Vodka

by Boris Starling

After twenty-five years, Gorky Parkfinally has a worthy successor in Boris Starling’s Vodka—a dazzling, epic thriller set in post-Communist Russia that is filled with crime and corruption, love and death, and the tragic pull between good and evil that nearly brings a once-proud empire to its knees.

It is December of 1991, and the Soviet Union has just collapsed. Muscovites are used to lines and empty shelves, but now they have to cope with a dangerous power vacuum— and a war between brutal mafia gangs for control of the city. Alice Liddell, an American banker, has come to Moscow to oversee the privatization of Russia’s most famous vodka distillery—the Red October. Faced with the charismatic, ruthless Lev—distillery director and head of one of the warring mafia gangs—Alice’s very difficult job is starting to look impossible. Lev’s archenemy has vowed revenge on him, and a series of bizarre child killings is only adding to the complications—and the terror—of this dangerously volatile time.

Genres: Fiction, Crime, Thriller, Mystery, Russia, Historical Fiction, Unfinished

Hardcover

First published March 1, 2004

About the author

Boris Starling's writing career began at the age of eight, when his English teacher spotted that his short story was (a) unusually good for a child his age (b) copied verbatim from Tintin's 'Prisoners Of The Sun.' (That was also the first time he learnt the word 'verbatim', not to mention the term 'copyright violation'.)

All his work since then has been strictly his own. He has written eight novels, including Sunday Times and New York Times bestsellers. Five appear under his own name (Messiah, Storm, Vodka, Visibility and, in a daring breakout from one-word titles, The Stay-Behind Cave) and three as Daniel Blake (Soul Murder (UK)/Thou Shalt Kill (US), City Of Sins (UK)/City Of The Dead (US) and White Death). Every one of these books features someone dying horribly somewhere along the way. Sometimes they even deserve it.

Boris also created the 'Messiah' franchise which ran for seven years on BBC1, and has written screenplays for productions in the UK and US.

He has inherited his grandfather's male pattern baldness, but sadly not his prodigious height. He is a keen sportsman, though he has now reached the age where enthusiasm and experience are beginning to trump sheer skill. He lives in Dorset, England, with his wife, children, greyhounds, and however many chickens manage to keep clear of marauding foxes.

Reviews

[Devlocke · Rating 2 out of 5]

Blech. Outside of the fact that it introduced me to the concept of the "vor v zakone", it was just kinda... well, 'blech' says it all. Not recommended. I bought it cuz' I couldn't resist the title, for a dollar. It was worth a dollar, but it wasn't worth the time it cost me. Slogging through it was so unenjoyable that it took like nine times as long to read as it would have otherwise, because I kept finding anything to do other than pick it back up.

Basically, chick goes to Russia to oversee a fictionalized version of the Russian transition from communist to capitalist. Simultaneously, the-one-not-corrupt-cop-in-Moscow starts investigating some murders. The two plots don't ever really tie in very well, the characters that aren't so widely caricatured they're laughable are kind of dull. There's an alcoholism subplot that pretty much killed it for me. There are better mediocre crime novels out there, and better books set in Russia.

[Emilie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unbelievably, the first book I've read for pleasure in months: uni seems to leave no time for casual reading. Set in contemporary Russia, the book is a stunning panorama of cities and characters. Starling is excellent at creating natural, three-dimensional characters and handles a large cast with skill. At points, especially early on, his descriptions seem somewhat too didactic; however, he soon eases into his style. The plot is convoluted but never clichéed, and holds the attention throughout. With only one or two exceptions - slipping Celine Dion lyrics into the mouth of a hard-as-nails mafiya boss four hundred pages in, for example - this is a truly excellent and gripping read.

[Tomas Santa Marta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Grande Livro! História muito bem contada e que representa bem o estado da Rússia no pós-URSS. Que insanidade! Alice Liddel, uma enorme personagem e lindamente bem caracterizada. O Inspetor Irk também é uma das personagens bem interessantes e que melhora caracteriza o livro e a confusão que reina no País.
Grande Livro!

[Graham Tapper · Rating 4 out of 5]

What initially appeared to be a political thriller turned out to be something else. The story is set at the time of the collapse of the Soviet Union, a time of uncertainty and chaos, with Russia seemingly in the grips of organised crime. Certain political forces want to propel Russia into the 21st century and so the privatisation of Russian businesses is on the agenda, but where to start?

Into this turmoil walks Alice Liddell, privatisation wizard of the IMF, and her husband, Lewis. Russia's fundamental business - Vodka - is chosen to be the first and she is in charge of ensuring that the auction runs successfully, in just weeks rather than months or years. She is up against Lev, current "owner" of the vodka factory - Red October - and a major Moscow crime lord. He is in a war against the Chechen crime syndicates for control of the business and neither side knows the meaning of moderation.

Nor does Alice, but her problem is the vodka, and Lev, in both cases a love/hate relationship. To this background underlies a series of murders of children; who is the serial killer and is there any connection to the events in question?

Against all this is the ongoing political struggle for control of Russia, with characters that give every appearance of being thinly-veiled representations of Yeltsin and Putin.

The story is well-constructed but in the end it does seem to be much more an investigation of the destructive effects on lives, health and relationships of alcoholism that it is is difficult to tell what the author intended to be the main theme of the book.

This is the first of Starling's books I have read. I'm not sure if I would read any others although, as I didn't see the TV serialisation of his more famous book - Messiah - I might give that a try.

[Tim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well it's a bit hard to review this one. I read it while in a mental ward during a nervous breakdown. Reading the book and then looking at the people around me I was very hard put to figure out who was the most nuts. maybe it was just me..

The female lead goes on a long trip down fuelled by the eponymous alcohol. Not sure where the plot was going or where it actually ended up but I was on medication at the time so perhaps I can be excused. I seem to remember enjoying reading it, that's why I gave it three stars, but I plead diminished responsibility.

Update (1/1/2017)..
Just reviewed my review on this and it has just got through to me that the name of the main character is Alice Liddell. Once again I plead the fact that I was down my own personal rabbit hole at the time and didn't catch that reference.

[J. · Rating 1 out of 5]

A rambling, uninteresting 700-page love letter to substance abuse, infidelity, and shady union practises with a clumsy murder mystery stapled on as an afterthought. You get highly detailed descriptions of the gallons of vodka consumed, and yet the resolution of a series of child murders is delivered in an almost backhand fashion, on a truly ridiculous premise. Not worth the money.

[juice · Rating 2 out of 5]

Was already struggling with it - poor writing style as much as anything, terribly unsubtle - when I reached this par which caused me to stop entirely: "Alice reached for Lewis' cheek and ran her hand down it, past the silvering hairs at his temples." Yep, that makes perfect sense.

[Carmen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lev, both businessman and charismatic, ruthless head of a mafia gang. Alice a young American woman sent to help Russia towards the free market. A compelling and imaginative tale of murder and mafia.

[Elena Papadopol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Despre mafie, lupta pentru putere, coruptie si capitalism, toate inecate in multa-multa votca.
Destul de greu de citit (am si abandonat-o pentru o perioada), insa a meritat tot efortul :).

[Patrick · Rating 1 out of 5]

as tasteless as the name implies

[Sherman Berry · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read Messiah by Boris Starling a few years ago and I still rate it as one of the best thrillers I have read. I perhaps unfairly set my expectations pretty high for Vodka.

Sadly I didn't enjoy it as much as I'd hoped to. There were passages that were very enjoyable and genuinely tense but these were few and far between.

I appreciate that a certain amount of background and scene setting is needed. In this case readers need to get a feel of Moscow and Russia in the period immediately following the departure of Gorbachev and the first faltering steps of the fledgling market economy. There was also a story thread of Russian mafiya bosses fighting a turf war. Another story thread focused on an Estonian detective trying to solve the murders of some children. The story threads weren't really cohesive and I never really felt that magic of being completely immersed in the story.

I would have preferred this book if it had focused more on the detective trying to catch the serial killer who was murdering children. Once this story thread was resolved I lost a lot of interest and was just waiting for the end.

For me it was too much filler and not enough thriller.

[Henri Moreaux · Rating 3 out of 5]

Part crime novel, part political thriller, part business novel, Vodka is a bit of a mixed bag. In parts, it's good, in other parts the writing leaves a little to be desired, such as when someone ran their hand down another characters cheek, to their temple - what's going on with that anatomy?

That aside, it has a steady momentum that (slowly) builds to a rather climactic ending, there's some intrigue, a serial killing mystery, a fair heaping of gang conflict and a serving of Russian politics running alongside the attempted privatisation of a vodka distillery that's run by the leader of a gang who has the best interests of his employees at heart. If you liked Monstrum and Gorky Park you may like this, it's a similar atmospheric Russian set novel taking place in the immediate period following the collapse of the USSR/Soviet Union.

Overall, I did enjoy it.

[Candace]

I do not feel right giving a star rating because I DNF this book at 1/4 of the way into it. I was really excited about it based on the synopsis on the back of the book, and I had picked this one up a looooong time ago. It had been on my TBR for way too long, so I decided to start out 2023 with it. Long story short, the plot and story didn't suck me in immediately. The extremely long list of characters (and what rival group they belonged to) started to get confusing. I was constantly turning back going, "Now who was this person again? Oh yeah, okay." Only to do that again and again. I know if I kept reading, it would all become easier, but I decided not to put in the time. I REALLY hate not finishing a book I start, but this was one of them. I'm sure lots of people loved this book, but it didn't hit right with me.

[Bunny · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the history and cultural information provided by the book. It gives a real sense of the importance of vodka to the Russian people. It also is interesting in describing the relationships between the different peoples that make up Russia. The detective and gangsters seemed real. However, the main female character and her sidekicks were flat. It was as if the author was writing about a woman that he wanted to sleep with. I think he was trying to say that she became seduced by Russia but did not lay a good foundation for that. The book does draw the reader in and I wanted to know what happened, but doubtful I'd read another book by this author.

[Ben A · Rating 1 out of 5]

One of the 5 worst books I ever read. I really cannot state how much I hated this book. I hated, I mean HATED the main character. She is a pyschopathic narcissist whose decisions continually have negative effects on those she claims to love. Instead of self reflection and improving, she continues to not change. I think by the end we are supposed to feel sympathy for her. I had none. She had the opportunity to improve and make better choices and willingly did not do so. Even at the end, when reflecting on what happened, she did not think she did anything wrong. Terrible book, do not read it, you have been warned.

[Adri Dosi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kniha z antikvariátu, která dorazila ani nevím s jakým stylem? Pak mi tu spoustu let ležela, abych se na ni podívala, dala ji šanci a zase odložila. Ne to není věc, která by mne bavila, chtěla ji číst nebo ji musela mít doma. Půjde dál.

[Leo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ha, it's always interesting to read about Russia pre 1991. This book... Has some funny moments, it's always fun to see in which ways Russia was upside down.

[Dragan · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting book! Can be very slow and dry at times but then it picks up and loved the characters. Some plots were too basic and easy to see through where or what was going to happen.

[Judy Green · Rating 1 out of 5]

Super boring!
Stopped at page 15.

[Thapan Dubayehudi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gripping tale, can really feel the Russia of the time

[Myra McCulloch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chaos reigns in Moscow where there is a move to privatise Russia's biggest vodka distillery. Mafia gang wars, murder, kidnapping, political assassinations and a love story. This book has it all.

[Paige-lee · Rating 2 out of 5]

I would have given it a three but the ending just left me angry

[Amandalynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

my love and intrigue of russia landed this book in my lap, it has actually been on my shelves for a while(not really sure were i picked it up at)
i finally picked this up and actually almost put it right back down...language was almost a big issue. but the story line had me and i needed to know how it turned out. i told jeremy this would have made an awesome action movie, how could it not be when you have russian mafia involved. i however would never recommend the book openly due to some questionable scenes. i do feel like the author did an excellent job portraying the russian mentality and the difficulties involved in trying to nationally privatize russia. i could really relate to alice and how russia got under her skin and she immersed herself in moscow. if i didn't already have some experience with russia and her history i would have found myself lost for parts of the story. so overall just a 3 star story.

[Jim Bowen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Back in the 1980s, Martin Cruz Smith wrote Gorky Park. The promotional material presented it as a sneak peak at life (and detective fiction) behind the Iron Curtain. As a 13 year old this made an impression on me, even if much of it was bound to be hype now that I look back on it.

This book was presented in much the same way. This time the book looks at the time after Gorbachev when the government starts to sell off state owned industries and attempts to see if it could work by piloting the process with a Vodka factory. American advisers are called in and they walk into a gang war between Chechens and the Russian Mafia as they attempt to control the factory.

I want to say that this was a good book, but it was simply your average rival gangs thriller with people who had Eastern European name.

[Jorge · Rating 3 out of 5]

O livro mistura deliberadamente factos reais com ficção, tendo como pano de fundo a importância e o simbolismo que a Vodka tem para os russos e, em especial para os moscovitas.
A imagem que passa da Russia pós comunismo é muito amarga não obstante a atracção confessa que ela exerce sobre o autor e evidentemente sobre uma das suas personagens principais.
Talvez eu não partilhe do pessismo que o livro retrata mas seja como for é um livro que não entusiasmando "se lê bem".

[Rene · Rating 5 out of 5]

At 638 pages, this is not a book to read in an afternoon. The book starts slow then builds. All the while showing Russian life. Pretty depressing. All of a sudden you reach a point when you can't stop reading; will Alice leave Lewis? Will the Chechens get Lev? How much vodka is enough for Alice? The story twists and turns through the streets (and sewers) of Moscow. You can't trust anyone except the almighty dollar. Prices rise in Moscow as fast as the suspense does. Great read!

[Travis Kendall · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a great book that had the possibility to be even better. Starling description of Moscow, vodka, and all things Russian is very impressive. The problem is that the story goes all over the road. Corporate intrigue, murder, mobsters, government overthrow, its all in this book and makes it a little disjointed. If you like murder mysteries or anything Russian than this may be the book for you.

[Clara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the description of characters' relationships in post-ussr russia, particularly the ones developing between russian and american characters throughout the book. I was also very surprised (more like shocked) by the negative interactions between former USSR nation members living in Moscow. I thought the end was a bit too hollywoodesque, but not enough to ruin the book. I may read it again.

[Natalie K · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful, wonderful book. Boris Starling may be British, but he definitely has a bit of the Russian soul inside of him. Some aspects of this book are a bit unexpected, as he departs from the actual history quite a bit towards the end, but overall, it is excellent. I ended up liking Lev, the Mafia boss, a lot more than I expected. All the musings about Russian life and how all Russian literature is depressing were very apt (and accurate!). I would highly recommend.

[Suzanne B. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had never heard of this book before I found it in a bargain books bin and I don't know why. I bought a cheap book with my favorite drink as its title and what I found was a wonderfully written book about post-communist Russia. I fell in love with the characters and can't wait to read more by Starling.