There is information in this book that students could not learn from any textbook. Very informative and expertly researched. Would highly recommend this as part of any lesson plan.

The book seemed promising with a great plot and describing at least (to me) locales I knew nothing about. I don’t know if it was the amount of characters in this book … whether a main character or just some mention of a character but could not get into the book. I couldn’t finish it. This had so many wonderful reviews I’m wondering if it was my frame of mind when I began reading it. Going to put the book away for a bit and begin the book again.

There is a reason this book was up for so many awards. William Maz has written a book that any and all espionage fans will love.

Loved the storyline was amazing and the pace was so good loved the writing so much it drew me in finished it on one sitting

Book review:
"The Bucharest Legacy" is an engaging and exciting cold-war thriller where the story sheds light on the unbelievable corruption of both the West and the East. The narrative over 400 pages covers basically the Bucharest of the 1993 and takes place three years after the revolution against the Communist regime.

The story revolves around the protagonist, Romanian born, Bill Hefflin who finds himself entangled with the CIA handling a mysterious Russian asset, Boris. When a rumor flies that he is the top Russian mole in the CIA, he definitely knows he is being set up and sets out to get to the bottom of things. After ensuring that his son and wife’s are safe, he sets off to Romania where immediately things go haywire. And the bodies start to mount...while the crooks get richer and half the population are starving.

The author has well weaved the complex characters and the plot is well depicted. The intensity behind the whole scenario is palpable and easily felt. Language of the book is easily acessible for any lay person who is not aware of the typical sequence of all .

Overall,"The Bucharest Legacy" will grab you from page one as you hang on for a wild ride in Romania after the collapse of communism. Atmospheric, compulsively readable, and highly recommended for lovers of historical spy thrillers.

So I started reading this book, only to find out the author had a previous book to this one. Went on Amazon and got that book
for free(5 stars). I read the book in 2 days and it was really good.
There was a blurb from some bigwig saying the author was on
par with Ludlum and Le carre. If you enjoy old school spy thrillers,
then the book will not disappoint. Rich in history, a bit of romance,
and your usual spy tradecraft.
Thanks to Oceanview Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC of this
fine Spy Thriller. A huge shoutout to William Maz for writing this
amazing book and I hope you're writing the 3rd book.

This can be read as a standalone, but it truly shines if you know the story that started it all.

Now the ex CIA operative Bill Hefflin is called back to help the Agency resolve a big problem - the KGB mole inside. He goes back to Bucharest and revisits the old house where he was born, and the old memories that are still with him.

This time the challenge is even greater, as his mission is to find the mole in order to prove he is not it. While also being lured by all kinds of temptations, from KGB pressure to help them find their own mole or become part of them, to the Romanian oligarchs trying to make him part of their games, and the temptation of redefining his identity.

With the first book I felt the author needed to write a certain story, to give Bill a certain happy end. But with this book it all goes spy craft, with special forces, hired muscle, balaclavas clad men set to kidnap, fires, break-ins, and private plane rides.

I appreciate the great deal of research the author did into the history of my country. He covers so much and understands it deeply, from its known history to the conspiracies laying around, and to its unbreakable bond to its neighboring countries.

What I liked the most about this book was the incredible change of scenes, the many, many twists and turns and ultimately the surprise of finding who the mole was. It was unexpected, it was refreshing, and it, also, solved the true problem of the book.

As with the previous book, this one is special to me for the fantastic way in which it pictured the Roma people's position and how Romanians acted toward them. This requires a lot of knowledge and understanding and the author did justice to it, writing it so well, embedding it into the fabric of the story.

More than the new order of the Eastern Europe, and the rising oligarch that created its history for the past 30 years, this book is Bill's becoming his own person, letting go of the memories, of its search for identity, living his own life, with his greatest love. Through the beginning of Romania's transition and its many layers, the author writes this elegantly, full of suspense and meaning.

I received a copy of this in order to offer my personal view on it.

I am struggling to get into this book, I think that it might be due to the fact that it is part of a series I have not yet read the first book so I am unsure of how to view the main character and what kind of a person he is, I will go back and try the first one and then revisit this at a later date.

Bill Helfin has retired from the CIA. He is now married and has a baby boy. But once a spy always a spy and soon Bill finds himself dragged back into the cloaked world of post-Cold War espionage.

The Bucharest Legacy is the sequel to Maz's The Bucharest Dossier. When I reviewed The Bucharest Dossier last year, I called it one of the best Cold War-era espionage novels. While this follow up novel is good, it lacked something that the first novel had. What exactly? I'm not sure.

If you haven't read the first book you can read this novel first. The backstory covered in the first book is provided in broad strokes.

I have been fascinated with Romania since I was pretty young so I love reading novels set there. Cold War-era spy thrillers are my almost favorite genre to read. The Bucharest Legacy is set in the early 1990s, just after the fall of the Iron Curtain. Bill is a Romanian whose family immigrated to the U.S. when he was still a child. In the first book, he was there to witness the revolution that ended communism in Romania. Now he has a number of charities to help orphans and pensioners.

On one of his trips, he is asked by the CIA to escort a KGB defector but when what was supposed to be a routine operation goes sideways Bill finds himself in the middle of a mole hunt - a hunt in which he is the prime suspect.

I love this time period for a spy thriller because everything is pretty low-tech. There is no internet, though there are computers, and if you need to make a phone call you use a pay phone. This meant that successful agents had to live by their wits and hone their spycraft to perfection. It is so much more fun to read when the characters don't have information at their fingertips or can't easily call for extraction.

I like the main character. He really tries to see the world in black and white though he very much operates in the gray areas.

While there is some danger, I thought this one last some of the suspense of the first book. And the reveal at the end wasn't as satisfying as I had hoped. Even so, I enjoyed the novel. I wish I could have sat down and read big chunks at a time. I think having to snatch a page here and there as I had time interrupted the flow of the story.

If you are looking for a story you can lose yourself in, then pick up this novel.

My review will be published at Girl Who Reads on Monday - https://www.girl-who-reads.com/2023/06/the-bucharest-legacy-by-william-maz.html

Note: Before you read my review, please be aware that I did not realize this was book 3 of a series. I did not read books 1 and 2 before reading this.

4 out of 5 stars. I would have given this a lower marking, but then I realized this wasn't the initial book of the series, and the pacing, and references I didn't understand made more sense.

Overall, this is an excellent book, a wonderful combination of historical fiction and spy craft. Noelle Salazar meets Daniel Silva. A delectable dive into Cold War-era espionage and live in a city struggling for stability after the fall of communism.

I won't be giving a plot run down as my lack of previous knowledge of the series led to some struggles to keep up at certain points. One note I would like to make to Oceanview Publishing. I know there is an audiobook of this available, the same with the previous two books in the series. However, I cannot find copies of the audiobook or physical copies of this book anywhere but on Amazon. Not in bookstores, not in libraries, not on the Libby App. I would have loved to binge through the audiobooks, however, access to them seems to not be an option. 2 star review for that.

Thank you Netgalley and Oceanview Publishing for this e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

I love a good spy novel, and in true espionage fashion the twists and turns did not disappoint. This is the second novel in Maz's series set in Bucharest but it held up as a standalone. There were a few places where events from the previous book were mentioned, but there was enough detail I did not feel like I had to go back and read it.

The setting was great. Bucharest is an interesting place with a lot of political turmoil and transitioning happening at the time of the story. This leave a lot of opportunity for spy games and Maz did a great job at weaving those activities throughout the story.

Bill Hefflin is our main character and I liked him and his outlook on life, but I did not think he was a great spy. He didn't start out as a spy so maybe this was intentional but he seemed to forget things or miss cues that a seasoned spy should have picked up which took me out of the story a bit. Catherine actually seemed to save the day in unravelling some of the bigger twists within the story. There was no lack of twists within this story. It all came together in the end but there were several places I thought it was wrapping up only to realize I had 15 or even 25% of the book left! (kindle tracking) It was one thing after another and while they all tied together well, it was confusing at times and made the book seem longer than necessary.

Overall though, this was a fun ride through a setting that I haven't read much of. I enjoyed Bill walking through his own personal life history, the world view of Boris, and the cast of characters that came in and out of this story.

The Rise of the Oligarchs

This suspenseful sequel to “The Bucharest Dossier” is an engaging and exciting cold-war thriller on its own, no need to read the previous book in order to enjoy this one. The story sheds light on the unbelievable corruption of both the West and the East. The narrative over 400 pages covers basically the Bucharest of the 1993 and takes place three years after the revolution against the Communist regime.

The protagonist is Romanian born Bill Hefflin who finds himself entangled with the CIA handling a mysterious Russian asset, Boris, a double agent maybe even a triple agent...how convoluted can this become. Wait to see what Mr. Maz has in mind in his book. When a rumor flies that he is the top Russian mole in the CIA, he definitely knows he is being set up and sets out to get to the bottom of things. After ensuring that his son and wife’s are safe, he sets off to Romania where immediately things go haywire. And the bodies start to mount...while the crooks get richer and half the population are starving.

You need to stay alert reading this book so much goes on back and forth and many characters are added to the action and the suspense gets even more intense. Hefflin and his wife Catherine, who plays a huge role, are well-drawn and complex characters. As for Boris, he is a shadow hanging over the spy hunts. I may have found the story to be way longer than it should have been with the repetition of information we have already been told but delving deeper into the gripping action scenes I discovered how crafty Mr. Maz’s writing style is. His research, techniques and action sequences only can keep us on the edge of our seats till the very end. The language is easy and engaging what is not to like. Well said, well-done

No-this isn't how it works. Not at all. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A strong pass from me although I'm sure others will find it entertaining.

There is a KGB mole within the CIA and all they know is his handler’s name is Boris. CIA analyst Bill recognizes the name as his longtime KGB asset. With the passing of fake information back and forth the CIA has Bill as his prime suspect.

Bill is given a chance to prove his innocence by returning to Bucharest, Romania to sus out the mole. He is not prepared for what he finds. Will he be able to determine who the mole is before it’s too late?

This was an interesting spy novel, and it was very engaging, and it sucked me in. However, there were so many characters, I’m still not really sure who everyone was and how they were connected. There were also some terms used that were a little off putting and out of date. I did really enjoy how fast moving it was and how entertaining it was. I also really enjoyed Bill’s personal growth over the course of the story. There were also some very interesting facts about post-communist Romania.

Thank you so much Meryl Moss Media Group, Oceanview Publishing and Netgalley, @netgalley for this e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Additional links will be added once posted.

Although I liked his previous book, The Bucharest Legacy fell short for me. I never really got caught up in the story nor did I really care about the characters. I think there is an audience that will relish this sequel, though, which is the basis for my 3-star rating.

This was just the intriguing, fast-start spy book I needed to get out of my reading slump. I did find myself loosing some of the threads as this is intricately woven. While I think I might have benefitted from reading the first in the series beforehand, this was an enjoyable and escapist read.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book.

The background information of a not well known country was fabulous. The role of the CIA is scary because it has now intensified.

Move over spy guys, there's a new analyst turned agent in the game. THE BUCHAREST LEGACY: The Rise of the Oligarchs, is not only the story of capitalism versus communism in newly independent Romania, but also the story of all the countries no longer part of the Soviet bloc. It would seem that capitalism breeds corruption in the same way that communism did… just on a more massively lucrative scale.

The story of the oligarchs is told through the convoluted life of Bill Hefflin. He was born in Bucharest, taken as a child to Greece, and was finally brought to the United States. His life is also a love story for the ages. In THE BUCHAREST LEGACY, the questions of his life are knit together from many disparate strings. The many political lessons in the book can be applied today to those same former Soviet bloc nations. Some made serious strides to become democracies while others took the road to oligarchy.

The most fascinating part of the book revolves around the enigmatic Boris, the CIA asset who will only deal with Bill Hefflin. He is the reason Hefflin went from analyst to field agent. Boris, known to many under various names, is at the heart of everything. The Bucharest stories are as much about him as they are about Hefflin.

Although the sell copy says the Bucharest books featuring Bill Hefflin can stand on their own and be read in any order, having read THE BUCHAREST DOSSIER, I would recommend reading them in the order in which they were published. However, Bill's italicized 'thoughts' do provide some insight into what happened in the first book. Reading THE BUCHAREST LEGACY, a bit more than a year after THE BUCHAREST DOSSIER, I find his 'thoughts' to be helpful reminders. The other reason for reading books, any books for that matter, in the order in which they are published provides insight into the growth of any author as he or she or they work on perfecting their craft.

THE BUCHAREST LEGACY: The Rise of the Oligarchs does not end with a cliffhanger, but there is reason to believe we haven't heard the last of Hefflin. I for one will welcome reading more about him from William Maz.

This is a page-turning thriller set in Bucharest, Romania, in the early nineties. The back page claims this is the follow-up to the Bucharest Dossier but both novels can be read as stand-alone books. I have not read the first book and because of this, there were a few premises that I couldn't really accept. This prevented me from fully engaging with the book as much as I would have liked, and I think that if I had read tBD first, I would have enjoyed this book more.

I also feel that one has to have a fairly solid grasp of Romanian culture and cuisine to properly appreciate this book. Throughout, William Maz will randomly mention some Romanian food or drink, or less frequently some famous building or other cultural tidbits. I would love this if he was more descriptive at these moments. The best we can get is that it is "delicious" or it is something you cannot properly get in New York. More often, there is no description at all. The first couple of times I actually looked things up on Google, but after a while, I gave up on that and just let my eyes glaze over at their mention. I don't know if Maz only did minimally enough research to know a few Romanian names for food and drinks, but not enough to truly know what they are, or if Maz simply assumes everyone should already know. Either way, a little more work or a little better writing was called for here.

That said, the book was good enough that I read more than half of it in one setting, sacrificing most of a good night's sleep to do so. The plot is paced well and channeled the nineties vibe of such authors as Scott Turow or Dean Koontz. I didn't feel like I was reading a modern historical fiction/thriller set thirty years ago but rather a contemporary thriller that was written thirty years ago. For that, kudos to the author.

This book comes on the coat-tails of the first in a series, The Bucharest Dossier. And just when you think you've come full circle to a happily ever after ending, this story throws a curve ball at you as happened in the former book. You'll just have to read this intriguing tale to come to the conclusion's beginning. There's plenty of cloak and dagger and spy work happening with Bill Hefflin once again at the helm. The intrepid Catherine also makes an appearance, so beware.

One doesn't often read historical fiction works about such countries as Romania as this one does, so it is 'novel'. The time-frame is post-revolution time and all the aftermath turmoil with embroiled oligarchs, henchmen and spies.

What's not to love about this second in a series chronicle? I think readers will be just as interested in it as the first. Although it's a 'stand alone' work, there would be better connection if a reader could read the first in the series, I felt, and was glad I had had that privilege. There are discussion questions at book's end as well as a brief history 'lesson' regarding the book's time frame setting and the political situation of that time. Note that some of the more intimate scenes I could definitely have lived without reading, so other readers may take exception to these limited episodes. Overall, I'd say William Maz has got himself another winner.

~Eunice C., Reviewer/Blogger~

April 2023

Disclaimer: This is my honest opinion based on the complimentary review copy sent by NetGalley and the publisher.