I won this book on Goodreads and didn't know it was the second in a series. I only found out by reading what other people have said.

It is a book that can stand alone as I felt I understood what was going on and didn't feel like I was missing anything by not reading the first book. Bobby Kungenook is a 17-year-old hockey star who escaped from the Ukraine and his guardian/cousin Nadia Tesla helped him escape. The book is about Bobby killing someone and confessing but Nadia and Bobby's lawyer Johnny don't believe him. Nadia then goes on a journey to find out who the victim was and why Bobby would be in the meatpacking District to begin with. This is the start of a journey for Nadia that takes her back to the Ukraine and fighting for her life as she is chased by some of the people she is investigating. The author does a great job with details but gets to the point quickly. It's a fast-paced story where you learn a lot about Ukraine's customs, culture and food while you follow along with all the twists and turns the story takes. There is also a sports reporter, Lauren, who is hell bent on finding out who Bobby really is even though she promised Nadia she would wait a few more months for the full story, which causes Lauren lots of heartache. I would recommend this book. ( )

The Boy Who Stole from the Dead by Orest Stelmach is a very highly recommended mystery/thriller and the second book, after 2011's The Boy from Reactor 4, in what will be a three book series.

Reporter, Lauren Ross is up in Alaska trying to investigate seventeen year old hockey sensation Bobby Kungenook's true identity - or at least dig up some background information (or dirt) on him. Once again Nadia Tesla, the guardian of Bobby Kungenook, aka Adam Tesla, needs to save him, but Nadia has bigger problems than Lauren. While Lauren is trying to uncover the truth, Bobby has been arrested for murder.

"The depth of her fear for Bobby surprised Nadia. It shouldn’t have. He was her cousin, not her son, and she’d only known him for a year. But they’d shared a harrowing journey when she’d helped him escape from Chornobyl to New York. The experience had created a bond of such depth that here, in the police station, she wished she could swap places with him. For he was all she had, just as she was all he had." Location 237

Nadia needs to uncover the truth behind the man Bobby is accused of killing and find out what happened. Bobby isn't talking and he's locked up. She knows that for the time being the story about Bobby's past should stay intact. Bobby has a valid birth certificate, and a driver’s license, so the district attorney shouldn't go digging that deep into Bobby's past because he's already in custody. Nadia has no idea what information Bobby is trying to hide from her, but she is sure it is a misguided attempt to protect her from some information.

With help from her friend and attorney, Johnny, and heavily relying on her own intelligence and intuition, Nadia needs to turn to her own skill set to discover some answers - even if those answers send her back to the Ukraine.

While I have been planning to read the first book The Boy from Reactor 4, I haven't had a chance to read it yet. That didn't stop me from thoroughly enjoying this second book in what will be a three book series. Enough background information is included along with the current story that I had no problem in understanding the salient points concerning what had happened in the first book and how that carried on into the plot in this second novel. The storylines between Lauren, the annoying reporter, and Nadia's search to uncover the truth were nicely balanced. At first it seems that Lauren is the real threat, but soon, as Nadia begins to investigate, the concern shifts to others. There are plenty of suspicious characters and as more questions are raised about what really happened and why, the intrigue and suspense also increase.


Disclosure: My Kindle edition was courtesy of Thomas & Mercer via Netgalley for review purposes

Excerpt
oreststelmach.com/boy-who-stole-from-the-dead1.php ( )

In The Boy Who Stole From the Dead, we re-enter the world of Nadia Tesla after she has become guardian to her young cousin, now going by the name of Bobby Kungenook.

Bobby is a rising star in high school hockey and has garnered national attention for his talent on the rink. Sports reporter Lauren Ross thinks there is more to Bobby than meets the eye and she is determined to uncover his unknown background.

When Bobby is accused of murder, he refuses to talk to Nadia or her friend and lawyer, Johnny. Bobby has confessed and there is a witness to the crime. Nadia refuses to believe that Bobby is guilty and returns to the Ukraine to uncover more of Bobby's past and find out the truth behind the alleged murder.

Once again, I found myself enjoying the history given between the Ukraine and Russia. If this is not a region you know much about, this series gives you great background on the current conflicts happening between these two countries. I got a much better feel for the characters themselves in this book than I did in the first book. They seem to be slowly coming into focus. The relationship between Nadia and her family members is drawn in a little more and we learn that Johnny has the hots for her. A quick adventurous read! ( )

The second book in the Nadia Tesla series, THE BOY WHO STOLE FROM THE DEAD starts out in Alaska with a sports journalist Lauren Ross in pursuit of the story of a mysterious young hockey player who seems to have appeared out of nowhere. He's certainly noticeable now though, having been charged with the death of a man in New York City.

From Alaska to New York City, onto Ukraine and other locations, there is a real attempt at pace and tension in THE BOY WHO STOLE FROM THE DEAD. To start out, the plot pushes forward in bursts, unfortunately getting bogged down by back-story which, presumably, harks back to events in the first book. It's a tricky prospect obviously, but, particularly in a thriller, that need to flesh out a lot of details really does slow things down, often at the wrong time. There are also a couple of dangling elements, such as the sports journalist who appears, and then strangely sort of fades away or becomes less of a focus. On the other hand, it was particularly timely to find out some of the background to Russian / Ukraine animosity.

Strangely for something with that much harking back, there were still elements to some of the characters which didn't quite seem to add up. Although I will admit that could be specific to this reader who was really struggling at points - connecting with some of these characters was elusive, and I'm not talking "like" but understand. So many things didn't make a lot of sense, not helped by the fact that I also found myself struggling with some of the dialogue which seemed very formal, stilted even.

To be fair, this could very well be a series that you absolutely must read from the start. The plot here is so intricate that keeping up with it, and working out who is who at the same time was a big undertaking. Have added the first book to the read list though, just to see if things make a bit more sense when you start at the very beginning.

http://www.austcrimefiction.org/review/review-boy-who-stole-dead-orest-stelmach ( )

This is the sequel to The Boy from Reactor 4. When I happened across that novel, last year, I was amazed that I had read no rave reviews. It is a riveting story of mystery and suspense that would appeal to fans of The Da Vinci Code and other thrillers. So, imagine my excitement when I saw that the sequel was available.

In this book, Adama, now known as Bobby Kungenook is accused of murdering English businessman Jonathan Valentine. Bobby walks directly from the scene of the stabbing to the police station and confesses to the murder. His guardian, Nadia Tesla, is convinced that Bobby is innocent. Bobby refuses to discuss the murder with her or to defend himself in any way, so she is left to discover the truth behind the incident on her own. She hires her friend, attorney Johnny Tanner, to not only defend Bobby but to try to get the truth out of him. Johnny knows the truth about Bobby's past and suspects, as Nadia does, that his current troubles are related to his past in Chernobyl.

A tenacious sports reporter who travels to Alaska to try to find out the history of the mysterious high school hockey star, Bobby Kungenook, complicates matters even further. Her actions involve persons that Nadia and Bobby had both hoped to never see again. Nadia's brother insistence on tagging along as she digs for the truth also makes things more difficult things for her.

Nadia's investigation takes her to London and then back to Ukraine. Her searching takes to luxury hotels, a complex of underground caves, and ultimately, back to Chernobyl. Along the way she solves some mysteries and discovers some new ones. She also meets an enigmatic millionaire who may just be the man of her dreams. The resolution of this mystery is satisfying and is not something the reader is likely to guess.

As a bonus, this book gives a great deal of detail about the social and political relationship between Russia and the Ukraine. This information lends clarity to the events going on there now.

I would highly recommend this book, and I can barely wait for the next installment of the adventures of Nadia Tesla. ( )