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BUDAPEST NOIR Paperback – January 11, 2012

by Vilmos Kondor (Author)

200 ratings

Book 1 of 1: Bűnös Budapest Series

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“Kondor’s impressive first novel, which unfolds against an atmosphere tinged by alienation, fear, and the threat of violence, stands out for its deft writing, plausible scenarios, vivid sense of place, and noir sensibility.”— Library Journal

A dark, riveting, and lightning fast novel of murder, intrigue, and political corruption, set in 1936 Hungary during the rise of Adolph Hitler and the Nazis in Germany.

Budapest Noir marks the emergence of an extraordinary new voice in literary crime fiction, Vilmos Kondor. Kondor’s remarkable debut brings this European city to breathtaking life—from the wealthy residential neighborhoods of Buda to the slums of Pest—as it follows crime reporter Zsigmond Gordon’s investigation into the strange death of a beautiful woman. As Gordon’s search for the truth leads him to shocking revelations about a seedy underground crime syndicate and its corrupt political patrons, Budapest Noir will transport you to a dark time and place, and hold you there spellbound until the final page is turned.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Budapest Noir offers a haunting social and political critique, empowering us not to forget the emergence of one of history's darkest moments: the rise of Adolf Hitler's Nazi Germany." (The Canberra Times)

"Gordon is part Clark Kent, part Sherlock Holmes, combining an instinct for news with powers of deduction and a knack for righting wrongs in unconventional ways. [...] Here's hoping that the volumes published to date become available in the United States sooner rather than later." - (Joe Hartlaub, Bookreporter)

"Gordon comes much more to resemble the noir kingpin Marlowe, who, like this Hungarian journalist, often ended up investigating something from which he stood to profit little − just because it was the right thing to do." (Matt Rees, author of The Palestinian Quartet)

"In the best noir tradition, a single crime opens a Pandora's box of deadly secrets. Kondor's labyrinthine plot kept me turning the pages until the final twist."
(Steven Saylor, author of the Roma Sub Rosa mysteries)

"Zsigmond Gordon is an engaging hero, possessed of a bitter-sweet cynicism and a powerful desire for justice, but is also uniquely Hungarian. Budapest Noir is an evocative and impressive debut." (Adam LeBor, author of The Budapest Protocol)

From the Back Cover

The passing of the Hungarian prime minister before he could realize his dream of a fascist state has little effect on crime reporter Zsigmond Gordon. Life—and death—go on in the bustling old city, and a late-night tip soon leads him to a crime scene where a young woman lies dead, a Jewish prayer book in her purse. Disturbed by the bizarre circumstances—the corpse of a beautiful, well-groomed, religious victim abandoned in one of Budapest's seedier neighborhoods—Gordon is determined to unravel the mystery of her demise, especially after her shocking identity is revealed. The investigation will lead him deep into the city's dark underbelly—a shadow world of pornographers, crime syndicates, and Communist cells—and to the highest echelons of power, where one of Hungary's most influential executives plans to make an economic killing through his strong political ties to Germany's leaders...if he can somehow keep secret the fact that he was, at one time, Jewish.

A gripping and evocative thriller, brimming with suspense and breathtaking political intrigue, Vilmos Kondor's Budapest Noir is a richly atmospheric tale of murder and betrayal from a remarkable new voice in noir detective fiction.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Perennial; Original edition (January 11, 2012)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 304 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0061859397
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0061859397
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 7.7 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.31 x 0.76 x 8 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #278,008 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #5,206 in Police Procedurals (Books)
- #12,969 in Literary Fiction (Books)
- #14,096 in Suspense Thrillers

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200 ratings

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Vilmos Kondor

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Vilmos Kondor was born in 1954 in Hungary, he attended university in Szeged and completed his studies in Paris. He graduated in chemical engineering from Sorbonne, then returned to Hungary. Currently he teaches mathematics and physics at a high school. His first novel, Budapest Noir, originally was published in Hungary in 2008. His protagonist, the journalist Zsigmond Gordon appears in five novels altogether.

He lives with his wife, two daughters and dog in a small village near Sopron. He rarely gives interviews and loves baking.

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Customers find the book's plot intriguing, with one review noting its many twists and turns. Moreover, the characters are believable, and customers appreciate the historical detail, with one review highlighting the vivid depiction of prewar Europe. The atmosphere receives positive feedback, with customers describing it as atmospheric and a breath of fresh air. However, the pacing receives mixed reactions, with several customers noting that the book starts out really slow.

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Plot Enjoyment Believable characters Historical detail Atmosphere Pace

22 customers mention "Plot"18 positive4 negative

Customers enjoy the plot of the book, describing it as a quick murder mystery with many twists and turns.

"...Atmospheric, cinematic, exciting, suspenseful...." Read more

"...Sharp, quirky characters, interesting puzzle, vivid world of prewar Europe living and spinning while the disaster was slowly and inevitably creeping..." Read more

"...The plot is quite good and the story unfolds at a reasonable pace...." Read more

"...An intriguing plot with many twists and turns. Fans of Alan Furst will enjoy this great story." Read more

12 customers mention "Enjoyment"12 positive0 negative

Customers find the book enjoyable and exciting.

"...Atmospheric, cinematic, exciting, suspenseful...." Read more

"...Perhaps not the most original of concepts, but, even so, a book that command attention and deftly transports the reader to the times bygone...." Read more

"l selected this book because l live in Hungary and enjoy reading crime fiction. The plot is quite good and the story unfolds at a reasonable pace...." Read more

"...in the period, the region, the city or the genre, this is a pretty good read and I read 1-2 mysteries a week...." Read more

11 customers mention "Believable characters"8 positive3 negative

Customers find the characters in the book believable.

"...Next best thing next to, alas, non-existent time machine. Sharp, quirky characters, interesting puzzle, vivid world of prewar Europe living and..." Read more

"Great character development with insightful historical context. An intriguing plot with many twists and turns...." Read more

"...and shallow, barely likeable characters dominate the story line...." Read more

"...The the detective story was interesting and the characters rang true. For me, this book had it all." Read more

9 customers mention "Historical detail"9 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the historical detail in the book, with one customer highlighting its vivid portrayal of prewar Europe and another noting its beautiful descriptions of the city.

"...Sharp, quirky characters, interesting puzzle, vivid world of prewar Europe living and spinning while the disaster was slowly and inevitably creeping..." Read more

"Great character development with insightful historical context. An intriguing plot with many twists and turns...." Read more

"...of the local environment as it was in 1935-1936, and the historical detail during the time of Horthy's influence in Hungary prior to WW2...." Read more

"...Great atmospheric detail, intelligent plot and crackling dialogue." Read more

4 customers mention "Atmosphere"4 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the atmosphere of the book, describing it as a breath of fresh air.

"...Newspaper reporter Zsigmond Gordon is in the midst of it all. Atmospheric, cinematic, exciting, suspenseful...." Read more

"...Enjoyable book, breath of fresh air." Read more

"...Two stars only because the atmosphere was good...." Read more

"...Dark, atmospheric, with a nice twist." Read more

6 customers mention "Pace"3 positive3 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the pacing of the book, with several noting that it starts out really slow.

"...The plot is quite good and the story unfolds at a reasonable pace...." Read more

"Very slow start. Picked up in second half. Many characters with names that are difficult to remember." Read more

"...Powerful story that unfolds slowly" Read more

"The book starts out really really slow and takes forever to unfold. The author is too descriptive with the environment and unnecessary names...." Read more

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Laurence Goldstein
Atmospheric, cinematic, exciting, suspenseful
Reviewed in the United States on August 6, 2017
Verified Purchase

Vilmos Kondor (translated from the Hungarian by Paul Olchvary), “Budapeat Noir.” Budapest, 1936 – the prime minister dies, a prostitute is murdered, an honest cop is accused of corruption, Nazis and Communists are active en scene. Newspaper reporter Zsigmond Gordon is in the midst of it all. Atmospheric, cinematic, exciting, suspenseful. As with “An Unsuitable Job for a Woman” quoting myself: Often enough a mystery novel succeeds for me because I want to spend time with the protagonist, think Holmes, Marlowe, Dupin, Sgt Cuff, Charles Paris, Professor Hilary Tamar. And so it is with Cordelia Gray. And so it is with Gordon, his girl friend Krisztina, and his grandfather, they leap off the page: they behave like real people.

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Serge Pesic
Breath of fresh air.
Reviewed in the United States on April 8, 2020
Verified Purchase
Budapest, 1936, strengthening of the militarist ring wing, the omen of what's to come. Admiral Horthy, enthusiastic supporter of Nazis. Central-European noir, crime reporter, young women brutally murdered. Perhaps not the most original of concepts, but, even so, a book that command attention and deftly transports the reader to the times bygone. Next best thing next to, alas, non-existent time machine. Sharp, quirky characters, interesting puzzle, vivid world of prewar Europe living and spinning while the disaster was slowly and inevitably creeping closer and closer. Enjoyable book, breath of fresh air.

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C. Hungary
Interesting period crime story
Reviewed in the United States on October 31, 2014
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l selected this book because l live in Hungary and enjoy reading crime fiction. The plot is quite good and the story unfolds at a reasonable pace. However from my viewpoint there are not enough twists and red herrings to justify more than three stars. l think that more use could have been made of the interesting time period in which the book is set and this for me was the most disappointing aspect.

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DI in SB
Excellent First Novel
Reviewed in the United States on November 4, 2020
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Great character development with insightful historical context. An intriguing plot with many twists and turns. Fans of Alan Furst will enjoy this great story.

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Rachel Ethier
IN the shadow of the rise of Hitler
Reviewed in the United States on October 17, 2020
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There are any familiar these in Budapest Noir, the centuries old discrimination vs. Jews that led to families “ converting” to Christianity to protect their assets, the rebellion of a young wealthy daughter against the wishes of her parents in choosing a spouse. A tragic result of the decisions of the powerful father leads to his own destruction. Powerful story that unfolds slowly

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Richard E. Carnesale
Budapest 1936 - It All Rang True
Reviewed in the United States on August 2, 2014
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Perhaps my interest was piqued by the fact that I am going to Budapest in the Fall but I loved the detail in this book. What street went where, the descriptions of the local environment as it was in 1935-1936, and the historical detail during the time of Horthy's influence in Hungary prior to WW2. The the detective story was interesting and the characters rang true. For me, this book had it all.

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ObsessiveReader
Good start, incredibly weak ending
Reviewed in the United States on April 2, 2013
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I adore the city of Budapest, mystery novels and all things noir, so I was fully prepared to love this book. However, it was not possible. The author has excellent taste in mysteries, however it takes more than a fondness for Philip Kerr's Bernie Gunther series and the Alan Furst novels to create a plot that works both on its own merits, and within the historical context of the time. Not only do key characters act in ways that barely make sense, and do not fit whatsoever into how people of that class and time would have behaved, the author settles for a resolution that's frankly a cheap shot. Two stars only because the atmosphere was good. If you want to read mysteries written by someone who truly appreciates and makes use of what a society was up against with the Nazis, the above mentioned books as well as the Robert Janes novels are my recommendation.

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5 people found this helpful

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M. J Shulman
Very good for the genre
Reviewed in the United States on March 15, 2014
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This is classic noir - the 'outside" reporter investigating a crime he need not investigate, the "different" girlfriend, the machinations of men in power, set against two backdrops -- Budapest, which I just visited and the beginnings of the Nazi push into central Europe before the outbreak of World War Two. A thread is what it meant to be Jewish at the time. If you have any interest in the period, the region, the city or the genre, this is a pretty good read and I read 1-2 mysteries a week. If you want to read more about Budapest and this period in a more serious form, try The Invisible Bridge, my wife read it while we were in Budapest (fabulous place to visit byt the way) and loves it, I just started it myself.

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Robert Noble Graham
A fine Budapest thriller
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 13, 2021
Verified Purchase

Having visited the city and liked it greatly I was intrigued to read this thriller set in pre-war Budapest. Very interesting characters and a complex plot which is, nonetheless not too difficult to follow. The city is definitely as good a backdrop as London, Paris or Vienna and the author, being Hungarian, clearly knows it well. I`ll read more in this series.

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Revon
Hungary's first major noir novel: realism, and lack thereof
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 30, 2012
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Set in 1936 in a realistic Budapest, with the death of Prime Minister Gombos, Budapest Noir has been hailed as Hungary's first major noir novel. Having no knowledge of the Hungarian literature scene, I cannot comment. As well as having this accolade, it is Vilmos Kondor's first novel, published in the Hungarian original in 2008. These two facts may go some way to illuminating the many pitfalls to which this novel falls prey. Furthermore, as I cannot read Hungarian, it is clear that much of the style is down to the translator (Paul Olchvary), and it will remain a mystery to me what exactly was present in the Hungarian original, and what idiosyncrasies were introduced by the translation. Thus my review must be read in the context of these boundaries, and some criticisms may appear unfair for those blessed with the language skills to read both versions.

Budapest Noir is steeped in the realist tradition, and benefits from it. Streets, places, hotels, times, even meals are described in sharp, accurate detail. The novel is true to its setting and Kondor has obviously done his research on the period. There is much to admire in its realist style and historical setting. At some points this is taken to extremes, for example where I read with delightful excitement that Gordon had a meal with `not one, but two eggs.' Gasp! How could he? That downright greedy swine! There are, however, a number of breaks in the realism, some of which detract from it so far that they distract you from the content and make you realise that you're reading a book, and at times a poorly written book. This is the case with a lot of the dialogue, which seems to be emulating the hard-boiled style as pioneered and perfected by Chandler, but falling short of the mark. Many of the conversations are simply used for the exposition of storyline without reference to how people actually speak in the real world. This is exacerbated both by the noir-emulation, which at times feels like Marlowe as written by a schoolboy, and by the fact that many of the characters seem a bit too willing to tell Gordon everything they know. Even when it is potentially, or even blatantly, against their own interests, they all spill the beans, much of the time after one or two sentences of lacklustre persuasion. Further detracting from the realism is the consistent description of every character as exceptionally good at whatever their allotted task is in the narrative. Gordon is described as `the best' at his job, and the reader is left wondering if there is any point reading the rest of the book, as if this cast of protagonists is so good at everything, they are clearly going to overcome every piddling little drop of adversity that the dark side of seedy 1930s Budapest can throw at them. Which, depressingly - as a reader who did read the rest - they do. One final note on this point is that a weird obsession with boxing - on the part of both author and hero - adds nothing, and if anything serves only to detract from the story and the realism, and just to bore the reader for a few paragraphs.

The content of the novel is on the whole good. The story is interesting, and keeps you guessing. Information is drip-fed throughout to make sure the reader keeps the taste for it, and one thing I particularly liked is that Gordon from time to time wrote down all the information he had gleaned so far. This kind of simple collation is something that more detective books need to have: otherwise, I have to do it myself to keep track of where I am, as I just can't keep up with the superhuman minds of Holmes and Poirot. The story has a lot of Chandler influence, which is presumably less noticeable for the Hungarian audience, but is a few steps behind Chandler in cleverness. The only real criticism I have of the story is the disappointing ending. Without any spoilers, it is fair to say that a lot of literature noir - the majority - has a do-gooding hero and a happy ending, but the best uses a ruthlessly hard-boiled style to good effect in disguising such conventional traits. The ending of Budapest Noir is such a happy one, and entails such divine justice both for Kondor's beloved hero and the villains of the piece, that you begin to wonder whether it wasn't a fluffy Victorian melodrama that you just read after all. It was disappointing, to say the least, see this twee ending at the end of such a promising build-up.

My final paragraph will deal with the hero of the tale - senior journalist Zsigmond Gordon. I was excited to read the book after other reviewers had described their affection for him, but the cool anti-hero I expected to find turned out to be, for want of a better word, annoying. Budapest Noir suffers from a common plague of a lot of modern writing, that the author is in love with his own hero. So in love that he almost constantly praises Gordon, and tells the reader how great he is, without Gordon ever really doing anything that spectacular. If anything, Gordon seemed rather an unlikeable character to me. He's arrogant, self-righteous and holier-than-thou, not to mention all the time he spends boring people going on about boxing. I have trouble understanding why Krisztina and Mor even like Gordon, as to be honest he's just a bit of a dick to them. In another example of author's love, Kondor has made Krisztina a beautiful, talented, independent woman, who is for some reason in love with and dependent on Gordon, no matter how many times he stands her up, leaves her in the middle of nowhere or is just generally badly behaved towards her. It seems no matter what Gordon could possibly do, Krisztina will never look at anyone else. I guess there must be something amazing about Gordon that I'm missing. The final straw for me and Gord came at the end, where he tells a junior reporter to stay in his box, and that it's not his job to worry about the `why' of his stories - despite having just spent a whole book investigating the why like a private dick.

In conclusion, for realist 1930s Hungarian fiction, Budapest Noir performs, but for true noir, or just a satisfying read, look elsewhere. The realism - within the boundaries outlined above - is the reason I'm giving Budapest Noir two stars rather than one.

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Katya Suner
finished the book
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 9, 2015
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If I finish a book, it is a great recommendation in itself:). Writing the review a couple of weeks after reading the book, the fact that I don't remember anything about it is also a great recommendation. I can read it again for free:))

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Iaiin macays
Excellent read
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 15, 2013
Verified Purchase
Product arrived within days and the novel is a great easy read.

Will try to get Hungarian text. This version is a translation into English

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PRS
Dreadful novel, written by an amateur
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 3, 2016
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Dreadful novel, written by a real amateur who makes basic plotting, dialogue and descriptive errors. I finished the book, my wife gave up at page 99.

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4.0 out of 5 stars A fine Budapest thriller

2.0 out of 5 stars Hungary's first major noir novel: realism, and lack thereof

5.0 out of 5 stars finished the book

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent read

1.0 out of 5 stars Dreadful novel, written by an amateur

A fine Budapest thriller

Hungary's first major noir novel: realism, and lack thereof

finished the book

Excellent read

Dreadful novel, written by an amateur