The Bridge of Sighs

By: Olen Steinhauer

Narrated by: Ned Schmidtke

In the volatile and shifting political atmosphere of Eastern Europe after World War II, an inexperienced homicide detective fresh out of the academy is assigned a crime that no one wants to solve. Set in a bombed-out city in an unnamed country formerly occupied by the Germans and now by the Russians, the story follows Emil Brod as he unravels the threads of the cover-up of a brutal murder, while supporting his grandparents, his only family, in the equally brutal city.©2002 Olen Steinhauer (P)2003 Blackstone Audiobooks

Critic reviews

"Ned Schmidtke's deep, authoritative voice suits the story. He never gets in front of the action. Instead, he supports this atmospheric tale with well-paced, even reading and a few carefully chosen vocal mannerisms for the main characters. A moody, involving listen." (AudioFile)

Bridge of Sighs and Sounds

The first book in Olen Steinhauer's series chronicling the cold war through the eyes of an Eastern Bloc homicide squad. The story is brilliant, I thought, and puts the American reader, at least, on a side of the Iron Curtain to which he is not accustomed. A tremendous story that keeps you wondering till the last moment. Sadly the book is, I feel, marred by the narration. Mr. Schmidke keeps a good pace and does a passable job with story. His voice seems to lack the flexibility to handle the different characters in the book, and his female characters sound like Homer Simpson. Some characters don't even sound human. The voice of Emil's partner is particularly unlistenable.

This is a 5-star book. I took two stars off the overall because of the performance. If the performance doesn't bother you, you'll be fine.

interesting, but….

Interesting perspectives on an interesting story about life in “the east” immediately after World War II. Narrator used a nice variety of voices that were offset by pronouncing too many German words incorrectly, as well as the word Moscow.

Dark happenings post war.

Some might find this story too dark. I reflexed against the despairing tone. Skip it unless you are interested in post war history.

Great history

Terrific, complex story and interesting history. Very strong performance. Strong writing. Great read and perspective on post-war E. Europe

Eh difficult

This was difficult to get through, hard to follow. I made it to the end, but it was not exactly satisfying.