Derek B. Miller

Sheldon Horowitz - 82 years old, impatient, and unreasonable - is staying with his granddaughter's family in Norway when he disappears with a stranger's child. Sheldon is an ex-Marine, and he feels responsible for his son's death in Vietnam. Recently widowed and bereft, he talks to the ghosts of his past constantly. To Norway's cops, Sheldon is just an old man who is coming undone at the end of a long and hard life. But Sheldon is clear in his own mind. He'd heard the boy's eastern European mother being murdered, and he's determined to protect the child from the killer and his Balkan gang. With an endearing combination of dexterity and daring, Sheldon manages to elude the police in what is hostile, foreign territory for him. But what he doesn't know is that the police and the gang both know where he's heading. Norwegian by Nightis the last adventure of a man coming to terms with the tragedy of his own life as he tries to save another's. It combines laconic, deadpan humour, moral seriousness, visceral grief, and narrative tensions in a remarkable way - and Sheldon, in particular, is about to become a famous fictional hero.

Norwegian by Night

A coming-of-age story set during the rising tide of World War II, How to Find Your Way in the Dark follows Sheldon Horowitz from his humble start in a cabin in rural Massachusetts, through the trauma of his father's murder and the murky experience of assimilation in Hartford, Connecticut, to the birth of stand-up comedy in the Catskills--all while he and his friends are beset by anti-Semitic neighbors, employers, and criminals.

Twilight Crimes

From the Dagger Award–winning author of Norwegian by Night comes a vivid, thrilling, and moving World War II art-heist-adventure tale where enemies become heroes, allies become villains, and a child learns what it means to become an adult—for fans of All the Light We Cannot See. August, 1943. Fourteen-year-old Massimo is all alone. Newly orphaned and fleeing from Rome after surviving the American bombing raid that killed his parents, Massimo is attacked by thugs and finds himself bloodied at the base of the Montecassino. It is there in the Benedictine abbey’s shadow that a charismatic and cryptic man calling himself Pietro Houdini, the self-proclaimed “Master Artist and confidante of the Vatican,” rescues Massimo and brings him up the mountain to serve as his assistant in preserving the treasures that lay within the monastery walls. But can Massimo believe what Pietro is saying, particularly when Massimo has secrets too? Who is this extraordinary man? When it becomes evident that Montecassino will soon become the front line in the war, Pietro Houdini and Massimo execute a plan to smuggle three priceless Titian paintings to safety down the mountain. They are joined by a nurse concealing a nefarious past, a café owner turned murderer, a wounded but chipper German soldier, and a pair of lovers along with their injured mule, Ferrari. Together they will lie, cheat, steal, fight, kill, and sin their way through battlefields to survive, all while smuggling the Renaissance masterpieces and the bag full of ancient Greek gold they have rescued from the “safe keeping” of the Germans. Heartfelt, powerfully engaging, and in the tradition of City of Thieves by David Benioff, The Curse of Pietro Houdini is a work of storytelling bravado: a thrilling action-packed adventure heist, an imaginative chronicle of forgotten history, and a philosophical coming-of-age epic where a child navigates one of the most enigmatic and morally complex fronts of World War II and lives to tell the tale.

A Novel

The Curse of Pietro Houdini

From the author of "Norwegian by Night, "a novel about two men on a misbegotten quest to save the girl they failed to save decades before 1991. Near Checkpoint Zulu, one hundred miles from the Kuwaiti border, Thomas Benton meets Arwood Hobbes. Benton is a British journalist who reports from war zones in part to avoid his lackluster marriage and a daughter he loves but cannot connect with; Arwood is a midwestern American private who might be an insufferable ignoramus, or might be a genuine lunatic with a death wish--it's hard to tell. Desert Storm is over, peace has been declared, but as they argue about whether it makes sense to cross the nearest border in search of an ice cream, they become embroiled in a horrific attack in which a young local girl in a green dress is killed as they are trying to protect her. The two men walk away into their respective lives. But something has cracked for them both.Twenty-twoyears later, in another place, in another war, they meet again and are offered an unlikely opportunity to redeem themselves when that same girl in green is found alive and in need of salvation. Or is she?"

The Girl in Green

How to Find Your Way in the Dark

"When Lilly was first Chief Engineer at The Commonwealth, nearly fifty years ago, the Central Archive wasn't yet the greatest repository of knowledge in the known world, protected by scribes copying every piece of found material - books, maps, even scraps of paper - and disseminating them by Archive Runners to hidden off-site locations for safe keeping. Back then, there was no Order of Silence to create and maintain secret routes deep into the sand-covered towers of the Old World or into the northern forests beyond Sea Glass Lake. Back then, the world was still quiet, because Lilly hadn't yet found the Harrington Box. But times change. Recently, the Keepers have started gathering to the east of Yellow Ridge - thousands upon thousands of them - and every one of them determined to burn the Central Archives to the ground, no matter the cost, possessed by an irrational fear that bringing back the ancient knowledge will destroy the world all over again. To prevent that, they will do anything. Fourteen days ago the Keepers chased sixteen-year-old Archive Runner Elimisha into a forbidden Old World Tower and brought the entire thing down on her. Instead of being killed, though, she slipped into an ancient unmapped bomb shelter where she has discovered a cache of food and fresh water, a two-way radio like the one Lilly's been working on for years . . . and something else. Something that calls itself 'the internet' . . ."--Provided by publisher.

Radio Life

"A gripping and timely novel that follows Sigrid--the dry-witted detective from Derek B. Miller's best-selling debut Norwegian by Night--from Oslo to the United States on a quest to find her missing brother ... Chief Inspector Sigrid Ødegård could be basking in the success of her recent mission to save an innocent child who'd gone missing in Oslo, but instead she is reeling from the deadly showdown that preceded that success. She has decided to take some time off from her job and visit her father at the family farm, where she hopes to relax and consider the implications of her role in recent events. Unfortunately her father has other plans for her. "You're going to America," he tells her. Why? To look for her older brother, Marcus. He's missing. And more than that, it seems his disappearance is connected in some way to the death of a woman he loved--an African-American professor named Lydia Jones. A connection now being investigated by a certain Sheriff Irving Wylie ... Like Norwegian by Night, which had "the brains of a literary novel and the body of a thriller" (New York Times), American by Day is both thought-provoking and suspenseful. Through the eyes of the inimitable Inspector Ødegård, Derek Miller offers a refreshingly funny, disturbing, and slyly perceptive vision of American life."--

American by day

American by Day

'A superb novel on all levels . . . Miller is a classy satirist of American mores.' The Times 'Not to be missed . . . A subtle crime story peopled with beautifully drawn characters.' Daily Mail Shortlisted for the CWA Gold Dagger Award 2019 She knew it was a weird place. She'd heard the stories, seen the movies, read the books. But now police Chief Inspector Sigrid Ødegård has to leave her native Norway and actually go there; to that land across the Atlantic where her missing brother is implicated in the mysterious death of a prominent African-American academic. America. And not someplace interesting, either: upstate New York. Plunged into a United States where race and identity, politics and promise, reverberate in every aspect of daily life. To find her older brother, she needs the help of the local police who appear to have already made up their minds about the case. Working with - or, if necessary, against - someone actually named Sheriff Irving 'Irv' Wylie, she must negotiate the local political minefields and navigate the back woods of the Adirondacks to uncover the truth before it's too late... What readers are saying: ***** 'American by Day is a treat - intelligent, melancholy, a fast-moving crime thriller with a witty look at small-town USA through Scandinavian eyes.' ***** 'The writing is intelligent and assured and the characterisation a delight. It is both serious and consistently wry.' ***** 'Witty, sharp and on point . . . both delights and captivates.'

A whip-smart thriller cracking open modern America

American By Day

It's 1936, war is brewing, tempers are running high, and by his thirteenth birthday, Sheldon Horowitz has been orphaned - twice. While a terrible accident took his mother, Sheldon is convinced that his father was murdered. But no-one else thinks so, least of all the police. Determined to track down the culprit, and leaving behind his only friend Lenny, Sheldon moves to Hartford, Connecticut to live with his uncle. He is told to keep his head down and forget the past. But that just isn't his style. Fired up by his politically-minded cousin Abe (and quite possibly in love with other cousin Mirabelle), he sets out on a quest to discover the truth that will take him from industrial Hartford to a ritzy hotel in the Catskills, back to his childhood home and finally on to New York. Sheldon quickly discovers that it's a jungle out there, and to survive, he will have to learn to make his own luck. Fortunately, that's one thing he's very good at...

'Has the brains of a literary novel and the body of a thriller' The New York Times 'Miller joins the ranks of Stieg Larsson, Henning Mankell, and Jo Nesbo, the holy trinity of Scandinavian crime novelists.' Booklist ______________________________________________ A former Marine sniper and a newly orphaned boy race across the Norwegian wilderness, fleeing demons both real and imagined. Sheldon Horowitz-widowed, impatient, impertinent-has grudgingly agreed to leave New York and move in with his granddaughter, Rhea, and her new husband, Lars, in Norway-a country of blue and ice, not the place for a former Marine sniper in the Korean War turned watch repairman. Not until now, anyway. Home alone one morning, Sheldon witnesses a dispute between the woman who lives upstairs and an aggressive stranger. When events turn dire, Sheldon seizes and shields the neighbor's young son from the violence, and they flee the scene. As Sheldon and the boy look for a safe haven in an alien world, past and present weave together, forcing them ever forward to a wrenching moment of truth. ______________________________ Acclaim for Norwegian by Night Best New Crime Writer of the Year, Crime Writers Association Best of 2013, The Guardian Best of 2013, Financial Times Best of 2013, The Economist Best of Crime 2013, Kirkus

Roman

Ein seltsamer Ort zum Sterben

Ein alter Mann, den man lieben muss. Ein Buch, das man lieben wird. Nach dem Tod seiner Frau ist Sheldon Horowitz mit 82 Jahren zu seiner Enkelin nach Oslo gezogen. In ein fremdes Land ohne Juden. Viel Zeit, um über die Vergangenheit nachzudenken. All die Erinnerungen. All die Toten. Eines Tages hört Sheldon aus dem Treppenhaus Krach: Er öffnet die Tür, und in seiner Wohnung steht eine Frau mit einem kleinen Jungen. Kurze Zeit später ist die Tür aufgebrochen, die Frau tot und Sheldon mit dem Kind auf der Flucht den Oslofjord hinauf. Was wollen die Verfolger von dem Jungen? Sheldon weiß es nicht. Aber er weiß: Sie werden ihn nicht kriegen. «Menschlich, schwarzhumorig, herzzerreißend, voller glaubwürdiger Figuren und mit einem so anrührenden wie großartigen Helden. Prädikat: brillant.» (The Herald Sun) «Dieses Buch als hintergründige Lektüre zu bezeichnen wäre die Untertreibung der Saison.» (Courier Mail)

Der 82-jährige Sheldon zieht nach dem Tod seiner Frau von New York nach Oslo. Noch spricht er kein Wort Norwegisch, da muss er plötzlich einem kleinen Jungen das Leben retten und flieht mit ihm durch halb Norwegen. Doch die Killer, die die Mutter des Jungen töteten, sind ihnen auf den Fersen

Sie hat einen Menschen erschossen. Im Dienst und aus Notwehr, das hat sie schwarz auf weiß. Doch Chefinspektorin Sigrid Ødegård kommt über den Vorfall nicht hinweg. Denn in Norwegen schießt die Polizei nun mal keine Leute tot. Oslo ist nicht Amerika. In Amerika sehen Polizisten anders aus. Manche, wie Sheriff Irv Wylie, tragen sogar Cowboyhut und Stiefel. Irv ist auf der Suche nach einem Mann, der seine Freundin umgebracht haben soll. Ein Europäer. Aus Norwegen. Und plötzlich hat Irv die Schwester des Flüchtigen am Hals. Will die Inspektorin aus Oslo Amtshilfe leisten? Oder Fluchthilfe?

Sigrid Ødegårds Reise nach Amerika

Iraq, 1991. La guerra è finita e il soldato Arwood Hobbes, di stanza con un reparto dell’esercito americano incaricato di far rispettare il cessate il fuoco, si annoia a morte. L’operazione Desert Storm non è stata altro che una campagna aerea di un mese contro alcune truppe irachene allo scoperto, seguita da un conflitto di soli quattro giorni. Arwood fa parte del Terzo Squadrone, Secondo reggimento di Cavalleria, in un posto di controllo chiamato Zulu, ai margini della valle dell’Eufrate, vicino Samawa. Non c’è niente, laggiú, una vera desolazione. Una pace infinita, soporifera, candida e soffice come le nuvole. È in questo gorgo stagnante di quiete e futilità che un giorno compare al suo cospetto, proveniente dal deserto, Thomas Benton, giornalista del Times, quarantenne che non si è mai distinto per particolari meriti nella sua carriera. Benton ottiene da Arwood qualcosa che nessun soldato ligio agli ordini gli avrebbe concesso: il permesso di superare l’avamposto e di dirigersi verso Samawa, sulla cui torre idrica sventola una bandiera scita. Il giornalista si è inoltrato da tempo nel villaggio, quando Arwood scorge dapprima gli elicotteri della Guardia Repubblicana aprire il fuoco, con spietata perizia, su Samawa, e poi Benton correre a perdifiato verso il posto di controllo. Il reporter non è solo, con lui c’è una ragazzina vestita di verde, snella, molto giovane d’aspetto. Per riparare all’errore commesso e salvare la pelle ai due fuggiaschi, Arwood decide di andare loro incontro. Una decisione destinata a condizionare l’intero corso della sua esistenza e di quella di Benton. Ventidue anni dopo, nel 2013, il destino vuole che i due uomini, consumati dal senso di colpa, guardino entrambi le immagini in tv dell’ennesima fuga di profughi dalla Siria verso il Kurdistan, e assistano entrambi a un attacco di mortaio sulla folla, tra cui spicca, come uno smeraldo sullo sfondo pallido della terra, una ragazzina con un vestito verde. La sorte ha, con tutta evidenza, voluto offrire loro una seconda possibilità per riscattarsi dagli errori del passato. Mostrando una profonda conoscenza del Medio Oriente, delle forze e della posta in gioco, con la sua prosa diretta e po-tente, La ragazza in verde è piú che un semplice romanzo di guerra. È l’avventura donchisciottesca di due uomini che vivono una vita intera in attesa di una redenzione. «Un romanzo che unisce personaggi dalla sensibilità inusuale nella dura realtà del combattimento in guerra». The Times «Miller fa quello che molti ritengono troppo difficile: essere chiaro e preciso raccontando cose mai banali. Perché è uno scrittore di estremo talento e umanità». Booksellers «Una visione sorprendente e inquietante del Medio Oriente... Un romanzo scritto con intelligenza, compassione e autenticità, da uno scrittore che è già un maestro del suo mestiere». Evening Post

La ragazza in verde

A gripping and timely novel that follows Sigrid—the dry-witted detective from Derek B. Miller’s best-selling debut Norwegian by Night—from Oslo to the United States on a quest to find her missing brother. She knew it was a weird place. She’d heard the stories, seen the movies, read the books. But now police Chief Inspector Sigrid Ødegård has to leave her native Norway and actually go there; to that land across the Atlantic where her missing brother is implicated in the mysterious death of a prominent African American academic—America. Sigrid is plunged into a United States where race and identity, politics and promise, reverberate in every aspect of daily life. Working with—or, if necessary, against—the police, she must negotiate the local political minefields and navigate the backwoods of the Adirondacks to uncover the truth before events escalate further. Refreshingly funny, slyly perceptive, American by Day is “a superb novel on all levels” (Times, UK). “Ingenious. Humorous. Wonderful.”—Lee Child

Nikdy by to nepřiznal ani před Rheou, ani před Larsem – nikdy, ani za nic – ale Sheldon jednoduše nechápe, co tu dělá… Sheldon Horowitz, čerstvý dvaaosmdesátiletý vdovec, se neochotně přestěhuje do Osla ke své vnučce a jejímu norskému manželovi. Jakožto bývalý mariňák často mluví s přízraky z vlastní minulosti – s přáteli, o které přišel v Pacifiku, a se synem, který v jeho stopách vstoupil do americké armády a zemřel ve Vietnamu. Poté co se Sheldon stane svědkem vraždy ženy v domě, ve kterém bydlí, zachrání jejího šestiletého syna a rozhodne se uprchnout. Pronásleduje ho nejen balkánský gang, který má vraždu na svědomí, ale i norská policie. Chce-li Sheldon chlapce ochránit, musí se spolehnout na svůj již více než půl století starý výcvik. Uprostřed neznámé a zvláštní krajiny si tento nevyrovnaný pár, který ani nemluví stejným jazykem, začne budovat pouto, které by je snad jediné mohlo zachránit. Norsko v noci, pozoruhodný debut s nezapomenutelným hlavním hrdinou, vypráví o posledním dobrodružství muže, který se stále ještě snaží vyrovnat s tragédiemi, které mu život přinesl. Tato strhující a promyšlená kniha je současně thrillerovou honičkou v lesích i emočně působivým románem o stárnutí a žalu.

Derek B. Miller

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