<DIV><p>&ldquo;Readers hungry for a fresh crime setting will be enormously satisfied with Michael Genelin&rsquo;s Jana Matinova novels based in Bratislava, Slovakia, a place relatively unknown to Westerners. . . . Matinova goes head-to-head with a beloved childhood friend whose budding political career is in crash mode because of an affair. . . . The portrayal of life in post-Communist Slovakia is riveting.&rdquo;&mdash;<I>USA Today</I></p> <p>&ldquo;[A] gripping novel . . . with a truly original central character. . . . Plan on getting the first Matinova novel, <I>Siren of the Waters</I>, too. You're not going to want to miss an episode.&rdquo; &mdash;<I>The Globe and Mail</I> (Toronto)</p> <p>&ldquo;Outstanding.&rdquo;&mdash;<I>Booklist</I></p> <p>Jana and Sofia were best friends when they were schoolmates. Now Jana is a commander in the Slovak police force and Sofia, having made a name as a reformer, is a member of parliament. Jana has fallen in love with an upright government prosecutor and Sofia is carrying on a notorious affair with a suave, married fellow MP.</p> <p>One day Jana finds an enormous diamond gem dangling from a string fixed to the ceiling of the living room of her house. Was it put there as a present? Or, more likely, to entrap her? The answer leads Jana across Europe to unravel a criminal conspiracy involving multiple murders that has entangled her hapless, impulsive friend, Sofia, and which ultimately leads to the criminal mastermind.</p></DIV>