Siren of the Waters

Siren of the Waters        by Michael Genelin

  In the first book in Michael Genelin’s new series begins as Jana Matinova examines the site of a car crash that killed seven people.  Most of them are prostitutes from Eastern Europe

Jana Matinova entered the Czechoslovak police force as a young woman, married an actor who eventually became an enemy of the state. The regime destroyed her husband, their love for one another, and her daughter's respect for her. At a great sacrifice to herself and others she managed to get her daughter to The United States but her daughter has never forgiven her for separating her from her father.

Despite her personal problems she has never stopped being a seeker of justice. Now, as a commander in the Slovak police force, she has a very good reputation and is sent to liaise with colleagues across Europe as they track the mastermind of an international criminal operation involved in, among other crimes, human trafficking.

Her investigation takes her from Ukraine to Strasbourg, from Vienna to Nice, in a hunt for a ruthless killer and the beautiful young Russian woman he is determined either to capture or destroy.

The plot is complex but easy to follow. The personalities are very well drawn, as are the localities. Michael Ganelin shows that he knows Europe well.  While Slovakia calls itself capitalist, the country hasn’t fully shed its communist tendencies as is seen in the careful way Matinova treads while doing her work.

There are two main forces in the criminal world and one sees that protecting Matinove may be helpful so she has unknown protectors. This is good because she also has unknown enemies.

This story was compelling up to the final page. Fortunately  Genelin has two other books in this series.