I had never heard of Glenn Meade before, but I'll sure remember him now. This book was incredible, the very definition of a page-turner. I've been needing something like this in my life for a while now, as I don't believe I've been this engaged with a book since maybe Stephen King's 11/22/63 earlier this year. I've read some good stuff since then, but nothing quite on par with this. Meade takes the "known unknowns" about Josef Stalin's death and weaves a breathless adventure out of them, with characters I liked instantly whose backstories capture the atrocities of communist Russia under Stalin. I know this is technically considered assassination fiction, but I do feel like it captured something true about Russia in that era. Soviet communism ended when I was a little kid, so I never knew much about it, experientially. Modern Russia has never been a secret or a mystery to me, but Meade has a way of conveying the paranoia, fear, and outright hell of life behind the iron curtain, where most of the narrative of this book takes place. And the pace never lets up. The entire book is an ingeniously plotted chase, the protagonists racing against seemingly insurmountable forces from both sides of the Cold War, the KGB as well as our own CIA. At the risk of sounding like sort of a quote whore, this literally had me white-knuckled as I read, marveling at Meade's genius. I can't wait to get my hands on some of his other work. This was a LOT of fun.
This was a nice diversion with a better-than-average plot for a thriller of this type. There are a lot of twisty turns to hold your interest. It draws on an interesting premise: Stalin did not die naturally, he was murdered. Apparently his family did believe this. Who knows? Maybe it's true. There are the usual implausibilities inherent in the genre. They always make for a more exciting plot. The Russians mostly come out looking like a bunch of bumbling butterfingers, when in reality they were frighteningly formidable opponents. There's one great line in the book I'm going to have to use under the right circumstances. One of the characters knocks on a door, and a voice behind the door says, "Come in if you're good-looking." HA! So if the person comes in, they're conceited? Or just clueless? And if they don't come in, they're what? Ugly? Or humble? Or both?
Do You like book Snow Wolf (1997)?
Wow ! Glenn Meade must be undiscovered by the majority of book readers as I had never heard of his stuff until I saw the good reads recommendation .This is another epic tale mixing real history with a fictional story - following the excellent 'Brandenburg ' - which reads like a believable episode from just after ww2 .Another un-put down-able novel by GM , this one imagining a western plot to kill the tyrant Josef Stalin.A fast-paced story which shifts from eastern Europe to America and back again and again . Following the characters who we come to care for through the telling of their various back stories of post-war deprivation and suffering,the book drew me in and made me want to read the next one from Glenn Meade .I am happy to think that I have discovered a hidden treasure by following the suggestion of Meade's first couple of books - even if I'm imagining that .My opinion is that he makes the Forsythe / Higgins of the world look like amateurs and I'm a bit of a fan of their books as well !Read Glenn Meade everyone !
—Jeremy Owen
Glenn Meade does an amazing job of creating a story around an historical event that has a lot of room for "creativity". I read Snow Wolf because I read The Romanov Conspiracy and loved it. For me this book fell just a little short of that book. Meade had me until the end when it was revealed Yuri Lukin and Alex Slanski were brothers and had been pitted against each other by Stalin. That was just a little over the top for me. The Authors Note at the end is great and sets out the skeleton of historical facts regarding Stalin's death that he relied on for crafting this story. I would recommend this book, but not as enthusiastically as I would The Romanov Conspiracy.
—Michelle
