as “a nuanced, complex and gripping tale of guilt and love that captures the chaos at the end of World War Two”.
Contact William Ryan
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Katie James
Publicity Director
Pan Macmillan Fiction
0207 014 6180
k.james@macmillan.co.uk
Literary Agent
Andrew Gordon
David Higham Associates
5–8 Lower John Street
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Read both your books and see you also studied at St Andrews. A great experience
Hi John,
Yes, and I think location- wise it’s pretty extraordinary. The cliffs and the beaches and the sea, ruined churches and castles, wild hilly countryside, grey granite terraces – not so bad a spot.
All the best
Bill
I doubt if there was a Kremlin influence there, but I believe some Hitler youth attended. This would fit the right wing support.
Rgds
John
Really? I didn’t know that. Back in the thirties?
I just finish reading the Bloody Meadow. It’s a good fiction, nice written.
However, from the beginning to the end during reading, a weird feeling never left me. A British lawyer wrote about a Moscow detective in 1930s Ezhov’s NKVD era. The detective works as any policeman in the Great Purge, while he is a Christian. More weird he is a close friend of Issac Babel!
I think Isaac Babel was friendly with a lot of different people – certainly NKVD and Red Army officers but also horse trainers, gangsters and anyone else who interested him. So I’m fairly confident he might have had a few Militiamen amongst his acquaintances. And there are several memoirs that talk about senior Party Members attending church with scarves over their faces so they wouldn’t be recognised – so I think that’s possible also, if not likely – just look how the Orthodox church reappeared after so many years of oppression.
As for an (ahem) Irish writer writing about the Great Terror – well, that is a little odd. But it has to do with Babel, who I think was an amazing writer, and wanting to write something about a period of history that is perhaps
Glad you enjoyed it – and please feel free to ask me any other questions you might have.
Bill
Jinmin: Do you remember the title of that detective novel and the name of its author?
I think he was referring to me – very politely!
I’ve read your novel “The Holy Thief” and it was the best!! I’m an avid reader and live way out here on the furthest point/island on the West Coast of British Columbia, Canada, and I loved reading your book. I have now acquired a copy of your book, “The Darkening Field” and am so looking forward to reading it that I am slowly digressing over each and every word so that it lasts. I”ve always hoped to write a book some day and reading yours, has given me the hope and insight into what I want to write about. I was waffling about it all until I read your novel. Words from me are absolutely non-descriminate when comparing my previous attempts to your obvious achievements in your published books….please keep writing and I’ll keep avidly reading your wonderfully involved works…..E.H.C. P.S. Thank you
Hi Helen,
Thanks for the very generous praise! I’m just finishing off the third in the series so, with a bit of luck, that will be out next year. And best of luck with you writing – my only advice is to try and do something very day and remember it’s a marathon, not a sprint, so pace yourself. On which note, I’d better go and follow my own advice.
Many thanks again
Bill
I enjoyed your novel the Darkening Field. It is a compelling mystery that keeps one guessing. However, I feel that it has a flaw with regard to historical accuracy. You seem to think of Ukraine as just an adjunct to Russia. Although your characters’ Ukrainian names are bona fide (very commendable), you seem to ignore the fact that in Ukraine the majority of people speak Ukrainian (although related to Russian, is a distinct language) which ran counter to Soviet Russian aims. Consequently, I could not see Mushkina, a staunch communist, supporting the Petlyurists, avid Ukrainian nationalists. Also, the characters seem to be happily speaking Russian and there is no tension between the two languages. Of course, I have a particular bias being a descendant of the Ukrainian diaspora in Canada. All of this aside, I found the story compelling and a good read.
Hi Gerald,
I’m very pleased you liked the book and thanks for raising the interesting question of language and the Ukraine’s relationship to Russia.
I most certainly don’t just consider the Ukraine an adjunct of Russia, far from it – but the area around Odessa and the Black Sea only recently become part of the Ukraine – up until the end of the 18th Century it was ruled by the Crimean Khanate until it was taken over by Imperial Russia and the population which was introduced into the region by its new rulers wasn’t necessarily Ukrainian. I think I’m right in saying that it only officially became part of the Ukraine in the 1920s, under the Bolsheviks. And while the rural population in the area around Odessa would probably have spoken Ukrainian in the 1930s – the city itself would probably have used Russian or maybe even Yiddish – in the 1897 census less than 10% of its population of Odessa identified itself as speaking Ukrainian whereas nearly half identified themselves as Russian speakers and 37% identified themselves as Jewish. The Ukrainain population increased in the years to the 1930s and substantially after World War 2 but even today I think Odessa is a largely Russian speaking town.
As for the tension between Russian and Ukrainain, it’s one of the interesting things about the early years of Communism that the Ukrainian language was positively encouraged. It was only in 1932 that the repression began and there’s a clear link between its repression and the drive to collectivisation (and the resulting famines), So I think it’s possible that Mushkina could have been a proud Ukrainian and a Communist – at least until the early 1930s. You’re right however to point out that language would have been a hot issue at the time – but with fiction you have to make compromises, I’m afraid. And I decided to focus more on the famine and the Civil War. I hope it didn’t take away from your enjoyment and I hope some of the above explanation will reassure you one some of the points you raise.
I have enjoyed your books very much and look forward to many more. As a minor point for future novels, the Nagant is a revolver, not a semi-automatic pistol as portrayed in The Darkening Field.
Hi Kent,
Thanks for that – we’ve discussed this by email and you’re quite right. I’m going to try and get it fixed for any future editions. It’s annoying because I know probably more than I should about Soviet handguns of the period – but when mistakes, sadly, happen.
Best wishes and thanks again
Bill
p.s. And many thanks for the Amazon review – much appreciated!
I’ve hardly read a quarter of The Holy Thief but I noticed that you used Russian sayings translated word for word, original names and some facts which only people who live in Russia and CIS may know and it’s almost impossible to find them out only from history materials. So, I came to a conclusion that you, probably, lived in Russia or speak Russian language. After that I read several of the interviews with you and understood that my remarks were not relevant anymore. Nevertheless I would be glad if you tell why you’re interested in Russia so much because the narration is really close to reality.
The book is gripping!
Thanx in advance,
Anastasia
Hi Anastasia
Thanks for getting in touch and I’m very pleased you’re enjoying The Holy Thief. I’m also delighted you spotted that I use Russian sayings – I actually collect them when I’m reading Russian books or if I hear one watching a Russian film. They’re very special – dark and often humourous – and I slip them in whenever I can.
I’m afraid, although I’m learning Russian, I can’t really speak it – which is a shame. But I do read and watch as much as I can in translation, especially if it’s from the thirties, and pick out interesting things to use for the novels. I also look a lot at photographs – http://www.oldmos.ru is a great resource – and I’ve put some of them up here in Korolev’s world. If you know Moscow – you might enjoy the section on Gorky Park.
As for my interest in Russia? I’m not sure where it comes from – but I think it’s not unusual for people who like reading to become interested in Russian writers and then Russian culture and history. And the Soviet era is a very curious period – the more I look into it the more fascinating I find it, particularly when one looks past the propaganda (from both sides) and get some idea of the reality. Obviously it’s very difficult for a foreigner to get things exactly right, and there are many mistakes (some of them deliberate) which you’re too kind to point out. At the end of the day it was written for foreigners so I allowed myself to invent a few things (like the interior of the Hippodrome) but I also did my best to try and give a real sense of what life was like in that extraordinary time and place. So, in short, I’m very grateful you, a Russian, took the time to write and tell me I did a good job!
Incidentally The Holy Thief has also been published as пропавшая икона in Russia. I understand the translator did a great job and we also took the opportunity to fix a couple of the deliberate mistakes. Are you reading it in English?
Thanks again
Bill
Thank you for the answer!
It’s very curious for me how foreigners meet and understand Russian sayings translated word for word as there are different idioms and understanding of some things in English because of the different mentality.
Telling the truth it’s quite hard to say for sure, even for us – Russians, how it really was in the Soviet time because a lot of information was concealed. By the way, have you mentioned in your books the Metro-2 (secret underground facility)? It’s a very thrilling theme!
I must confess I didn’t know that you book was translated into Russian, so I’m reading it in English. I decided to read it when I saw how a person sitting next to me in the train was reading The Holy Thief in English, I covertly read a couple of paragraphs and wrote down your name and the title of the book =)
I think the most difficult thing about translating Russian proverbs is that so many of them have a rhythm in russian that’s difficult to replicate in English. I tend to take the proverb and work out what I think it means then work on the translation so that it feels right. Most of the direct translation seems very wooden, whereas when you hear them spoken, they’re much more like rhyming couplets.
I have heard about Metro 2 – and hope one day we’ll find out what exactly is down there. I’ve heard Stalin had a direct road from the Kremlin to his dacha, but I don’t know if that’s true or not. Certainly it seems there were some very large underground spaces built, for whetever reason.
Many thanks for getting in touch about the book and if you come across any mitakes, please let me know – I try to keep things pretty accurate but I’m sure there are some I dont’ know about.
Best wishes
Bill
Just finishing The Holy Thief now, ahead of your visit to Guernsey this weekend. I’m looking forward to the workshop you’ll be doing at our Literary Festival. Will there be time for some questions and such?
I hope you like our little island!
Hi Ben,
Looking forward to meeting you in Guernsey – there will be a question and answer session and come and introduce yourself at the end if we don’t get round to you.
All the best
Bill
Having just finished reading The Whisperers by Orlando Figes, I picked up your book The Holy Thief and was fascinated that it involved that very time period. Your books will help open many people’s eyes to the Terror and the economic nightmare of Stalin’s Russia. I love the way that you have made Korolev conflicted in his love for Russia and his loyalty to the State, and I look forward to reading each and every one of your books!
Thanks Terry – much appreciated!
If you’ve read The Whisperers you’ll know nothing was black and white about the Soviet Union and people’s relationship to it, so I thought it was important that Koroloev reflected that.
Thanks for posting
All the best
Bill
in Bloody iver yo speak about “ment” , this word id not transletted in french
Could you give my some explanation.
Sure – it’s a Russian slang expression for a policeman. A bit like “flic” I suspect …
I have just finished reading “Bloody Meadow” (“Holy Thief” some months ago).
Both a bloody good read. I had no problems with the facts as portayed by you, and am happy to accept them at face value, after all you did qualify yourself by saying that they were fiction but based on factual information you gleaned during your reaserch, I assume this research is never ending and the comments made in this forum will be a continuation of this research. I am fortunate that I like to read fiction for fictions sake, and if it is based on fact then it has an added element of historical interest.
History, views, rumour, fact ?
Really looking forward to reading your next novel. I think you have a lot to live up to!
Thanks Brian, I do my best to be accurate – but, as you mentioned, I’m out to tell a good story. The new novel, The Twelfth Department, is out in a few weeks time and I’m hoping you’ll think it keeps the standard up. I think it’s the best of the three – a bit different perhaps but it’s a page turner.
All the best
Just a note to say, thank you! I love your books! As most avid readers i would consider myself to have a good instinct for a great book! I can’t wait for the next one! Keep up the superb writing. Best regards, Dervil
Hi Dervil,
That’s great to hear and thanks for getting in touch! The next one should be out next year and isn’t, strangely, a Korolev novel. I might post a couple of chapters in a month or so when it feels a bit more solid. It’s set in Nazi Germany and will be a little different, I hope.
All the best
Bill
Hi
I just wanted to say that I have read The Holy Thief, Darkening Field, and just finished The Twelfth Department and loved everyone of them! I am fascinated by the Soviet Union and even though your books are fiction, I feel like I learn a little bit more with each one. My goal is to one day visit Russia and the many places I have read about in these books. Alexei Korolov reminds me a lot of Martin Cruz Smith’s Arkady Renko. Both of these characters are two of my favorites. I hope there is more of Captain Korolov to come!
Nancy Walter
Hi Nancy
Thanks for getting in touch – and for comparing Korolev to Renko. High praise indeed as Martin Cruz Smith is a writer I admire very much. Funnily enough, I’ve just finished reading an advance copy of Simon Sebag Montefiore’s A Night in Winter, which I think might fill the gap till the next Korolev novel, which won’t be until 2015, I’m afraid. But A Night in Winter is very good – and set in 1945 Moscow – s hopefully that will keep you going in the meantime.
All the best
Bill
That’s me just finished the third installment of Captain Korolevs investigations. What a fantastic character. I don’t know whether to feel sorry for the guy or just admire his courage. The ability to do the right thing with all the pressure of the state hanging over his head makes me think how easy the other great fictional detectives have it.
Enjoy the rest of your holiday with Yuri Korolev, but come back soon…. your country needs you!
Thanks Carl, delighted to hear you’ve enjoyed the books and that Korolev has grown on you. I’m afraid there’ll be a little wait for the next Korolev novel as I’m doing a standalone in between, but I do have the outline for Korolev 4 and, with a bit of luck, it should be a cracker.
All the best
Bill
Well i was lucky enough to find an end of run copy of the holy thief in a dollar store.
when i finish a book i enjoy, i immediately start to read it again.
the 1st time reading is to relax and enjoy the story, the 2nd to understand the author with his thoughts and ways of proceeding
Hi Alvin,
I hope that means you enjoyed it – and well done finding it for sale so cheaply!
Thanks for getting in touch
WR
I’m on pg 28 of ‘The Holy Thief’ and am hooked. Firstly, the picture of Soviet Russia – the fear; the bare-bones existence. The writing is great and very descriptive.
Hi Mary,
Delighted to hear you’re enjoying it so far but I suppose it’s still early days – fingers crossed it holds good to the end. Let me know how you get on.
Thanks for getting in touch
All the best
Bill
Hi, I just wanted to add to other readers fascination with your ability to grasp spirit and a language of Korolev’s Russia. The extend of your “embedding” into it is really amazing. At first I’ve read Holly Thief in my language (Serbian) translation and it sounded like it was translated from Russian (my other mother tongue), to the point that I thought that you are actually Russian author. Than I’ve read it in English and still it sounded here and there as it is translation from a Russian original, not to mention detailed knowledge of the Soviet’s Russia from 30’s. So, all compliments not just for great novels, but for extraordinary deep understanding of environment, so rare to find in today’s literature in generally.
Hi Maya
Thanks! That’s great news about the Serbian edition. I believe the translator – by all accounts – did a fabulous job, so perhaps a lot of the praise should go to them (please do send an email to the publishers Alnari, if you get a chance – I think translators are often undervalued). As for The Holy Thief – I’m even more delighted to hear you enjoyed it and that I got it more or less “right” and very grateful that you took the time to write and tell me.
Withe best wishes
Bill Ryan
Now it seams that we should wait for a new Korolev’s novel 🙂
And I hope it will come soon…
PS I’m sure that Babel would be proud on his best successor, although it is kind of odd that the guy appear to be not Russian, but actually Irish
Now that is a very great compliment. I think he’d be more amused than anything – but hopefully in a good way.
Hi Bill,
Really enjoyed your Korolev novels. However “Bloody Meadow” doesn’t seem to be available for Kindle. Any plans to issue it in that format?
Oops, belay that. I found “The Bloody Meadow” kindle edition. Don’t know why it didn’t come up in my search earlier.
Good stuff! Hope you enjoy it …
All the best
Bill
Great fan of Cruz Smith, etc.,. Would like to see your Korolev put to a British Mini Series such as like done in Foyles War. Would be particularly apropos given present day circumstances in Ukraine. Am buying everything you have written.
Thanks Thomas – there was talk of three part miniseries last year, but it seems to have gone away. A shame.
Have you tried Philip Kerr – if you like thirties noir, you’ll probably like him as well
All the best
Bill
Also forgot about my like of Fremantle’s Charlie Muffin series as another unique crime solving individual bent on working the problem solving regardless of the perilous obstacles to himself.
Think I will research the Foyles people and make the suggestion to them. I am so awed with your representation of Stalin’s effects on the minds of his subjugates.
Dear Bill
Well you are right I enjoyed Twelfth Department as much ,if not more than the other two….the problem is you get to love a character like Korelev and you have to have more….which obviously puts pressure on you to continue. However I see from a previous post that #4 is in your mind, so I can’t tell you how pleased I am to read another adventure. Whilst I appreciate its fiction….a friend of mine currently in the crimea, has been invaded and told his resident permit will be revoked unless he reports to the offices to get a new photo permit done….they are being told they are traitors to Ukraine…and no internet, no petrol, and little food to be had!!!!
This all sounds very familiar, don’t you think? anyway Bill terrific book…
best regards jim
Hi Jim,
Glad you enjoyed The Twelfth Department – it’s my favourite of the books, I think. Although I have high hopes for the fourth.
Thank for getting in touch – and hope things improve for your friend
All the best
Bill
Indriason Arnaldur was the name
Yes, I heard him speak last year at Icelandic Noir. A very impressive man!
I loved The Holy Thief, it kept me guessing throughout the book as who killed the girl. I l love book that are set in the 1930’s era, the Russian society during that time period is really interesting to me. I enjoyed the book so much, I can’t put it down. I recently got The Darking Field and I plan on reading it soon. I’m sure it will be just as enjoyable as the first. Thank you for awesome work.
Hi Kristen
That’s great to hear – and if you like novels set in the 1930s, you might like Georges Simenon who write the brilliant Maigret novels set, mostly, in 1930s Paris.
All the best
Bill
William, thanks for an interesting evening last night with yourself and your fellow authors. I have bumped the first book a bit closer to the top of the unread pile and will hopefully get to it soon-ish!
Will give you a shout when I’m done – hopefully I won’t be screaming for my money back!
Cheers,
Col
Fingers crossed, Col!
Very nice to meet you – it was an enjoyable evening I thought. Rory and Aly are great writers, if you haven’t read them already – so we were in select company …
All the best
Bill
Cheers Bill – I just put a post up on the blog about it.
Thanks Col – I saw it. No nun is safe it would seem!
Glad you enjoyed the evening and sorry we had to make a break for the station …
All the best
Bill
Well, comparing to what Edward Lucas wrote about modern Russia ( what I think is the mainstream in the West for Russia of any period), your writings are sort of relaxed, anyway. Interesting whom among the reader’s you are targeting?
Hi Ante,
I write mostly for myself, odd as that may sound, as otherwise I think you end up trying to write something for a “market” which may not exist. But, in terms of being accurate, I try and aim the books at someone who lived in 1930s Moscow – which hopefully makes them interesting and authentic.
Thanks for getting in touch
Bill
Dear William Ryan,
I am an historian of modern Russia and loved The Holy Thief. Was most impressed with the detailed attention to the 1930s Moscow landscape and your nuanced portrayal of the protagonists. Unlike a lot of Western fiction set in the Soviet Union, your heroes are not just Communist robots or heroic dissidents, but also true believers in the cause, sceptics, and regular folk. Vanya was probably the most sympathetic CheKist I’ve encountered in fiction to-date. I also appreciated that you showed scenes from ordinary Soviet life, such as the football game. That was another nice balance to the commonly held cliché that everyone was just hiding in their flats, gripped by fear. I will definitely recommend the book to my students in Russian history courses and look forward to Korolev’s further adventures.
p.s. Not sure if it’s in your power at all, but it would be lovely if the future the audiobooks of your novels could have an actor that actually gets the Russian names right. Some of the pronunciation was horrendous 🙂
Hi Dina
I’m afraid I don’t listen to the audio books or have anything to do with them – possibly because I listened to a bit of the one you may have and didn’t like the Russians with cockney accents and so on. I think I have an internal voice that I hear the novels spoken in and hearing anything different is quite difficult. Anyway, I’m delighted you liked the books and very much appreciated your comments on the characters. I think it’s a feature of the propaganda, both ways, that people who were really very ordinary are made to seem amazingly good or amazingly evil. Korolev has a bit of a split personality, which I don’t think was uncommon, both sceptical and supportive of the regime. And to an extent he has to keep them separate – a private persona and a public one.
All the best
Bill.
Iceland as testing grounds for new mind control techique that seeks to emmulate internal dialogue of subjects, and thereby their internal thinking, by recording sound of voice and calculating how that voice sounds to the one speaking it, i.e. internal voice dialog.
Hi Thor,
I see the crime writing workshop gave you some interesting ideas!
All the best
Bill
Hi William,
I just thought I’d drop you a message to say how much I enjoyed your talk and the workshop at the Crime Noir festival up at Newcastle this weekend.
‘Unfortunately’ I now realise that the opening chapter I created for my new work would have more impact further on! Back to the drawing board I guess.
I also have to say, I’ve just ordered your Captain Korolev books and can’t wait for them to arrive.
Pauline
Thank Pauline
I’m glad you enjoyed the workshop. It felt a bit scrappy to me but it seem it went down well, so that’s good. Let me know how you get on with the bokos
All the best
Bill
Strangely I happened to pick up “The Holy Thief” at random from a shelf in the library – I suppose the title piqued my curiosity. It is one of the very best books I have ever read! It was everything – a marvellous historical novel, with depth, magnificent prose, excellent characterization, and on top of that a mystery story that was impossible to put down! What a very rare combination! Thank you so much for your hard work, and writing is such hard work, and very lonely at times I imagine. I very much look forward to reading the following two books.
Thanks Elizabeth! Very kind words – I hope you enjoy the next two as well …
All the best
Bill
Hi Bill,
I had been expecting the 4th installment of the Korolev world, however, the next book is based in Germany. Are you still working on the fourth installment? If so, when do you expect it’s release?
thanks
Mahmoud
Hi Mahmoud
It’s definitely coming but probably not until next year. Very sorry to keep you waiting!
All best
Bill
“The Constant Soldier”
Bought Kindle version at 0445 this morning whilst sitting in the airport. Finished it at 1050 on the train approaching home.
Wonderful stuff. I was enthralled.
Hi Jim, that’s great to hear Nothing makes a writer happier than hearing that someone’s read your book the whole way through. So I’m delighted by that.
Billy The Constant Soldier was a brilliant read I couldn’t leave it out of my hand and when I had to I had to rush back to it War is sad and pointless but interesting to read about Thanks again for a great read I need another book like it soon Maria
Thanks Maria – delighted you liked it. I’ll get on that extra book as soon as I can!
All best
Bill
Dear William,
I have read your book in almost one sitting- and felt the thrill of not wanting to set the book down even to eat. I felt acute disappointment, typical of a great book, upon reaching its end, and the reluctance to set aside the people that filled its pages (except perhaps P., to whom I was happy to say goodbye in that suspenseful moment!) You achieved page-turning suspense, and you successfully wove a historical backdrop so well-researched that even small details (including all of the dark ironies of war) were convincing. I could imagine the hut, the reservoir, the prisoners, the guards, the purposeful and “accidental” evil present in war, and the final, real “ultimate victory.” I am ordering your other books now.
Thanks Nika, that’s great to hear. Delighted you enjoyed it and really hope you enjoy the others as well.
All best
Bill
Hi Bill,
I finished ‘The Constant Soldier’ last night having savoured it over several days rather than rushing it headlong which is what I was sorely tempted to do! What a magnificent book; your evocation of time, sense of foreboding, tragedy and, for Paul Brandt, redemption were absolutely compelling and the mark of a writer at the peak of his craft.
I’m looking forward to Korolev’s next outing as well; the ‘ment’ still has a lot to give to the Motherland! It would be nice to see you in Oxfordshire for a talk sometime as well.
All the best
Hi Andrew
Very pleased you liked the book and that it was worth savouring – that give me a lot of pleasure.
As for Oxfordshire, where are you based? I recently did a library event in Adderbury but could easily be persuaded to make another trip down that way.
All the best
Bill
Hi Bill,
I live close to Wallingford, which just happens to have a library…. However, I’d be happy to travel!
Best wishes,
Andrew
Hi Andrew
Wallingford isn’t that far away for me.
I’ll drop you an email …
All best
Bill
Just finished the Korolev trilogy, what a great read and great characters and political back drop. Hope there is more in the pipeline.
Similar in feel and style to the Bernie Gunther series with similar but different challenges, how about Bernie and Alexei meeting in a storyline?
Hi Terry,
There is another Korolev novel on the way and, in the meantime, if you haven’t read it yet – there’s The Constant Soldier which was just published back in August.
Delighted you’ve enjoyed the books so far – and thanks for getting in touch.
All best
Its ages since I read any series of books with such high expectations of the next. I really hope you write a lot about Korolev. I know its easy for a non-writer to say but please keep going as long as you can. Its so nice to learn a bit about another country in another time under a regime alien to me personally.
Hi Barbara
Thanks very much for getting in touch and delighted to her you’re enjoying the books so far
All best
Bill