Bibliofemme Bookclub An Irish Bookclub

Vlado Petric is a former detective from war-torn Sarajevo. Having escaped his homeland he now lives in Berlin with his wife and daughter, working on construction sites. Life isn’t easy and, although he tries to settle, Petric longs for home.

Returning from work one evening he receives a visit from Calvin Pine, an enigmatic American investigator working with the International War Crimes Tribunal. Pine tells Petric the tribunal needs his assistance to track down a general responsible for the massacre at Srebrenica. But Petric is also being offered as bait to lure another suspect whose activities in World War II make the current generation of killers look like amateurs. Although Petric accepts immediately, he is curious as to why the Hague would seek him out – but the lure of returning to the land he loves doing the job he misses is too much and is soon is on a plane to Sarajevo.

As Petric travels from modern-day Germany, through the ruins of Bosnia to the peaceful hills of Southern Italy where bitter, unresolved tensions still crackle beneath the surface, the stakes become all too personal. And he soon finds that investigating the mysteries of the past can be every bit as dangerous as finding his way through the war zones of the present.

The Small Boat of Great Sorrows is a gripping novel about legends, lies and personal truths. Highly enjoyable – you won’t want to put it down.