From the Publisher
Carner deftly mixes in the changing landscape of Russia with an emotional story about a woman coming to terms with her heritage.” — South Florida Sun Sentinel
“Action-packed, steamy and suspenseful.” — Jerusalem Post
“An eye-opening exposé of life following the collapse of the Iron Curtain...Vividly drawn characters and taut suspense add up to a real-life dystopian page-turner of the un-put-downable variety.” — Library Journal
“Talia Carner sweeps us away along with her brave and determined heroine to an exotic and complex time and place, and keeps us riveted with the tension and dangers of international intrigue. A real page-turner!” — Tami Hoag, New York Times bestselling author of Cold Cold Heart
“With the urgency of a thriller and the sharp, atmospheric lens of a great documentary, HOTEL MOSCOW hurls you into the vortex of the corrupt, outlaw world of the Soviet Union morphing into modern Russia. A fascinating and ultimately gripping read!” — Andrew Gross, New York Times-bestselling author of One Mile Under
“HOTEL MOSCOW is bold and breathless. A smart story about a fearless New York woman who arrives in Russia with more baggage than she knows, it explores both the personal and the political with compelling prose, heartfelt insights and gripping action. An impressive achievement!” — Ellen Meister, author of Farewell, Dorothy Parker
Praise for Jerusalem Maiden: “Talia Carner uses beautiful language, exquisite storytelling, and detailed research to transport the reader into the world of old Jerusalem...This is a book to savor and discuss.” — Jewish Book World, on Jerusalem Maiden
“A fascinating look at a little-known culture and time...Tuck JERUSALEM MAIDEN in your beach bag.” — Minneapolis Star Tribune, on Jerusalem Maiden
“A welcome glimpse into a little-understood world.” — Kirkus Reviews, on Jerusalem Maiden
“A gripping read. Rich with insight and detail, as well as drama and emotion...this book deftly explores a chapter in history that is little understood much less written about.” — Rodney Barker, author of Dancing with the Devil: Sex, Espionage and the U.S. Marines
“HOTEL MOSCOW is a tantalizing book full of corruption, extortion, and shocking treatment of women — and that is just the tip of the Russian iceberg. Talia Carner’s engaging style draws you in with its powerful description of life in Russia twenty months after the fall of communism.” — Deborah Rodriguez, author of The Kabul Beauty School
“A heroine both glamorous and smart, hard-driving and compassionate, Brooke Fielding — American investment counselor and daughter of Holocaust survivors - travels through the looking glass of Russia, 1993, when the country was lurching toward capitalism, women were coming into their own, and danger lurked around every corner...Sweeping and suspenseful.” — Roy Hoffman, author of the novels Chicken Dreaming Corn and Come Landfall
“A finely-drawn tale of a country emerging from its dark Soviet past into a present overshadowed by a new kind of terror and lawless corruption... Will keep the reader mesmerized.” — Nelson DeMille
Jerusalem Post
Action-packed, steamy and suspenseful.
Ellen Meister
HOTEL MOSCOW is bold and breathless. A smart story about a fearless New York woman who arrives in Russia with more baggage than she knows, it explores both the personal and the political with compelling prose, heartfelt insights and gripping action. An impressive achievement!
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Carner deftly mixes in the changing landscape of Russia with an emotional story about a woman coming to terms with her heritage.
Rodney Barker
A gripping read. Rich with insight and detail, as well as drama and emotion...this book deftly explores a chapter in history that is little understood much less written about.
Andrew Gross
With the urgency of a thriller and the sharp, atmospheric lens of a great documentary, HOTEL MOSCOW hurls you into the vortex of the corrupt, outlaw world of the Soviet Union morphing into modern Russia. A fascinating and ultimately gripping read!
Jewish Book World
Praise for Jerusalem Maiden: “Talia Carner uses beautiful language, exquisite storytelling, and detailed research to transport the reader into the world of old Jerusalem...This is a book to savor and discuss.
Tami Hoag
Talia Carner sweeps us away along with her brave and determined heroine to an exotic and complex time and place, and keeps us riveted with the tension and dangers of international intrigue. A real page-turner!
Minneapolis Star Tribune
A fascinating look at a little-known culture and time...Tuck JERUSALEM MAIDEN in your beach bag.
Roy Hoffman
A heroine both glamorous and smart, hard-driving and compassionate, Brooke Fielding — American investment counselor and daughter of Holocaust survivors - travels through the looking glass of Russia, 1993, when the country was lurching toward capitalism, women were coming into their own, and danger lurked around every corner...Sweeping and suspenseful.
Deborah Rodriguez
HOTEL MOSCOW is a tantalizing book full of corruption, extortion, and shocking treatment of women — and that is just the tip of the Russian iceberg. Talia Carner’s engaging style draws you in with its powerful description of life in Russia twenty months after the fall of communism.
Nelson DeMille
A finely-drawn tale of a country emerging from its dark Soviet past into a present overshadowed by a new kind of terror and lawless corruption... Will keep the reader mesmerized.
Kirkus Reviews
2015-04-02
An American investment adviser, on a mission to counsel businesswomen in post-glasnost Russia, encounters corruption, organized crime, and extreme sexism. In 1993, the Russian economy is reeling under the extreme measures introduced by Boris Yeltsin to shock the country into capitalism. Brooke Fielding, on furlough from a Manhattan investment firm, accepts an invitation from Sidorov, head of an official-sounding "Economic Authority," to join a team of experts mentoring female Russian entrepreneurs. When she's shaken down by customs agents at the airport, Brooke realizes that being American is no protection against a civilization in free fall. In the seedy, bug-infested Hotel Moscow, where Brooke's group is housed, service and meals are grudging and skimpy, respectively. The only child of Russian Jews who survived the Holocaust, Brooke is also shocked by the unapologetic anti-Semitism she observes. When their tour bus takes them to a woman-owned factory, Brooke and the other visitors witness an attack by gangsters who stab the company's controller and beat up managers including Svetlana, one of Brooke's guides. Svetlana and Olga, a prominent sociologist, take up the story, illustrating the harsh conditions they endure now that the social safety net conferred by communism has unraveled. Olga, elderly at 48, has her car capriciously confiscated by her boss and is mugged on the street by thugs who steal her hard-won groceries. Olga's best friend, Vera, owner of a cookware factory, has been tortured by gangsters. Svetlana, struggling to raise her daughter in a cramped communal apartment, is raped by Sidorov. After rejecting the help of a handsome fellow American whose motives she distrusts, Brooke embarks on an audacious plan to find out who—among many possible miscreants—is targeting the women, even though a long-ago indiscretion has rendered her vulnerable to blackmail. Generalized commentary, not to mention some PowerPoint-worthy business lectures, occasionally interrupts the far more compelling narrative of lives lived in dystopia. Still, the novel sheds much-needed light on this turbulent period in Russian history.
