The Carnival Master

By: Craig Russell

Narrated by: Seán Barrett

A Cologne detective asks Jan Fabel for his help in tracking down the Carnival Cannibal, a terrifying serial killer who kills at the start of the world-famous annual Carnival. Unknown to anyone, Fabel's deputy, Maria Klee, also heads for Cologne to hunt down a different, even more dangerous killer - one with whom she has a score to settle.

Taras Buslenko, a Ukrainian special-forces commander, prepares his undercover unit for a "black" operation into Cologne. Their aim: to end the rule of an ex-pat Ukrainian crime-boss. Three paths converging on Cologne at Carnival at a time when the world is traditionally turned on its head. Fabel once more faces his greatest enemy: the true Master of the Carnival.

©2008 Craig Russell (P)2008 Isis Publishing Ltd

Dark and strange. Full of twists and turns.

I loved Brother Grimm so I had to try this one. It is not quite as gripping but still a great thriller with some disturbibg twists and turns.

Other instalments are much better

It’s my third encounter with Jan Fabel and so far it’s the weakest instalment in the whole saga.
As usual, Craig Russell introduces several characters and alternates their individual stories, making each a possible suspect only to let all pieces fall in place at the end. It’s just that this time, you’re able to figure out who kills and why somewhere halfway through the story and you start getting bored.
Also, the killer clown that’s supposed to be the main character in the book, at least based on it’s synopsis, is rather a side story squeezed into another, not so plausible, story of a search for a Ukrainian mobster.
Overall, other instalments are way better. This one is not terrible but nothing great.