THE FOREST
OF SOULS
A gripping psychological thriller, taking the reader from 21st century Britain to the darkest days of war-torn Eastern Europe.
A passion for history had already cost Helen Kovacs her marriage. Now she's paid with her life.
Helen had told no one of her research into the Nazi occupation of Eastern Europe. Even her closest friend and colleague, Faith Lange, had no idea - until she began retracing the dead woman's steps.
Though the police have a suspect in custody, Faith is convinced that the murderer is still at large. And she is troubled, too, by the presence of Jake Denbigh, a journalist who appears to be investigating her grandfather, Marek, a refugee from the Eastern front.
Everything hinges on the memories of a 75-year-old whose will to survive preserved her through the horrors of Minsk and the concentration camps, and enabled her to make a new life in England with her son.
Helen's murder and its consequences will take Jake and Faith on terrifying journeys: to Byelorussia where the mass graves of the Kurapaty Forest have their own dreadful tale to tell; and into the heart of Faith's own family where a tragic secret lies hidden...
Read Jake Denbigh's weblog.
"An intelligent, beautifully written thriller that interweaves modern British academe and Byelorussian war crimes with the dark truths embedded in Eastern European fold tradition. A fine, compelling novel."
Andrew Taylor (Author of "The American Boy")
"A haunting legacy of war."
Frances Fyfield.
"Gripping, vivid and moving - an excellent mystery which combines the resonance and drama of the second world war with page turning suspense."
Laura Wilson (Author of The Lover)
The Forest of Souls was originally published by HarperCollins in the UK on 7 March 2005, followed by the mass paperback edition on 6 March 2006.
It is available from Amazon:
- in a new Kindle edition,
- in Paperback
ISBN-13 978-0-00-719211-3 - Trade paperback:
ISBN-13 978-0-00-719380-6 - Hardback:
ISBN-13 978-0-00-719210-6 - And as an ISIS Audio cassette, read by Jilly Bond (ISBN-13 978-0753134498) - or order direct from ISIS
The Forest of Souls has been translated into German, as Wald der toten Seelen; published by Rowohlt Taschenbuch Verlag in February 2006.