Friday, August 16, 20:00
Hadjinikos Hall
Nikos Zirganos is an active journalist who knows how to combine fiction and reality in this crime novel published by Topos.
Speakers:
Nikos Zirganos, journalist/writer
Mikela Hartoulari, journalist
Jiorgos Allamanis, journalist/writer
When the world’s leading antiquities dealer dies under suspicious circumstances, a dispute erupts over who will inherit the thousands of antiquities of dubious legitimacy he had hidden in warehouses in Britain and Switzerland. His partner and companion will become embroiled in a fierce confrontation with the victim’s family and the dispute will involve major museums and collectors. Alexis Karras, a failed journalist on the verge of depression, will accidentally find himself in this maelstrom. Through his investigation into the depths of the global antiquities network, he rediscovers meaning in his life.
The incorruptible commander of the Antiquities Department of the Security Service, Marshal Georgiou, also struggles with his own demons. Karras and Georgiou’s paths will cross as they search for a golden Macedonian wreath and an archaic Kori. As they get closer to their goal, they are plunged into a world of corruption, intrigue and decadence in the media, the police and politics.
“Operation Nostos” is a novel about antiquities theft, the dark side of Security, the interconnectedness of the glamorous media and the twilight of the bars of Athens.
Nikolas Zirganos was born in Exarchia and grew up in Kypseli. He lived in Ceausescu’s Romania, in Italy during the “pencil years” and in pre-communist Qatar. He is an investigative journalist and scriptwriter.He has worked for the newspapers Kyriakati Eleftherotypia, the Journal of the Editors, Kathimerini, the TV stations STAR and ANT1, has carried out dozens of assignments in the Balkans and the Middle East and has worked with many international media. His research on the international antiquities theft ring has been featured in Epsilon magazine, the Journal of the Editors, Solomon, LA Times, The Independent, the documentaries The Circuit and Looters of the Gods, as well as in the book The Medici Conspiracy by Peter Watson and Cecilia Todeschini.His research has contributed to many repatriations of Greek antiquities, including from the Getty Museum. Operation Nostos is his first crime novel.
Additional information about the book can be found at www.toposbooks.gr
