Thursday, January 1, 2015

"Moscow Bound", by Adrian Churchward

Book 1, in “The Puppet Meisters” trilogy.

This is an engaging story that surely will please anyone who is interested in reading thrillers set in contemporary Russia and enjoys navigating the complexities of its law, its bureaucracy and are concerned about the ever-growing abuses of state power. Scott Mitchell, the fictionalized idealistic human rights lawyer, is one of the messengers in this suspenseful and very captivating novel that revisits Cold War themes.

The story opens with an electrifying start and keeps the tempo throughout and never let go, so be ready to stay captivated for hours. Although keeping with the Russian names may be somewhat of a challenge but is a lot of fun once into it, I for one, gobbled it down in now time. The author handles the various threads competently and has provided us with a story that has depth and populated with rich and archetypal characters we came to expect in modern day political tales. To add colour we have the gorgeous Ekaterina, young Russian mother separated from her oligarch husband and Pravda, a Lieutenant-General of the GRU (military intelligence).

The main plot and sub-plots have all the exciting elements: The book opens with Scott Mitchell, a human right activist, a hero and defender of ethnic minority manages right from the start to get in trouble with the Russian army. One thing leads to another and Ekaterina shows up needing Scott’s help finding her father, a man who was spirited away by the KGB years ago. Now more mystery is added when POV characters are found murdered in particular manner, Pravda, an honest and patriotic soldier gets mixed in and slowly we are into an explosive military secret that is at risk to be revealed.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and looking forward to its sequel.

My thanks to NetGalley and to Silverwood Books for the opportunity to read this book

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