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Snow Wolf
In the heart of the Cold War, they sent him to plot the ultimate assassination. Now they want him dead...
It is 1953. Joseph Stalin, the world's most tyrannical dictator, is teetering on the edge of insanity, and about to plunge the world into nuclear chaos. Only one man and one woman can penetrate the Iron Curtain and stop this madman, before it's too late.
But someone inside the Kremlin knows. And as the KGB's deadliest manhunter pursues these two CIA-hired assassins, another duel unfolds, between secret warriors of the West and East, with a U.S. agent caught in between. Now that agent must do the find his way to the heart of the Soviet Union and stop the mission he himself set in motion-before it ignites World War III.
Amazon.com Review
Could Joseph Stalin have been murdered by an international hit team led by an American CIA agent and acting on orders from President Eisenhower? Fifty pages into this large and chewy first thriller by an Irish journalist, just published in paperback, you'll probably (a) totally convinced, or (b) so entranced by the characters, the perfect period details, and beautifully-described action that it won't matter.
From Publishers Weekly
In this big-boned thriller, Meade makes his contribution to the distinguished number of first thrillers premised on the attempted assassination of a world leader (e.g., Day of the Jackal; The Eagle Has Landed) by imagining a CIA hit man targeting Josef Stalin. The main action, set in 1953, surges within a present-day frame in which Washington Post journalist William Massey tries to discover why his father, Jake, ended up in a Moscow grave more than 40 years ago. Eventually, Jake encounters Anna Khorev, the lone survivor of Operation Snow Wolf, who narrates the third-person flashback that forms most of the novel. In 1953, the U.S. government, fearful that Stalin is about to develop and use the hydrogen bomb, decides to eliminate him. The operation, headed by Jake, recruits Alex Slanski, aka Wolf, to do the deed, and Anna, who recently has escaped from a Soviet gulag, to be his guide. Though slow to build, the suspense hits overdrive when Alex and Anna parachute into Estonia, only to be hunted in turn by Major Yuri Lukin of the KGB. Meade writes with a silken pen, inking unusually sympathetic leads (though not wholly original ones; the blond Slanski, with his "cold blue eyes," clearly owes a debt to Forsyth's Jackal). Vivid cameos of historical figures, including Eisenhower, Truman, Beria and Stalin, lend credence to the story, which, according to the author, includes events of "documented history." The Cold War may be on ice, but through this literate, memorable story, Meade shows that it can still freeze readers' attention and chill their blood.
It is 1953. Joseph Stalin, the world's most tyrannical dictator, is teetering on the edge of insanity, and about to plunge the world into nuclear chaos. Only one man and one woman can penetrate the Iron Curtain and stop this madman, before it's too late.
But someone inside the Kremlin knows. And as the KGB's deadliest manhunter pursues these two CIA-hired assassins, another duel unfolds, between secret warriors of the West and East, with a U.S. agent caught in between. Now that agent must do the find his way to the heart of the Soviet Union and stop the mission he himself set in motion-before it ignites World War III.
Amazon.com Review
Could Joseph Stalin have been murdered by an international hit team led by an American CIA agent and acting on orders from President Eisenhower? Fifty pages into this large and chewy first thriller by an Irish journalist, just published in paperback, you'll probably (a) totally convinced, or (b) so entranced by the characters, the perfect period details, and beautifully-described action that it won't matter.
From Publishers Weekly
In this big-boned thriller, Meade makes his contribution to the distinguished number of first thrillers premised on the attempted assassination of a world leader (e.g., Day of the Jackal; The Eagle Has Landed) by imagining a CIA hit man targeting Josef Stalin. The main action, set in 1953, surges within a present-day frame in which Washington Post journalist William Massey tries to discover why his father, Jake, ended up in a Moscow grave more than 40 years ago. Eventually, Jake encounters Anna Khorev, the lone survivor of Operation Snow Wolf, who narrates the third-person flashback that forms most of the novel. In 1953, the U.S. government, fearful that Stalin is about to develop and use the hydrogen bomb, decides to eliminate him. The operation, headed by Jake, recruits Alex Slanski, aka Wolf, to do the deed, and Anna, who recently has escaped from a Soviet gulag, to be his guide. Though slow to build, the suspense hits overdrive when Alex and Anna parachute into Estonia, only to be hunted in turn by Major Yuri Lukin of the KGB. Meade writes with a silken pen, inking unusually sympathetic leads (though not wholly original ones; the blond Slanski, with his "cold blue eyes," clearly owes a debt to Forsyth's Jackal). Vivid cameos of historical figures, including Eisenhower, Truman, Beria and Stalin, lend credence to the story, which, according to the author, includes events of "documented history." The Cold War may be on ice, but through this literate, memorable story, Meade shows that it can still freeze readers' attention and chill their blood.
594 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 31, 1995
85 people are currently reading
1461 people want to read
About the author
Glenn Meade
34 books398 followersGlenn Meade was born into a working-class family in Dublin, Ireland. After finishing secondary school he had a tough time choosing between studying theology or engineering, but eventually engineering won out and he studied telecommunications. Soon after graduating, he lived and worked in New Hampshire. He worked as a specialist in the field of pilot training—having had a life-long interest in aviation—and has also been a journalist for the Irish Times and the Independent.
While living in New Hampshire, he persistently tried to interview the famously reclusive author of CATCHER IN THE RYE, J.D. Salinger, an effort that only served to vex Salinger, who set his dogs on Meade, who luckily managed to outrun Salinger’s hounds and survive.
He began writing in earnest in the late eighties, when he wrote and directed his own plays, mostly for the Strand Theatre in Dublin, but Meade decided to turn his efforts to thriller writing in the mid-nineties.
His novels to date—SNOW WOLF, BRANDENBURG, THE SANDS OF SAKKARA, RESURRECTION DAY, WEB OF DECEIT, THE DEVIL’S DISCIPLE, THE SECOND MESSIAH—have been translated into twenty-six languages, and have enjoyed critical and commercial success.
His first novel, BRANDENBURG, about a neo-Nazi resurgence in present-day Europe, came about when he travelled to Germany to write an article for the Times on the billions in Nazi gold that went missing at the end of the Second World War. Quite by accident, he met an elderly former SS officer who told him a remarkable and highly personal tale about his part in keeping a disturbing war-time secret. That story became the inspiration for BRANDENBURG.
Several of his novels were also inspired by his journalistic work but inspiration only takes you so far and Meade claims that to produce anything of worth it always comes down to the same three constants: hard work, prayer, and putting your imagination through the wringer.
Critics have compared the standard of his work to that of Frederick Forsyth, John le Carre, and Tom Clancy, and his stories have tended to be a tantalising blend of fact and fiction. SNOW WOLF won the prestigious thriller of the year award by the Japanese Writer's Guild (second place went to Stephen King's THE GREEN MILE).
He has also worked on several Hollywood scripts but Meade confesses that employment in Tinsletown was not a pleasant experience and he has learned to stick to the golden rule for novelists whose work is bought by Hollywood—gratefully accept the pay check, walk away and just pray that they don’t turn your treasured story into a musical.
Meade has earned a reputation for meticulously researched stories and has travelled extensively—to Russia, the Middle East, Europe—to research his novels. For RESURRECTION DAY, a highly realistic thriller about a dramatic attack on the US capital by an Al Qaeda terror group armed with a chemical weapon of mass destruction, and completed three weeks before the events of September 11th, he spent many months in Washington DC. He interviewed senior White House staff, former Secret Service agents, US Federal emergency planners, and senior FBI terrorist experts, some of whom were later involved in the hunt for Al Qaeda terrorist suspects on US soil. One former senior FBI source, John O’Neill, who helped Meade, was killed in the September 11th attacks, having resigned from the bureau only months prior to taking up a new post—as head of security at the Twin Towers.
RESURRECTION DAY was published internationally but Meade’s then New York publisher considered it too raw a subject for the US, coming so soon after 9/11, and they parted company. However, the work garnered rave reviews and much media attention in Europe.
Having read the book, Newt Gingrich, then a member of the Hart-Rudd commission (set up post 9/11 by President George Bush with responsibility for determining future likely terrorist threats against the US) was so impressed that he contacted Meade and kindly offe
While living in New Hampshire, he persistently tried to interview the famously reclusive author of CATCHER IN THE RYE, J.D. Salinger, an effort that only served to vex Salinger, who set his dogs on Meade, who luckily managed to outrun Salinger’s hounds and survive.
He began writing in earnest in the late eighties, when he wrote and directed his own plays, mostly for the Strand Theatre in Dublin, but Meade decided to turn his efforts to thriller writing in the mid-nineties.
His novels to date—SNOW WOLF, BRANDENBURG, THE SANDS OF SAKKARA, RESURRECTION DAY, WEB OF DECEIT, THE DEVIL’S DISCIPLE, THE SECOND MESSIAH—have been translated into twenty-six languages, and have enjoyed critical and commercial success.
His first novel, BRANDENBURG, about a neo-Nazi resurgence in present-day Europe, came about when he travelled to Germany to write an article for the Times on the billions in Nazi gold that went missing at the end of the Second World War. Quite by accident, he met an elderly former SS officer who told him a remarkable and highly personal tale about his part in keeping a disturbing war-time secret. That story became the inspiration for BRANDENBURG.
Several of his novels were also inspired by his journalistic work but inspiration only takes you so far and Meade claims that to produce anything of worth it always comes down to the same three constants: hard work, prayer, and putting your imagination through the wringer.
Critics have compared the standard of his work to that of Frederick Forsyth, John le Carre, and Tom Clancy, and his stories have tended to be a tantalising blend of fact and fiction. SNOW WOLF won the prestigious thriller of the year award by the Japanese Writer's Guild (second place went to Stephen King's THE GREEN MILE).
He has also worked on several Hollywood scripts but Meade confesses that employment in Tinsletown was not a pleasant experience and he has learned to stick to the golden rule for novelists whose work is bought by Hollywood—gratefully accept the pay check, walk away and just pray that they don’t turn your treasured story into a musical.
Meade has earned a reputation for meticulously researched stories and has travelled extensively—to Russia, the Middle East, Europe—to research his novels. For RESURRECTION DAY, a highly realistic thriller about a dramatic attack on the US capital by an Al Qaeda terror group armed with a chemical weapon of mass destruction, and completed three weeks before the events of September 11th, he spent many months in Washington DC. He interviewed senior White House staff, former Secret Service agents, US Federal emergency planners, and senior FBI terrorist experts, some of whom were later involved in the hunt for Al Qaeda terrorist suspects on US soil. One former senior FBI source, John O’Neill, who helped Meade, was killed in the September 11th attacks, having resigned from the bureau only months prior to taking up a new post—as head of security at the Twin Towers.
RESURRECTION DAY was published internationally but Meade’s then New York publisher considered it too raw a subject for the US, coming so soon after 9/11, and they parted company. However, the work garnered rave reviews and much media attention in Europe.
Having read the book, Newt Gingrich, then a member of the Hart-Rudd commission (set up post 9/11 by President George Bush with responsibility for determining future likely terrorist threats against the US) was so impressed that he contacted Meade and kindly offe
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 133 reviews
March 24, 2018
This was the best fiction work in this genre (espionage/ politico) that I've ever read. As my estimate would be at least 100 of those over the years, it's difficult to do this reaction- it was that detailed and tone phenomenal.
This was written 23 plus years ago and it seems far from being dated in any way. Too many reasons to list.
It holds twice the complexity and four times the viscous intent with action as most war or genocide works (literary with the big L or best seller fare across the boards- both). And as it is placed KGB in numeral majority and within 1953 (Stalin era) Russia (Leningrad and Moscow) - all of those particular sections are multiple increased by at least 2.
Everyone has a history. None of them are pleasant. This is the after effect of war and more. It's specific re entire populations, villages, family groups. ethnic affiliations, or just being in the wrong spot going for a morning hunt (bird view or dog walk) as being the only reason for instant or mass liquidation. Or a longer death of being shipped to the Gulag.
There are some parts of all these puzzle pieces moving on the deadly board (Finland/ USA/ France too) that reminded me of numerous old movie films. I couldn't get North by Northwest out of my mind (Gary Grant evading the airplane) when we have the Mig stalking a sedan. And there were parts that reminded me of Casablanca. With that kind of expectation of a future? Less hopeful by far. Beyond a last supper sadness. Yet with a goal. Larger purposes, if you happen to know them? And you might not. You may not know much more than terror. Or movement to escape or rescue from the black uniforms of a moment's cornering.
Are there spots in this that I think went over the top in possibility? Yes. But these situations (then and now) were/ are more brutal and with less reasoning "think" time than conveyed here. Or the associates as numerous as in this book comprised. Again and again. Or until.
And in history, assassins have succeeded on even wider scales. All they need to do is give up their own lives in exchange.
I'll read all of his, but not soon. In fact, I will leave a time for one of his when there is nothing much else in the pile. This kind of material in 1000 nuance tones and within 100's of nomenclatures takes masses of time. And after many much lighter and more pleasant/kind reads.
Masterly supposition of what happened in that Kremlin? I absolutely can understand why high politico characters in real life have/ had this author's input. Besides writing, what has this man's life been? Not simple and probably keeping many secrets.
This was written 23 plus years ago and it seems far from being dated in any way. Too many reasons to list.
It holds twice the complexity and four times the viscous intent with action as most war or genocide works (literary with the big L or best seller fare across the boards- both). And as it is placed KGB in numeral majority and within 1953 (Stalin era) Russia (Leningrad and Moscow) - all of those particular sections are multiple increased by at least 2.
Everyone has a history. None of them are pleasant. This is the after effect of war and more. It's specific re entire populations, villages, family groups. ethnic affiliations, or just being in the wrong spot going for a morning hunt (bird view or dog walk) as being the only reason for instant or mass liquidation. Or a longer death of being shipped to the Gulag.
There are some parts of all these puzzle pieces moving on the deadly board (Finland/ USA/ France too) that reminded me of numerous old movie films. I couldn't get North by Northwest out of my mind (Gary Grant evading the airplane) when we have the Mig stalking a sedan. And there were parts that reminded me of Casablanca. With that kind of expectation of a future? Less hopeful by far. Beyond a last supper sadness. Yet with a goal. Larger purposes, if you happen to know them? And you might not. You may not know much more than terror. Or movement to escape or rescue from the black uniforms of a moment's cornering.
Are there spots in this that I think went over the top in possibility? Yes. But these situations (then and now) were/ are more brutal and with less reasoning "think" time than conveyed here. Or the associates as numerous as in this book comprised. Again and again. Or until.
And in history, assassins have succeeded on even wider scales. All they need to do is give up their own lives in exchange.
I'll read all of his, but not soon. In fact, I will leave a time for one of his when there is nothing much else in the pile. This kind of material in 1000 nuance tones and within 100's of nomenclatures takes masses of time. And after many much lighter and more pleasant/kind reads.
Masterly supposition of what happened in that Kremlin? I absolutely can understand why high politico characters in real life have/ had this author's input. Besides writing, what has this man's life been? Not simple and probably keeping many secrets.
August 29, 2018
Josef Stalin was to many the most brutal dictator in human history....and was never put on trial to face his crimes. In 1952 he posed a threat to the West and the entire civilized planet. The dictator was losing his mind, and many believed he was ready to plunge the world into nuclear war if for no other reason than to demonstrate he could do so with impunity.
Thus, a plan is set in motion to send two agents, male & female posing as man and wife, to infiltrate the Iron Curtain and KILL Stalin! But this plan is leaked and Stalin's security recruit a determined professional to find and arrest these agents. But the agents have an advantage. They are native Russian. They love Mother Russia and yearn for better days. They know this will not happen so long as Stalin (Man of Steel) rules the nation.
The agents pose as man and wife on honeymoon, but the man in charge of finding them has set up roadblocks everywhere. Eyes and ears from all corners of Russia are behind his security net. As the military investigator grows nearer to catching them he learns a secret that rocks him to his core....It's the sort of secret which makes him wonder if he should stop the man assigned to kill his dictator known to all as 'The Boss.'
This was the first book by Glenn Meade I read and became an instant fan of his. I read this book twice and kept it in my personal library because it's the sort of book you can read time and again and enjoy it. Although it came out in the early '90s, it's the kind of book which holds its own even with today's political thrillers. Stalin's death has always been surrounded by mystery. Was he in fact murdered? Or did he die in his sleep? We probably will never know, but Meade's book sheds light on what may have in fact actually happened, and which also prevented the world from being plunged into nuclear war. The author's details of Russia during this period are second-to-none, and his characters are entirely believable, as is the plot. It's filled with intrigue, suspense, action, and a page-turner in every sense.
Thus, a plan is set in motion to send two agents, male & female posing as man and wife, to infiltrate the Iron Curtain and KILL Stalin! But this plan is leaked and Stalin's security recruit a determined professional to find and arrest these agents. But the agents have an advantage. They are native Russian. They love Mother Russia and yearn for better days. They know this will not happen so long as Stalin (Man of Steel) rules the nation.
The agents pose as man and wife on honeymoon, but the man in charge of finding them has set up roadblocks everywhere. Eyes and ears from all corners of Russia are behind his security net. As the military investigator grows nearer to catching them he learns a secret that rocks him to his core....It's the sort of secret which makes him wonder if he should stop the man assigned to kill his dictator known to all as 'The Boss.'
This was the first book by Glenn Meade I read and became an instant fan of his. I read this book twice and kept it in my personal library because it's the sort of book you can read time and again and enjoy it. Although it came out in the early '90s, it's the kind of book which holds its own even with today's political thrillers. Stalin's death has always been surrounded by mystery. Was he in fact murdered? Or did he die in his sleep? We probably will never know, but Meade's book sheds light on what may have in fact actually happened, and which also prevented the world from being plunged into nuclear war. The author's details of Russia during this period are second-to-none, and his characters are entirely believable, as is the plot. It's filled with intrigue, suspense, action, and a page-turner in every sense.
January 25, 2011
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?
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?
September 7, 2011
Only one word for this book--superlative. It's the best thriller I have ever read--and I've read thousands! Well done, Mr Meade, hats off to you for an incredibly enjoyably, moving, exciting read that kept me always on the edge of my seat!
October 28, 2014
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.
July 14, 2012
This book was amazing. I have read it three times and will read it again. It never stops, from page one right through to the end, and the reader is caught up in the conflict, the drama, and the subterfuge. This is perhaps one of the greatest spy novels ever written - I could not put it down until I finished it! I loved the action, the romance, and the mystery - great read all around!
July 25, 2022
Primero que leo de este autor y no será el último. Muy bueno es como si estuvieras viendo una película. Gran ritmo, intriga y sobre todo acción. Autentica novela de agentes infiltrados, que nos sumerge en los comienzos de la guerra fría. 10/10
February 15, 2015
This book will have your biting your fingernails for the full 562 pages. Best cold war thriller that I have ever read and I am an addict to that genre. The details are so precise, but meaningful. I would recommend it to anyone who loves a "real" thriller. You will not guess the ending. You will not even guess the end of the current page. I am not easily impressed by writing, but this is a class of it s own. Can I only use 5 stars?
April 23, 2015
Exciting and believable story of an American spy sent to Russia to execute Stalin.
It's not often I say I can't put a book down, but this is one of them. Full of suspense, period detail and non stop thrills.
Meade has obviously done his research making this a terrific read for fans of alternative history and historical thrillers.
Highly recommended.
It's not often I say I can't put a book down, but this is one of them. Full of suspense, period detail and non stop thrills.
Meade has obviously done his research making this a terrific read for fans of alternative history and historical thrillers.
Highly recommended.
January 1, 2016
İlk okumaya başladığımda kendimi kitaba bu kadar kaptıracağımı tahmin etmemiştim. Şuan kitap bittiği için gerçekten çok üzülüyorum. Polisiye sevenlere kesinlikle tavsiye ediyorum.
November 29, 2025
4.5 ⭐️
This. Was. Amazing!!!!
I can’t believe it, I didn’t have high hopes for this book somehow bc every book written by a man disappoints me but this one actually surprised me! The context, the plot, the characters, the settings everything was phenomenal!
As someone who doesn’t know much about history or what happened after the war, it was kind of hard to read and get through, but everything else made up for that!
I was shocked when I found out the plot, and everything else made sense. I love the way the book was full of action and events happening one after another!
It’s safe to say this is the best political thriller that I have ever read! And definitely recommend it for someone who loves thrillers and politics.
This. Was. Amazing!!!!
I can’t believe it, I didn’t have high hopes for this book somehow bc every book written by a man disappoints me but this one actually surprised me! The context, the plot, the characters, the settings everything was phenomenal!
As someone who doesn’t know much about history or what happened after the war, it was kind of hard to read and get through, but everything else made up for that!
I was shocked when I found out the plot, and everything else made sense. I love the way the book was full of action and events happening one after another!
It’s safe to say this is the best political thriller that I have ever read! And definitely recommend it for someone who loves thrillers and politics.
July 29, 2021
4.5 stars ⭐️BIG thumbs up award 👍🏻
An assassin & an innocent female Gulag escapee are airdropped into Russia with one mission: to kill Stalin. But things go wrong, and the hunters become the hunted.
Sounds interesting? It is. Worth reading? You bet it is. I have no idea why this hasn't been turned into a movie. If it has, let me know.
I can't fault this book. I don't want to fault this book. It's redolent of certain famous authors I adore, yet I've never heard of Glenn Meade before. But I have now.
I gripping story with more twists than Chubby Checker holding a bag of pretzels, well and clearly written and absent of lame fluff or unnecessary waffle, a coherent and well thought out story, this is a novel I'd love to rate as 5 stars, but I can't as that's a precious reward I reserve for the elite of the very elite. It's close though. Highly recommended--you're in safe hands.
An assassin & an innocent female Gulag escapee are airdropped into Russia with one mission: to kill Stalin. But things go wrong, and the hunters become the hunted.
Sounds interesting? It is. Worth reading? You bet it is. I have no idea why this hasn't been turned into a movie. If it has, let me know.
I can't fault this book. I don't want to fault this book. It's redolent of certain famous authors I adore, yet I've never heard of Glenn Meade before. But I have now.
I gripping story with more twists than Chubby Checker holding a bag of pretzels, well and clearly written and absent of lame fluff or unnecessary waffle, a coherent and well thought out story, this is a novel I'd love to rate as 5 stars, but I can't as that's a precious reward I reserve for the elite of the very elite. It's close though. Highly recommended--you're in safe hands.
October 29, 2015
I don't know what it was really. I read it in a very special moment in my life so this book is linked to some bittersweet memories. I was reading it in a plane back home and I couldn't stop crying. When I read it for the second time some months later, the magic was still there. It's a book about a spy and definitely that always was very attractive to me. But then it's the girl and how the story unfolds. It's tough and sweet at the same time. Just writing these words make me feel I have to read it once again!
December 2, 2007
I'm usually not a spy/espionage type of reader, but this book was great! I like how Meade weaves true history in with a fictional story. He does this with several of his other books as well.
January 20, 2014
Sürükleyici ve çok başarılı bir kurgu, polisiye severlerin kesinlikle bir şans vermesi lazım bence.
April 6, 2016
MY BLOG ABOUT THIS NOVEL...!!!
AUTHOR..
GLENN MEADE...
CHARACTERS...
Alex Slanski, Anna Khorev, Jack Massey, Henri Lebel, Major Yuri Lukin, Irena, Romulka, Lavrenty Beria, and JOSEPH STALIN Himself (Wow)..
LOCATIONS..
New Hampshire, New York, Washington (USA), Paris (FRANCE), Helsinki (FINLAND) , Tallinn (ESTONIA), Leningrad, Dzerzhinsky Square, Moscow (USSR)
GENRE...
Suspense // Thriller...
ABOUT THE BOOK...
"...JOSEPH STALIN... (aka Josef Vissarionovich Djugashvili) General Secretary of the Communist Party,and the General of Soviet Union was god to some and The Devil to others. Depends on which side you are taking. Certainly one of the great dictators of the century. Historians say, Stalin was responsible for as many if not more deaths than Adolf Hitler. According to some reliable sources Stalin's death is not natural (died of a cerebral haemorrhage) as was widely reported, but was assassinated by undercover Agents sent by American CIA, and the true circumstances of his death were covered up for reasons of the sate security...To this day the exact circumstances of his death remain a mystery" ...based on this unproven historical facts, author narrates his idea,that what if Stalin was assassinated by people, affected by his atrocity? What if the Russian immigrants in USA were used by CIA, for eliminating worlds greatest dictator..? Author describes this plot with wonderful twists and turns with Historical scenario happened during early 1950s.
PLOT...
THE PAST....1952...
The President of USA, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and his CIA Directors believes that Russian General Joseph Stalin is a danger not only to America but the whole world, including his own people. Everybody believes that Third World War is on the horizon because of him. Stalin is desperate on completing his hydrogen bomb program before the Americans, and if it happens the potential for worldwide destruction is enormous. American President believes that Stalin is going to use the bomb on America as soon as it is ready in a month's time, so the only solution for stopping him is by assassinating him, with very pretty operation code named "SNOW WOLF.."
Three qualified and experienced persons, an OSS officer operating under CIA, and two other Russian immigrants ,are selected by Assistant Director of CIA for completing this secret mission.
JACK MASSEY....was an Yale degree holder in three languages, he joined the American Army as an officer cadet in 1939, running the Munich CIA operations office, deliberately dispatching American undercover agents to USSR on long term reconnaissance missions,dropping them from an unknown little air crafts, parachuting into the KGB controlled territory. The purpose of these reconnaissance missions was to receive secret information about the Soviet military build up and regarding the latest developments about the hydrogen bomb project.
Jake ran the Munich station with ruthless efficiency, relative success and nothing short of hatred for the Soviets, and with an intimate knowledge of their language. In Washington it was acknowledged he was among the best. His best friend Max Simon and his daughter Nina were killed brutally by an Soviet hired killer Kurt Braun, and Jack wants to settle the score.
ANNA KHOREV ...was An Russian immigrant living in America. Her husband ( Ivan Khorev) was taken away by Russian KGB for writing a poem against Stalin in a banned magazine, and was banished to a penal colony in northern Siberia for twenty five years. Her only daughter (Shasa) was removed from her to a state orphanage where she would be brought up as a communist. Anna never saw them again. she herself was sentenced twenty years in Nicochka Penal Camp. She escaped from the camp by killing a camp guard and boarder guard, and reached the Finland boarder after a great struggle. At Helsinki, she was handed over to the American embassy and granted political asylum in America, because of Jack Massey's recommendation. After Anna Khorev escaped the Russians wanted her back. They claimed she was a common criminal. Because of Jack 's efforts,Anna got her freedom from the Russians. For that gratitude and to get her daughter back , she agrees to participate in the secret undercover operation for assassinating Stalin.
ALEX SLANSKI...was a legal American citizen, but Russian born, aged thirty five. He worked with Jake in the resistance groups operating against Germans. His father, a doctor by profession was killed by Russian secret police with a lethal dose of drug named adrenalin. His mother was raped to death by them. Their death sentence was ordered by Stalin. Alex's brother and little sister were also taken to an unknown orphanage, where his little sister was murdered. Alex waiting for to take revenge against Stalin's Russians, agrees to this secret operation.
THE MISSION
Alex Slanski and Anna, were given vigorous training by an Ukrainian soldier Dimriti Popov, in routine exercises, self defense and about successfully operating all types of modern lethal weapons such as AK-47, German machine pistol, and Tokarev .33 automatic pistol. Jack Massey gives Alex file on Joseph Stalin, for getting complete knowledge about his health, Food habits, personal and security arrangements and particulars of Stalin's personnel bodyguards. The file also contained two detailed maps, one regarding the Kermlin and Stalin's personal quarters and another of his Kuntesvo villa with information on its security system.
After this training mission, they were flown from Boston (USA) to London, and from there on to Stockholm and Helsinki (Finland) .Jake Massey gives them false papers regarding their fake identity and aliases , photographs for their mission in Russia. They were also given the list of their Moscow contacts of some anti-Stalin emigre groups.In Russia, both Slanski and Anna were to act as an husband and wife, returning on an vacation from rural village to Moscow. They were also given miniature boxes of tablets for overcoming the fatigue and two black capsules of Cyanide for using in a dire emergency . After every single detail explained by Jack, They were dropped from a small air craft at Tallinn base, a Soviet garrison town in Estonia.
Meanwhile, when Slanski and Anna were undergoing training for their secret mission, the Soviet undercover agents in USA, by constant observation and surveillance discovers that an training mission headed by Jack Massey involving Alex and Anna was going on, nearby Alex's cabin at New Hampshire. The Soviets ,in an attempt to know the type of mission sends an hired assassin named Kurt Braun to kill or abduct Anna. When Braun and his men enter Slanski's cabin , they were killed by Slanski and Massey in a fierce gunfight encounter. When Braun didn't return, Soviets send someone to check, and they discover the file about "Snow wolf' mission on the body of Braun, and pass the information to Moscow. Because of this, The Soviets learn about the secret operation against Stalin, and alert their KGB and secretpolice to capture the secret agents alive and torture them to get information.
The US President wants abort the mission, because of the Soviet's knowledge about the mission, and if Moscow captures Alex Slanski and Anna alive, the danger of the mission coming out as evidence in the court trail and which will give enough reason for Russia to start World War III. Every country in the world will point an accusing finger at America, for its secret role, in killing world's famous leader. But it was too late. Alex Slanski and Anna were already dropped in the Soviet soil. So the president sends Jack Massey to Russia, for bringing them back either alive or dead.
Russian KGB, appoints,Major Yuri Lurkin to find out Alex and Anna and hand over them to KGB for further interrogation. Alex Slanski and Anna by using false paper IDS and hiding in different aliases, escapes from Major Yuri Lurkin's traps. Their contacts in Russia, (Valdimir and Irena Dezov) helping them in providing vehicles, change of cloths, food and information about Yuri Lurkin's check points and road blocks. At one stage, on their way to Moscow, Anna was captured in an accident and Alex had to recover her by kidnapping Yuri's wife. Finally Alex learns that Major Yuri Lurkin is none other than his kid brother, who was left abandoned by him at the Russian orphanage, after their parents brutal killings. After siblings reunion, Yuri Lurkin promises Alex to help him in assassinating Stalin, for the cruelty done to their family. Yuri Lurkin gives his KGB uniform and identification to Alex, and sends him to the guarded Kuntesko Villa(as himself) where Stalin was getting treatment for his health problem.
Alex Slanski with the help of his brother Yuri, assassinates Stalin, and kills himself. Jack Massey also dies in the process and their bodies were buried in an unmarked grave at Moscow cemetery. With the help of Major Yuri Lurkin, Anna gets her daughter back from the orphanage, escapes from Moscow in a fur dealer's goods train ( Henri Lebel) and reaches safely to Finnish Boarder.
PRESENT...1995...!!!
This remarkable, true story is narrated by old Anna Khorev, to Jack Massey's son Bill, who is desperate in knowing the truth about his father's death.
MY COMMENT...
SUPERB..!!!
AUTHOR..
GLENN MEADE...
CHARACTERS...
Alex Slanski, Anna Khorev, Jack Massey, Henri Lebel, Major Yuri Lukin, Irena, Romulka, Lavrenty Beria, and JOSEPH STALIN Himself (Wow)..
LOCATIONS..
New Hampshire, New York, Washington (USA), Paris (FRANCE), Helsinki (FINLAND) , Tallinn (ESTONIA), Leningrad, Dzerzhinsky Square, Moscow (USSR)
GENRE...
Suspense // Thriller...
ABOUT THE BOOK...
"...JOSEPH STALIN... (aka Josef Vissarionovich Djugashvili) General Secretary of the Communist Party,and the General of Soviet Union was god to some and The Devil to others. Depends on which side you are taking. Certainly one of the great dictators of the century. Historians say, Stalin was responsible for as many if not more deaths than Adolf Hitler. According to some reliable sources Stalin's death is not natural (died of a cerebral haemorrhage) as was widely reported, but was assassinated by undercover Agents sent by American CIA, and the true circumstances of his death were covered up for reasons of the sate security...To this day the exact circumstances of his death remain a mystery" ...based on this unproven historical facts, author narrates his idea,that what if Stalin was assassinated by people, affected by his atrocity? What if the Russian immigrants in USA were used by CIA, for eliminating worlds greatest dictator..? Author describes this plot with wonderful twists and turns with Historical scenario happened during early 1950s.
PLOT...
THE PAST....1952...
The President of USA, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and his CIA Directors believes that Russian General Joseph Stalin is a danger not only to America but the whole world, including his own people. Everybody believes that Third World War is on the horizon because of him. Stalin is desperate on completing his hydrogen bomb program before the Americans, and if it happens the potential for worldwide destruction is enormous. American President believes that Stalin is going to use the bomb on America as soon as it is ready in a month's time, so the only solution for stopping him is by assassinating him, with very pretty operation code named "SNOW WOLF.."
Three qualified and experienced persons, an OSS officer operating under CIA, and two other Russian immigrants ,are selected by Assistant Director of CIA for completing this secret mission.
JACK MASSEY....was an Yale degree holder in three languages, he joined the American Army as an officer cadet in 1939, running the Munich CIA operations office, deliberately dispatching American undercover agents to USSR on long term reconnaissance missions,dropping them from an unknown little air crafts, parachuting into the KGB controlled territory. The purpose of these reconnaissance missions was to receive secret information about the Soviet military build up and regarding the latest developments about the hydrogen bomb project.
Jake ran the Munich station with ruthless efficiency, relative success and nothing short of hatred for the Soviets, and with an intimate knowledge of their language. In Washington it was acknowledged he was among the best. His best friend Max Simon and his daughter Nina were killed brutally by an Soviet hired killer Kurt Braun, and Jack wants to settle the score.
ANNA KHOREV ...was An Russian immigrant living in America. Her husband ( Ivan Khorev) was taken away by Russian KGB for writing a poem against Stalin in a banned magazine, and was banished to a penal colony in northern Siberia for twenty five years. Her only daughter (Shasa) was removed from her to a state orphanage where she would be brought up as a communist. Anna never saw them again. she herself was sentenced twenty years in Nicochka Penal Camp. She escaped from the camp by killing a camp guard and boarder guard, and reached the Finland boarder after a great struggle. At Helsinki, she was handed over to the American embassy and granted political asylum in America, because of Jack Massey's recommendation. After Anna Khorev escaped the Russians wanted her back. They claimed she was a common criminal. Because of Jack 's efforts,Anna got her freedom from the Russians. For that gratitude and to get her daughter back , she agrees to participate in the secret undercover operation for assassinating Stalin.
ALEX SLANSKI...was a legal American citizen, but Russian born, aged thirty five. He worked with Jake in the resistance groups operating against Germans. His father, a doctor by profession was killed by Russian secret police with a lethal dose of drug named adrenalin. His mother was raped to death by them. Their death sentence was ordered by Stalin. Alex's brother and little sister were also taken to an unknown orphanage, where his little sister was murdered. Alex waiting for to take revenge against Stalin's Russians, agrees to this secret operation.
THE MISSION
Alex Slanski and Anna, were given vigorous training by an Ukrainian soldier Dimriti Popov, in routine exercises, self defense and about successfully operating all types of modern lethal weapons such as AK-47, German machine pistol, and Tokarev .33 automatic pistol. Jack Massey gives Alex file on Joseph Stalin, for getting complete knowledge about his health, Food habits, personal and security arrangements and particulars of Stalin's personnel bodyguards. The file also contained two detailed maps, one regarding the Kermlin and Stalin's personal quarters and another of his Kuntesvo villa with information on its security system.
After this training mission, they were flown from Boston (USA) to London, and from there on to Stockholm and Helsinki (Finland) .Jake Massey gives them false papers regarding their fake identity and aliases , photographs for their mission in Russia. They were also given the list of their Moscow contacts of some anti-Stalin emigre groups.In Russia, both Slanski and Anna were to act as an husband and wife, returning on an vacation from rural village to Moscow. They were also given miniature boxes of tablets for overcoming the fatigue and two black capsules of Cyanide for using in a dire emergency . After every single detail explained by Jack, They were dropped from a small air craft at Tallinn base, a Soviet garrison town in Estonia.
Meanwhile, when Slanski and Anna were undergoing training for their secret mission, the Soviet undercover agents in USA, by constant observation and surveillance discovers that an training mission headed by Jack Massey involving Alex and Anna was going on, nearby Alex's cabin at New Hampshire. The Soviets ,in an attempt to know the type of mission sends an hired assassin named Kurt Braun to kill or abduct Anna. When Braun and his men enter Slanski's cabin , they were killed by Slanski and Massey in a fierce gunfight encounter. When Braun didn't return, Soviets send someone to check, and they discover the file about "Snow wolf' mission on the body of Braun, and pass the information to Moscow. Because of this, The Soviets learn about the secret operation against Stalin, and alert their KGB and secretpolice to capture the secret agents alive and torture them to get information.
The US President wants abort the mission, because of the Soviet's knowledge about the mission, and if Moscow captures Alex Slanski and Anna alive, the danger of the mission coming out as evidence in the court trail and which will give enough reason for Russia to start World War III. Every country in the world will point an accusing finger at America, for its secret role, in killing world's famous leader. But it was too late. Alex Slanski and Anna were already dropped in the Soviet soil. So the president sends Jack Massey to Russia, for bringing them back either alive or dead.
Russian KGB, appoints,Major Yuri Lurkin to find out Alex and Anna and hand over them to KGB for further interrogation. Alex Slanski and Anna by using false paper IDS and hiding in different aliases, escapes from Major Yuri Lurkin's traps. Their contacts in Russia, (Valdimir and Irena Dezov) helping them in providing vehicles, change of cloths, food and information about Yuri Lurkin's check points and road blocks. At one stage, on their way to Moscow, Anna was captured in an accident and Alex had to recover her by kidnapping Yuri's wife. Finally Alex learns that Major Yuri Lurkin is none other than his kid brother, who was left abandoned by him at the Russian orphanage, after their parents brutal killings. After siblings reunion, Yuri Lurkin promises Alex to help him in assassinating Stalin, for the cruelty done to their family. Yuri Lurkin gives his KGB uniform and identification to Alex, and sends him to the guarded Kuntesko Villa(as himself) where Stalin was getting treatment for his health problem.
Alex Slanski with the help of his brother Yuri, assassinates Stalin, and kills himself. Jack Massey also dies in the process and their bodies were buried in an unmarked grave at Moscow cemetery. With the help of Major Yuri Lurkin, Anna gets her daughter back from the orphanage, escapes from Moscow in a fur dealer's goods train ( Henri Lebel) and reaches safely to Finnish Boarder.
PRESENT...1995...!!!
This remarkable, true story is narrated by old Anna Khorev, to Jack Massey's son Bill, who is desperate in knowing the truth about his father's death.
MY COMMENT...
SUPERB..!!!
October 1, 2018
What a Ride!
Riding around in a Russian ZIS, Emka Sedans, and a Czech Skoda is not a bad way to follow an assassination plot. But, the trip from The US to Finland, to Estonia, and finally to Russia required everything from a small plane, to migs, to trains, the metro, and trams, and even a freezing ride on an old German war motercycle along the Baltic Hwy. There was so much packed into the pages of this spy novel that I will have a book hangover tomorrow... no today...from lack of sleep.
I first found the book in a lovely little Japanese edition, complete with printed paper 2nd cover wrap and a folded printed sash overlaid... for some absurdly cheap price in a used book store cardboard box of foreign language books at the turn of the milenia. I have a fascination for books in any language. I still can't read a word of Japanese, but now with translation tech and Goodreads, I was able to find the name of the book online. This book was written in English originally, and translated in many languages because it is so popular. It even recieved an award in Japan, as it turns out. So, I ordered a nice hardbound English copy from 3rd party sellers on Amazon.
I planned to read it for my stop in Russia originally, on my Journey Around the World in 80 Books Challenge. But, I have other books for that spot, and after some research, I realized this book takes place in Finland, Estonia, and Russia, as well as in the US, France and a few other places. But, Estonia was the drop point for infiltration into Russia, and a lot of time is spent there, as much as is in Russia. So, I read this for my stop in Estonia instead. I was already anxious to read it for a long time, so now it is done. You know that feeling you get when you are half way through a great book, and suddenly you realize you are feeling glad to already possess half the story? Sure you do. It's that buried trasure feeling. X marks the spot, and you've found it.
The story is a fictional take on an alternate possible scenario of what could have taken place the night Stalin supposedly had a stroke. There are several facts we do know that contradict the 'official' story, and much is still unknown. But, Glenn Meade did an excellent job of weaving it all together in a fictional novel. Of course, this is a spy novel, covering a dark period of a dark regime. and typical of that genre. My next stop will be Latvia, where I will cruise around the Baltic to learn the history of the people groups that live there.
Riding around in a Russian ZIS, Emka Sedans, and a Czech Skoda is not a bad way to follow an assassination plot. But, the trip from The US to Finland, to Estonia, and finally to Russia required everything from a small plane, to migs, to trains, the metro, and trams, and even a freezing ride on an old German war motercycle along the Baltic Hwy. There was so much packed into the pages of this spy novel that I will have a book hangover tomorrow... no today...from lack of sleep.
I first found the book in a lovely little Japanese edition, complete with printed paper 2nd cover wrap and a folded printed sash overlaid... for some absurdly cheap price in a used book store cardboard box of foreign language books at the turn of the milenia. I have a fascination for books in any language. I still can't read a word of Japanese, but now with translation tech and Goodreads, I was able to find the name of the book online. This book was written in English originally, and translated in many languages because it is so popular. It even recieved an award in Japan, as it turns out. So, I ordered a nice hardbound English copy from 3rd party sellers on Amazon.
I planned to read it for my stop in Russia originally, on my Journey Around the World in 80 Books Challenge. But, I have other books for that spot, and after some research, I realized this book takes place in Finland, Estonia, and Russia, as well as in the US, France and a few other places. But, Estonia was the drop point for infiltration into Russia, and a lot of time is spent there, as much as is in Russia. So, I read this for my stop in Estonia instead. I was already anxious to read it for a long time, so now it is done. You know that feeling you get when you are half way through a great book, and suddenly you realize you are feeling glad to already possess half the story? Sure you do. It's that buried trasure feeling. X marks the spot, and you've found it.
The story is a fictional take on an alternate possible scenario of what could have taken place the night Stalin supposedly had a stroke. There are several facts we do know that contradict the 'official' story, and much is still unknown. But, Glenn Meade did an excellent job of weaving it all together in a fictional novel. Of course, this is a spy novel, covering a dark period of a dark regime. and typical of that genre. My next stop will be Latvia, where I will cruise around the Baltic to learn the history of the people groups that live there.
October 10, 2022
Bu benim okuduğum 3. Meade oldu. Huzursuz Hayaletler'i hiç beğenmemiştim ama ondan önce Brandenburg'u okuyup çok sevdiğim için iki kitabı birlikte almıştım. İyi ki de almışım. Bitmeyen bir aksiyon, çok iyi hazırlanmış bir kurgu, çok çok keyifli bir kitap. Bazen polisiye okurken tutarsızlık yakalar sayfalarda geri giderim. Bir kez bile gerek olmadı. Tek endişem burada okuduklarımın gerçekmiş gibi aklımda yer edinip tarihle ilgili birşeyler hatırlamaya çalışırken beni yanıltması olacak :)
February 25, 2018
Bu kitap mi? Yoksa “Romanov Komplosu” mu daha guzel ona bile karar veremedim.
Muthis bir anlatim, kendinizi 1920 lerde Moskova’da hissedebilirsiniz.
Cok guzel...
Muthis bir anlatim, kendinizi 1920 lerde Moskova’da hissedebilirsiniz.
Cok guzel...
March 31, 2020
Ein unglaublich spannender und gut erzählter Thriller mit tollen Twists und hervorragend gezeichneten Figuren. Bierstedt liest wie immer großartig.
December 24, 2022
Страхотна книга!
June 10, 2014
Operation Snow Wolf, sanctioned by President Eisenhower during the coldest of the cold war, was the name assigned to the plot that would assassinate Joseph Stalin. In this book, the CIA appoints two agents to carry out the plot. Taking place in the 1950s, this fictional account by Glenn Meade pits the efforts of the KGB to foil this plot against the CIA.
While I read this book over the course of several weeks, it would have been better to sit down and think of nothing else except what was happening. As life would have it, trivials kept me from doing that. I was able to read a few pages to get me into the story again, then I'd lose pace. Many characters with similar sounding names (not really, but when all names are Russian, they may as well be the same!) kept me flipping back to recall when that character was first introduced.
In the end, an unexpected plot twist evoked an audible exclamation from this reader! It's a fabulous thriller. I'd previously read and reviewed The Romanov Conspiracy. I'd say this book is just as good, although it is more graphic in the torture and murder descriptions. That, plus my own distractions kept me from awarding five stars.
While I read this book over the course of several weeks, it would have been better to sit down and think of nothing else except what was happening. As life would have it, trivials kept me from doing that. I was able to read a few pages to get me into the story again, then I'd lose pace. Many characters with similar sounding names (not really, but when all names are Russian, they may as well be the same!) kept me flipping back to recall when that character was first introduced.
In the end, an unexpected plot twist evoked an audible exclamation from this reader! It's a fabulous thriller. I'd previously read and reviewed The Romanov Conspiracy. I'd say this book is just as good, although it is more graphic in the torture and murder descriptions. That, plus my own distractions kept me from awarding five stars.
March 14, 2015
Meade is a genious when it comes to setting breathtaking plots with many surprises. I also adore the surprises he offers to the reader, creating a very strong bond between himself, the reader andthe characters. I am alsovery fond of the historical facts offered withinthe story. What was speacial about The Snwowolf was that, among the three main characters and the leading two supporting characters there was nowhite and grey. we cannot say Anna is an angel we cannot say Lebel is a capitalist wolf, we cannot judge Irene for her choices, Lukin wasa betrayer and a hero, also valid for Slansky. Jake Massey is a good man also breathing at the dark side. Romulka was the pure evil and Nadya has been offered as the victim in the story based on her pure and naive story. I loved the fact that the balanceof good and evil has been set very smartly. Even Romulka as the evil has not became one byhis own choices but he was brought up to be one. And this sensitive critics of the system is pure genious. I loved the book as the characters were real, the story was flowing and thaking me with it. It is the not best book of Meade but it is a great one. Enjoy your time in Moskow with the Snowwolf!
August 27, 2018
I'm not a big fan of spy thrillers. There are only a few spy writers I like, and I don't go looking for them. If I were looking, though, I'd put Meade on my list.
The story takes place in 1953. Eisenhower was the new president and Stalin was the increasingly deranged dictator of the Soviet Union. A medical report on Stalin was leaked to top officials in Washington, and these officials began to imagine horrors if Stalin continued to hold office.
Two CIA agents are sent into Moscow, posing as man and wife. The plan, known only to the man, a seasoned killer, is to eliminate Stalin. The operation is run by an agent who is a longtime friend of the assassin. The operation depends on secrecy. But not everything goes as planned. In fact, almost nothing does.
The story had me at the edge of my seat again and again. Just when I thought it was safe, bam! Honestly, I don't look for books that do this to me, but this one, with compelling characters and believable scenes, kept me reading.
The story takes place in 1953. Eisenhower was the new president and Stalin was the increasingly deranged dictator of the Soviet Union. A medical report on Stalin was leaked to top officials in Washington, and these officials began to imagine horrors if Stalin continued to hold office.
Two CIA agents are sent into Moscow, posing as man and wife. The plan, known only to the man, a seasoned killer, is to eliminate Stalin. The operation is run by an agent who is a longtime friend of the assassin. The operation depends on secrecy. But not everything goes as planned. In fact, almost nothing does.
The story had me at the edge of my seat again and again. Just when I thought it was safe, bam! Honestly, I don't look for books that do this to me, but this one, with compelling characters and believable scenes, kept me reading.
March 4, 2015
For an espionage thriller this is quite a surprising book. I often find these kind of books somewhat cold and clinical. Food for the cerebrum (Take one Le Carre and lie down in a dark room). Spy books are intriguing, puzzling, (occasionally confusing) but this book was surprisingly moving. It is told in "flashback mode" with one of the central characters relating the story so the reader knows she (at least) will survive. There is violence - there is torture - there is love, and there is Need. It is a grim tale of Stalin's Russia and the culture of repression and fear that is engendered is very powerful. Joseph Stalin was not a nice man. It presumably reflects a sort of reality and once again the idea of freedom and democracy are made to seem (by contrast)very precious. A good meaty book. It took me longer than usual to read it - which I consider a very good sign: it made me think.
August 30, 2015
I felt like I was watching an action movie while reading this book.
It's your typical action-drama packed-spy book between CIA and KGB.
The horrors of the Stalin URSS are crudely revealed and the cold hearted CIA agents also take a part in this thriller. But the ones who make the difference are the people that actually have a heart and think on their own.
You get to see lots of suffering, romance, action, spies, freezing temperatures and vodka.
It's your typical action-drama packed-spy book between CIA and KGB.
The horrors of the Stalin URSS are crudely revealed and the cold hearted CIA agents also take a part in this thriller. But the ones who make the difference are the people that actually have a heart and think on their own.
You get to see lots of suffering, romance, action, spies, freezing temperatures and vodka.
March 27, 2016
This has to be one of my all time favorites. The plot, characters and localities were well executed and made to draw the reader into the story. The plot twist toward the end was unexpected and kept me reading to get to the conclusion.
I would highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys political intrigue. I will definitely be reading more books by this author.
I would highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys political intrigue. I will definitely be reading more books by this author.
January 6, 2009
This is one of my favorite books! I actually read it in German - about 4 times. It's so suspenseful, an amazing story, all based on historical facts. It's hard to put down although it's the thickest book ever. Highly recommended!
November 28, 2013
Noch im ersten Drittel abgebrochen. - Hörbuch -
Irgendwie hat der Autor es geschafft, einen Thriller ohne Spannung zu schreiben *gähn* Nach über einem Monat hören (und ich bin immer noch im ersten Drittel!) habe ich keine Lust mehr.
Irgendwie hat der Autor es geschafft, einen Thriller ohne Spannung zu schreiben *gähn* Nach über einem Monat hören (und ich bin immer noch im ersten Drittel!) habe ich keine Lust mehr.
February 18, 2015
I cheated. I found this story in a Reader's Digest Condensed Books volume. Yet, it was a great story. Had me interested from the first paragraph to the last. One of the best cold war spy stories I have read.
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