cover image The Monkey House

The Monkey House

John Fullerton. Crown Publishing Group (NY), $23 (0pp) ISBN 978-0-517-70660-2

Wartorn Sarajevo provides the setting for this gripping, atmospheric thriller in the tradition of le Carre and Cruz Smith's Gorky Park. Police superintendent Rosso, a Croat and Sarajevo's ""top cop,"" returns home from Zagreb to learn of a recent murder his ill-equipped, understaffed detective squad hasn't even bothered to investigate: of a Serbian dentist--and sometime police informant--found dead in her bathtub. Luka, a dangerous warlord and black marketeer, is Rosso's top suspect, but Rosso's authority is mostly a memory of peacetime, while Luka's troops are active throughout the city. Nor can Rosso expect much help from the citizenry--what is one more murder in a city engulfed by violence and death? Rosso's Serbian wife suggests he drop the matter as she hides in a haze of alcoholism and fear. Their Muslim goddaughter, Tanja--who may be having an affair with Luka--also urges caution. But Rosso must stand against this rampant amorality, for very personal reasons, for his family and for his homeland. Fullerton, a Reuters reporter, steers clear of trying to explain the Bosnian conflict. Instead, he brings it to life through the hardships and dangers his characters accept as daily routine--just as, in this engaging and timely first novel, he dramatizes personal relationships every bit as thorny as the politics that have ravaged a once beautiful land. Author tour. (Aug.)