Original title: Černý kos
Genre: detective novel
Publisher:
Host, 2025
ISBN: 978-80-275-2531-7
Pages: 392
Awards:
Shortlisted for Magnesia Litera 2026 (Jablotron Litera for crime fiction) – results to be announced on 18th April, 2026
Rights sold to:
Poland (Afera), Egypt (Al Arabi)
Missing children, old crimes, and paths that cross again after many years
2023. Leaves are flying outside, the Beatles are playing in the summerhouse, and Roman receives a message that brings back unhappy memories. His friend Tomáš, to whom he is connected by a dark event in their childhood, has had an accident. Shortly afterwards, a boy pupil of Roman’s disappears. Coincidence? Or repetition of the horror Roman and Tomáš survived as children? Roman must discover the truth at all costs. And he is not the only one with a special interest in the case. Alexander Patera, a former criminal investigator whose life was also marked by the disappearance of both children, cannot stand idly by. Old clues reemerge, leading to a perpetrator who should have ceased to exist long ago. Patera and Roman find themselves on the same path, as they seek to uncover the truth about an evil that is still around years after its last appearance.
By a series of unexpected twists, this suspense-filled thriller unravels the dramatic stories of its characters from horrific events of a dark past.
‘For me, Blackbird is principally a story about heroism that depends not on the darkness we have experienced but the light still left in us,’ explains the author. ‘It is about bonds with a dual character: they either immobilize us or bind us to another person so tightly that we feel their closeness even when they are no longer there.’
The author brilliantly unfolds a chilling plot filled with disturbing clues, drawing the reader into a thrilling race against time. Shadows of the past fuse unexpectedly with recent events. Till the very last moment, the reader is in the dark about who is the real winner in this terrifying story.
Editors of Host Publishers
"This dark tale in two timelines tells the story of a child abductor and two boys who managed to escape from his clutches. However, both carry the trauma of their childhood and each copes with it in their own way. This sophisticated and ingenious crime thriller follows several storylines that eventually intersect. The characters of the victims, their loved ones, the former criminal investigator and the perpetrators are believable and layered, their motives and behaviour understandable. The psychological immersion into the protagonists’ minds is then enhanced by the masterful depiction of the late Normalization period atmosphere in the Ostrava region and in the often no less depressing present. Also in terms of style and language, this is an above-average quality text, the dialogues are lively, and the pace of the narrative does not suffer from verbosity or unnecessary digressions. This highly readable novel will captivate you with its melancholic atmosphere and gradual layering of information, while its strong theme will remain with readers for a long time."
Magnesia Litera 2026 panel statement
“This thriller by the Ostrava-based author is marked by an intensely oppressive atmosphere and superbly written characters.”
Pavel Mandys, iliteratura.cz
“If you love stories packed with truly high-quality terror, you don’t have to rely solely on Stephen King. Contemporary Czech literature can also boast genuine hard-core gems in the thriller genre. One such gem is Jiří Klečka’s novel Blackbird, published this year.”
Iva Růžičková, naposlech.cz
“Jiří Klečka has written a dark, carefully constructed, and profoundly human story that shows how the past has a way of returning — often when we least expect it. The author was unafraid to tackle difficult themes such as pedophilia and child abuse, and he handled them sensitively, without cheap shock value or unnecessary explicitness. For this reason, I consider Blackbird one of the most remarkable titles of the year.”
Martin Kudělka, seznam.cz
“Jiří Klečka has written a novel with a meticulously built atmosphere and a skillfully structured plot.”
Kryštof Eder, ČT art
“Jiří Klečka previously wrote fantastical fiction, but this dark, psychologically masterful thriller is a resounding success: top marks, twice underlined. Arguably the most powerful book of the year that I’ve had in my hands.”
Lucie Cermanová, centrum-detektivky.cz
“The motif of wolves and the unsettling atmosphere full of ominous signs complete the portrait of this novel — a story about the dangers that threaten children in today’s world, from the tangible to the digital, but above all about the search for ways to cope with trauma — and whether it can ever truly be overcome. A paranoid and suffocating tension grips the reader for much of the novel, especially in the harrowing scenes capturing the psychology of victims torn between Stockholm syndrome and paralyzing fear of evil. Unlike many similar works, it is easy to surrender to this story — and all the harder to escape it.”
Irena Hejdová, Deník N
