Turbo Vlost Series by David Duffy
Turbo Vlost #1
Last to Fold
David Duffy
One of the most exciting debut anti-heroes since Lee Child’s Jack Reacher Turbo Vlost learned early that life is like a game of cards…. It’s not always about winning. Sometimes it’s just a matter of making your enemies fold first. Turbo is a man with a past—his childhood was spent in the Soviet Gulag, while half of his adult life was spent in service to the KGB. His painful memories led to the demolition of his marriage, the separation from his only son, and his effective exile from Russia. Turbo now lives in New York City, where he runs a one-man business finding things for people. However, his past comes crashing into the present when he finds out that his new client is married to his ex-wife; his surrogate father, the man who saved him from the Gulag and recruited him into the KGB, has been shot; and he finds himself once again on the wrong side of the surrogate father’s natural son, the head of the Russian mob in Brooklyn. As Turbo tries to navigate his way through a labyrinthine maze of deceit, he discovers all of these people have secrets that they are willing to go to any lengths to protect. Turbo didn’t survive the camps and the Cold War without becoming one wily operator. He’s ready to show them all why he’s always the one who’s…LAST TO FOLD."One of the most original protagonists I’ve ever come across — a cross between Arkady Renko and Philip Marlowe: a Russian-born ex-KGB agent living in New York, a private eye with a strong sense of irony and a Russian sense of fatalism. David Duffy knows his Russia inside and out, but most of all, he knows how to tell a story with flair and elegance. This is really, really good." --Joseph Finder, New York Times best-selling author of Vanished and Buried SecretsFrom Publishers WeeklyDuffy's promising debut introduces Turbo Vlost, a gulag survivor who later worked as an undercover man for the KGB until the Soviet Union's breakup. Now living in New York City, Vlost works at finding things for people. A wealthy businessman, Rory Mulholland, hires Vlost off the books to locate his 19-year-old adopted daughter, Eva, who appears to have been kidnapped. In his effort to rescue Eva, Vlost gets hold of a laptop that contains vital business records of the local Russian mob. When he doesn't immediately return the computer, Vlost discovers himself back on familiar ground, negotiating the hard and violent realities of his Russian past. The dialogue is crisp and rings true, and the main character is easy to like and root for. The plot, however, needs a clarity check from time to time, and Duffy needs to learn when to stop writing atmosphere and social commentary and simply let his story move forward. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved. ReviewNominated for the 2012 Edgar for Best First Novel by an American Author"One of the most original protagonists I’ve ever come across — a cross between Arkady Renko and Philip Marlowe: a Russian-born ex-KGB agent living in New York, a private eye with a strong sense of irony and a Russian sense of fatalism. David Duffy knows his Russia inside and out, but most of all, he knows how to tell a story with flair and elegance. This is really, really good." —Joseph Finder, New York Times bestselling author of Vanished and Buried Secrets"The dialogue is crisp and rings true, and the main character is easy to like and root for." —PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
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Turbo Vlost #1
Last to Fold tv-1
David Duffy
One of the most exciting debut anti-heroes since Lee Child’s Jack Reacher Turbo Vlost learned early that life is like a game of cards…. It’s not always about winning. Sometimes it’s just a matter of making your enemies fold first. Turbo is a man with a past—his childhood was spent in the Soviet Gulag, while half of his adult life was spent in service to the KGB. His painful memories led to the demolition of his marriage, the separation from his only son, and his effective exile from Russia. Turbo now lives in New York City, where he runs a one-man business finding things for people. However, his past comes crashing into the present when he finds out that his new client is married to his ex-wife; his surrogate father, the man who saved him from the Gulag and recruited him into the KGB, has been shot; and he finds himself once again on the wrong side of the surrogate father’s natural son, the head of the Russian mob in Brooklyn. As Turbo tries to navigate his way through a labyrinthine maze of deceit, he discovers all of these people have secrets that they are willing to go to any lengths to protect. Turbo didn’t survive the camps and the Cold War without becoming one wily operator. He’s ready to show them all why he’s always the one who’s… LAST TO FOLD. Nominated for the 2012 Edgar for Best First Novel by an American Author. From Publishers Weekly Duffy’s promising debut introduces Turbo Vlost, a gulag survivor who later worked as an undercover man for the KGB until the Soviet Union’s breakup. Now living in New York City, Vlost works at finding things for people. A wealthy businessman, Rory Mulholland, hires Vlost off the books to locate his 19-year-old adopted daughter, Eva, who appears to have been kidnapped. In his effort to rescue Eva, Vlost gets hold of a laptop that contains vital business records of the local Russian mob. When he doesn’t immediately return the computer, Vlost discovers himself back on familiar ground, negotiating the hard and violent realities of his Russian past. The dialogue is crisp and rings true, and the main character is easy to like and root for. The plot, however, needs a clarity check from time to time, and Duffy needs to learn when to stop writing atmosphere and social commentary and simply let his story move forward. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved. Review FB2Library.Elements.CiteItem FB2Library.Elements.CiteItem
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Turbo Vlost #2
In for a Ruble
David Duffy
A pulse-pounding mystery featuring Russian-American detective Turbo Vlost, the deadliest ex-KGB operative to ever hit New YorkTurbo Vlost is back. He’s depressed, drinking too much, and terrified that the love of his life is truly gone.Hired to test the security of billionaire hedge fund manager Sebastian Leitz’s computer system, Turbo finds himself peeling back the fetid layers of an immigrant family living the American dream while unable to escape mysterious and unspeakable demons.Turbo isn’t the only one interested in the Leitzs. The Belarus-based Baltic Enterprise Commission---a shadowy purveyor of online sleaze---has its claws in Leitz’s brother-in-law. So, it appears, does Leitz’s brother. And Leitz’s son, a teenaged computer whiz, is running his own million-dollar schemes.Thanks to his legwork and his partner’s data-mining monster, Turbo can see all the cards. But to play the hand, he has to join the kind of game he recognizes from his childhood in the Gulag---one where the odds suddenly grow short and losers don’t always come out alive.David Duffy's In For a Ruble will enthrall fans of Martin Cruz Smith in this action-packed Turbo Vlost adventure.Review“In Duffy's gritty sequel to 2011's Last to Fold, Turbo Vlost, a former KGB operative, has been hired by billionaire Sebastian Leitz to find security flaws in Leitz's computer systems, but he quickly realizes that his employer has much bigger problems than he anticipated. Further investigation leads Turbo to discover that each member of Leitz's family is hiding something, and some of these secrets lead to a malevolent Eastern European computer conglomerate, which has its sights set on Leitz and company. And as if becoming entangled in a family's dangerously dirty laundry weren't enough, Vlost's ex has returned and is looking to reboot their old affair. Saturated with international intrigue and peopled by a cast of sordid characters--including mobsters, pedophiles, and shady businessmen--, Duffy's latest is high-tension, meticulously plotted, and immensely entertaining. Readers will delight in Duffy's handling of the thrilling proceedings.”—*Publishers Weekly"A compelling, intelligent and witty take on the classic detective story. That the talented Duffy makes his ex-KGB tough-guy into a thoughtful, honorable and even charming protagonist is just one reason this book is terrific--it's also fast-paced, unpredictable and completely original."—Hank Phillippi Ryan, Anthony, Agatha and Macavity winner, author of The Other Woman"David Duffy has done it again: given us a smart, morally complex page-turner featuring ex-KGB agent turned New York City private eye, Turbo Vlost. Like Marlowe before him, Turbo dives deep as he tangles with Russian oligarchs and ghosts from Stalin’s gulag. He goes to some dark places but never wavers because truth matters. A fast-paced, witty, bruising, always thoughtful read."— Leonard Rosen, Edgar-nominated author of All Cry Chaos“I loved David Duffy's first book, Last to Fold, and I'm here to tell you In For a Ruble is every bit as good. If you don't yet know Turbo Vlost and his friends –and enemies– you're a lucky reader, because now you get to meet them. Don't wait!”—SJ Rozan, Edgar-winning author of Ghost HeroPraise for Last to Fold, *which was nominated for the 2012 Edgar for Best First Novel by an American Author:"One of the most original protagonists I’ve ever come across . . . Duffy knows his Russia inside and out, but most of all, he knows how to tell a story with flair and elegance. This is really, really good."—Joseph Finder, New York Times bestselling author of Vanished and *Buried Secrets"The dialogue is crisp and rings true, and the main character is easy to like and root for." —Publishers Weekly“A new addition to the line of suspense stars at St. Martin’s, introducing an irresistible character and a very rich milieu—the New York City subculture of Russian émigrés, underworld characters and ruthless new-rich swashbucklers….I’m looking forward to the next one.”—Sullivan County Democrat“From guns, drugs and espionage we get the full gambit in the fast and furious look within the Russian mob.”—Suspense Magazine*About the AuthorDAVID DUFFY spent twenty-five years in the corporate and financial public relations business, based in New York and London. This experience turned out to be good practice for writing fiction. Along the way he helped bring Antiques Roadshow to PBS and income tax to Poland. He and his wife live in New York’s Hudson River Valley.
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Turbo Vlost #2
In for a Ruble tv-2
David Duffy
A pulse-pounding mystery featuring Russian-American detective Turbo Vlost, the deadliest ex-KGB operative to ever hit New York Turbo Vlost is back. He’s depressed, drinking too much, and terrified that the love of his life is truly gone. Hired to test the security of billionaire hedge fund manager Sebastian Leitz’s computer system, Turbo finds himself peeling back the fetid layers of an immigrant family living the American dream while unable to escape mysterious and unspeakable demons. Turbo isn’t the only one interested in the Leitzs. The Belarus-based Baltic Enterprise Commission—a shadowy purveyor of online sleaze—has its claws in Leitz’s brother-in-law. So, it appears, does Leitz’s brother. And Leitz’s son, a teenaged computer whiz, is running his own million-dollar schemes. Thanks to his legwork and his partner’s data-mining monster, Turbo can see all the cards. But to play the hand, he has to join the kind of game he recognizes from his childhood in the Gulag—one where the odds suddenly grow short and losers don’t always come out alive. David Duffy’s In for a Ruble will enthrall fans of Martin Cruz Smith in this action-packed Turbo Vlost adventure.
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