Balthazar Kovacs, a detective on Budapest's murder squad, is on the trail of a dead man. Minutes ago, Kovacs received an anonymous SMS showing a body and an address: 26 Republic Square - the former Communist Party headquarters and once the most feared building in the country. But now, amid the ruins of the demolished building, Kovacs finds no dead body, just six members of the Gendarmerie - an elite police force reporting directly to the prime minister - and an invitation to hand over his phone and cease his investigation. Kovacs has taken his first step on a journey deep into Budapest's dark heart, towards a deadly intersection of the criminal underworld, the corridors of power and the ghosts of history. A journey that will force him to choose between the law and family loyalty.

A gripping police procedural, taking the reader on a journey into the dark heart of Hungary.

An excellent thriller, entwined with plenty of topical issues... Kovacs gives the reader insights into an alien culture that is by and large reviled, and adds an exotic note to a gripping tale'