Strangers in Budapest is an atmospheric look into how our pasts shape us and how our choices affect others. Keener deftly depicts life for expatriates, Will and Annie, who are trying to incorporate themselves into the business world of Budapest in the 1990s. Things go awry when their friends stateside ask them to check in on the elderly man who is using their apartment in Budapest. Edward, a Jewish-American who faught in World War II, is in Budapest seeking answers about his daughter’s death. As the two stories begin to converge, the characters reflect on the choices that lead them where they are and what those choices mean for their futures.

Will and Annie might be at loose ends in Budapest, but the elderly man they check on during a heatwave has no questions about what he is in the city to do in Jessica Keener’s Strangers in Budapest. Will and Annie are in the city to try and get Will’s cell phone business up and running. Unfortunately, Will keeps hitting dead ends. Meanwhile, Annie only has her jogging and intermittent parenting to occupy her. But Edward Weiss, the elderly man they meet one hot day, is in the city for vengeance. I’ll be blunt. This little summary makes the book sound a lot more interesting than it actually is. I was frequently frustrated with the way the plot fails to progress in any meaningful way for most of the book.

We spend most of the time shadowing Annie as she stagnates in Budapest. In the States, she worked with homeless alcoholics. Since becoming an adopted parent, Annie has given up her work to tend to Leo. But, bafflingly, she and Will hire a babysitter to take care of the boy for hours at a time. Between the babysitter and Will taking meetings with anyone who will agree, she really doesn’t have a lot to do. It’s little wonder that she latches on to Edward after mutual friends as the couple to check up on him. Annie pushes through Edward’s rudeness and crotchety ways because she seems to need to help people, even if they don’t particularly want her help.

Over the course of Strangers in Budapest, we learn what drives Edward and Annie and what has gone wrong in their lives. Both are burdened by guilt and have suffered family tragedies. Where Annie’s tragedies have lead her to be a social worker, Edward’s have reinforced his need to protect only himself and his family. Edward doesn’t understand helping people he considered “losers”—alcoholics, addicts, the homeless, etc. He frequently asks Annie why she helps people he thinks can’t be helped. Annie, however, can’t explain other than to say it makes her feel good to at least try. She is not the most eloquent character, so I got a little annoyed at watching her flail with words when Edward puts her on the spot.

There is a lot of praise for this novel, but I found Strangers in Budapest very flawed. It’s not so bad that I gave up on it, but I’m not sure if I can recommend it. The dialog is boring. There’s hardly any plot. I didn’t understand Annie at all. The characters keep talking about how depressed the Hungarians are in sweeping generalizations. There’s little sense of place and this book could have been set anywhere outside of the United States. Edward brings up the Holocaust so many times, even though it has no bearing on the story, that it felt like a cheap emotional ploy. There were so many little things I didn’t like that this book was a chore for me to read.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley and Edelweiss for review consideration. It will be released 14 November 2017.

"Strangers in Budapest" blossomed with potential. Within its pages, a story of two strangers unfolds with all of their shared grief, disappointment, and hurt - not to mention the mysterious and storied Eastern European setting. However, from the beginning, I slowly trudged along, chapter by chapter longing for the ending to come. The action unraveled slowly without much to support its delay; the first real twist didn't come until I was around two-thirds of the way through. By that point, my curiosity was long gone.

My interest piqued, however, whenever adoption was mentioned. Annie and Will, the main characters, adopted their son from birth before leaving the U.S. for Hungary. As a mom by adoption, I have strong opinions and reactions to the portrayal of adoption in literature. In this case, I fought feelings of disgust throughout in regard to Annie's immature thoughts of her child's birth family and their adoption case worker. Each person processes adoption and their experience differently, with that comes feelings and thoughts that aren't meant for public expression. However, I wished that Keener resolved these issues of Annie's in a more complete and thoughtful way; without resolution, she came across as selfish, shallow, and incomplete in regard to adoption.

STRANGERS IN BUDAPEST is atmospheric and well-written and we are plunged into a slow-burning suspenseful story from the first line. Keener's writing is assured and literary; the character development, particularly with respect to Annie and Will, is multi-layered. I can see comparisons to Chris Pavone and Anne Korkeakivi. Those looking for a fast-paced, mindless thriller will want to turn elsewhere, but if your taste runs to the literary, STRANGERS IN BUDAPEST will surely satisfy. The imagery of Budapest will stick with me for a long time.

I'm sorry Algonquin, but this is just not my cup of tea. Thank you anyway!

Strangers in Budapest by Jessica Keener is a novel that draws the reader in from the very first pages. The story is a young couple, Will and Annie, that have been living in Budapest with their toddler for a year. Will has a plan to bring telecommunications to Hungary but has found it challenging to gain the support of local officials. Annie has found it hard to make a place for herself among people whose temperament she finds very strange.

From the start, there is an air of menace in Strangers in Budapest that seems to permeate every scene, event, and conversation in the novel. After a mysterious fax from their old neighbors in the states that happened to be from Hungary Annie and Will are asked to check on an elderly man staying in secret in their old apartment in Budapest. Will does not want to get involved after meeting this man but Annie feels drawn to help him and so continues to go to his apartment. The man reveals to her that he is hiding in Budapest to track down his son in law who he believes murdered his daughter. Sje was stated to have overdosed but the old man doesn’t believe it. His wife has left him and then passed away, his daughter is murdered or so he believes and his other daughter and friends think he needs to let it go but he just cannot.

He drags Annie into helping him find his son in law and they discover a connection from a mysterious stranger that is all of a sudden everywhere Annie turns. Far away from home in an unfriendly and unforgiving country, far from friends and family and with no support from her husband who wants her to leave this old man alone Annie must decide what to do.

Thank you Algonquin book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I give this book 4.5/5 stars.

This is a harsh portrayal of Budapest soon after the fall of the Communist regime. An American couple couple are caught up with the possibilities available in this enigmatic city but are soon caught up into a deadly scheme. This is a thriller and a primer on Budapest's history.

Often, when you begin to tell friends about your latest trip to an exotic location, their eyes glaze over after the first anecdote. Or, after the third story, your beloved friends encourage you to write a book about your experience living in another country. Either way, it is a gamble. Jessica Keener chose the full novel option and wrote a story of a young couple, Annie, and Will, from Boston who live in Budapest with their baby son, Leo. Will is trying to get his own communications firm up and running. They chose Budapest as a developing city after the changeover from a Communist state. Will works hard to make the right connections. Annie enjoys exploring the city even though the heat of the summer is stifling and air conditioning is not something most people have.

A neighbor from Boston asks Annie to check on a man who is living in their apartment in Budapest. Annie goes over and meets Edward, a man in his seventies who is not well and not happy. Edward has little family left. His daughter died recently, and he is on a mission to exact revenge on her husband who moved to Budapest shortly after her death. Coincidentally, the man is someone who translates for Will. Stephen is a likable guy, but mysterious.

The story moves forward slowly with descriptions of life in Budapest. Annie worked with the homeless in Boston and in Budapest she is drawn to the Roma population who sell and beg close to where she lives. Annie would like to help. Stephen warns Annie that the gypsies are not to be trusted. There is an incident with a stolen wallet.

All in all, I found this novel to be informative regarding the 'real' Budapest. I have a very romantic image in my mind of the city I have never visited. There is tension with plot points involving Edward and Stephen. Overall, I think this novel could have used more stranger danger. It is an excellent story of life in a new, unknown country. Many of us have traveled that route, and Jessica Keener makes us proud in her work at making that experience a novel.

Thank you to NetGalley and Algonquin Books for the opportunity to read this ARC.

This was a well written intriguing story. The setting was so wonderful! Couldn't put it down.

This was a very slow story that at times I had trouble remembering what I was reading because my mind kept wandering. Will and Annie are mildly interesting characters but the depressive language along with the pace made this a miserable read. There was just nothing outstanding or even noteworthy for recommendation.

Not my usual kind of book, there was a disquieting , ominous feeling throughout and then a sudden ending. It did keep me reading till the end, and others may enjoy it very much

The book does have insight into living abroad, but as I read the later pages made it hard to continue. I expect a book to build interest as you read and finish with a certain flare...not here

Unfortunately, this book was not for me. I disliked the characters, and the Budapest setting, which is what caught my interest, wasn't enough to keep me interested all the way through.

I have a mixed reaction to this book. The time and place were interesting, Hungary in the '90's after the Russians leave and the Americans are trying to do business. Will is an entrepreneur, and with his wife Annie, and son, Leo, they are expats trying to become successful. Annie becomes embroiled in a mystery involving another expat, Edward. Interesting but very dark and a bit depressing at times, describing a very bleak atmosphere. Not sure about this one.

A young couple has been living in Budapest with their toddler for a year. The husband's efforts to secure support from local officials for a telecommunications network have met with resistance; the wife has found it hard to make a place for herself among people whose temperament she finds alien. From the start, there is an air of menace in Strangers in Budapest that seems to permeate every scene, event, and conversation in the novel. As a favor to neighbors back home in the states, Annie and Will call on Edward, a curmudgeonly old man living in the neighbors' flat in Budapest. In spite of his combative attitude, Annie finds herself drawn to Edward's story. He is there, he tells her, to right a wrong, to find the man whom he is sure killed his daughter.

Like Edward, Annie has suffered a family loss that she hasn't been able to shake. The critical view of Budapest she shares with Edward heightens her yearning for home and for the sense of purpose she felt there working with the homeless. A series of seeming coincidences joins Annie's and Edward's stories and Annie agrees to help Edward locate the man he's seeking.

The novel's climax, an act of violence that Annie has not foreseen, leads to insights about her family that strengthen her resolve to leave Budapest. The author is very good at establishing a sense of place and an atmosphere of instability that's all the more menacing because it is vague. However, Annie's inability to consider what action Edward might take once he learned the whereabouts of the man he's following lives seemed overly naive, and her emotional revelations somewhat anti-climactic. Still, the novel's resolution is forceful and affecting, Keener is an elegant writer, and Strangers in Budapest has stayed with me.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an advance reading copy of the novel. The opinions expressed are entirely my own.

I am sad to report I could not finish this book. I tried my best but to no avail I couldn’t get into it and my eyes kept glazing over. I mean no disrespect to the author. Some aspects were interesting but not enough for me.
When I first came across this book on NetGalley it caught my attention straight away and I adore the cover! I thought surely I won’t be able to put this book down! Alas, there was a lot of unnecessary explaining in this book and I felt the plot wasn’t moving fast enough. The premise is a good one but not enough for me to finish the story. The characters didn’t stand out to me and my impression of them was not favorable. As for the mystery, it wasn’t solid enough in my opinion.
Having said all of this, I feel there are many who would enjoy this story.
I will not be rating this story.
Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for a review copy. I won’t give up on the author’s other work!

After adopting a child, Annie and Will move to Budapest, interested in entrepreneurial opportunities. When a friend from the US asks them to check in on Mr. Weiss, an elderly man using their apartment, Annie finds herself embroiled in his story. Mr. Weiss daughter recently died and he is tracking down his son-in-law, adamant that he killed her.

This book was a bit slow to get started. The first half of the book really introduced the characters and the landscape of Budapest. I did find Budapest fascinating, which is why I kept reading. The characters themselves were very lacking. Annie was extremely paranoid about her adoption, and the official who coordinated it. Mr. Weiss seemed very stereotypical and lacked dimension. Overall not a book I would re-read or recommend.

An american couple, Annie and Will move to Budapest with their new son so Will can launch a new business idea. Annie agrees to this change but feels a bit out of a place without job or her own purpose there. They are asked to check on an old neighbours friend and from there are drawn into his suspicious business.

There is a mystery to be solved and suspense which was well done. I love reading books that take place in Europe and am an expat myself so I'm always intrigued by how people fit into new places. It was an easy read that I enjoyed!

This book just didn't capture my attention. I didn't finish it.