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The Blackmailer
1838
St. Petersburg, Russia’s Window to the West. Thirteen-year-old tomboy Rian Krieger has run away to Russia to help her uncle and cousin build a railroad for Tsar Nicholas I. But there’s a Rian is posing as her uncle’s coachman, a boy. The Tsar takes note of Rian’s bravery and resourcefulness and asks her (meaning orders her, for a request from the Tsar of All the Russias is, in fact, a command) to spend her days in his palace as companion to Grand Duke Konstantin, his ten-year-old son.
Philadelphia, U.S.A, the “Workshop of the World.” An economic depression has created massive unemployment and thrown the city into turmoil. Jules Freeman, who fled from slavery eighteen years ago, is a busy man. He struggles to keep his fledgling business afloat. He makes ends meet as foreman at Krieger Coach. His home is a station on the Underground Railroad. Then, he is asked to take on a huge task that intrigues and challenges him.
Book 3 of Rian Krieger’s Journey immerses Rian, Jules, their families, friends, and enemies in a history that has been ignored for almost two centuries.
St. Petersburg, Russia’s Window to the West. Thirteen-year-old tomboy Rian Krieger has run away to Russia to help her uncle and cousin build a railroad for Tsar Nicholas I. But there’s a Rian is posing as her uncle’s coachman, a boy. The Tsar takes note of Rian’s bravery and resourcefulness and asks her (meaning orders her, for a request from the Tsar of All the Russias is, in fact, a command) to spend her days in his palace as companion to Grand Duke Konstantin, his ten-year-old son.
Philadelphia, U.S.A, the “Workshop of the World.” An economic depression has created massive unemployment and thrown the city into turmoil. Jules Freeman, who fled from slavery eighteen years ago, is a busy man. He struggles to keep his fledgling business afloat. He makes ends meet as foreman at Krieger Coach. His home is a station on the Underground Railroad. Then, he is asked to take on a huge task that intrigues and challenges him.
Book 3 of Rian Krieger’s Journey immerses Rian, Jules, their families, friends, and enemies in a history that has been ignored for almost two centuries.
477 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 30, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
May 8, 2024
This book had such a strong start! It was so cool to read historical fiction that partially takes place in Russia. It’s fascinating how the author ties in his characters into real historical events!
August 18, 2024
The Blackmailer takes us on a journey through mid-19th century Russia and America, following the lovable, incredibly resourceful "tomboy" (Is that term even used anymore?), Rian Krieger. Using ingenuity and wisdom beyond her years, she tries to make her mark in the world as a boy...in a foreign country, no less. it seems our world is still struggling with transgenders, and she will go to any length to avoid a traditional female life in frilly dresses.. We follow her exploits in St. Petersburg where she fled to help her uncle and cousin build a railroad for Tsar Nicolas I. Things get even more interesting when she's recruited (as a he) to serve as companion to Grand Duke Konstantin, the Tsar's 10 year old son.
Back in America....in Philadephia, to be exact, we follow the harrowing efforts of Jules Freeman, foreman for Krieger Coach, Rian's family's company, as he struggles to keep the company afloat and earn a living during a depression...at a time when racism was in high gear.. Key to this series is that as a freed slave, he runs an Underground Railroad station in his home. He's is a brilliant character, based on real events.
History truly comes alive in Roger A. Smith's hands. I feel like I know the characters personally and want to read more. When I was introduced to the book as a Net Galley offering, in exchange for an honest review, I did not know it was Book 3 of a projected 9 book series. First, it was and can be read as a stand-alone. But I loved it and the characters, especially Rian, so much that I plan to read the first two and look forward to the remaining books in the series.
Back in America....in Philadephia, to be exact, we follow the harrowing efforts of Jules Freeman, foreman for Krieger Coach, Rian's family's company, as he struggles to keep the company afloat and earn a living during a depression...at a time when racism was in high gear.. Key to this series is that as a freed slave, he runs an Underground Railroad station in his home. He's is a brilliant character, based on real events.
History truly comes alive in Roger A. Smith's hands. I feel like I know the characters personally and want to read more. When I was introduced to the book as a Net Galley offering, in exchange for an honest review, I did not know it was Book 3 of a projected 9 book series. First, it was and can be read as a stand-alone. But I loved it and the characters, especially Rian, so much that I plan to read the first two and look forward to the remaining books in the series.
April 8, 2024
The Blackmailer is historical fiction at its best. It is a very readable book – in fact, it’s a real page-turner. The book is well researched and remarkably informative about the fascinating time and places in which it is set. When the tale begins, it’s early 1838 and we are in St Petersburg Russia several years into the reign of Emperor Nicholas Romanov [aka Tsar Nicholas I]. By the end, a few months later, we are in Philadelphia, PA USA, during a particularly roiling, tumultuous period in the so-called city of brotherly love.
The tale is intelligent and quite unusual. It’s a story that weaves in Russian history, going back to the Tsar’s grandmother, Catherine the Great; power struggles, secrets and intrigues within Nicholas’s court; and the stark contrasts between the largely agrarian economy, tradition-based culture and authoritarian society of Russia with the much more fluid culture, society and economy of the upstart United States, with its embrace of individualism, capitalism, and democratic ideals. The attitudes and issues of that time, of course, also reflect (not always favorably) upon our own.
The Blackmailer is the third book in a projected 9 volume series called Rian Krieger’s Journey. One does not need to have read the earlier books to enjoy this one. Rian started out 2 books ago as a 10-year-old tomboy, old beyond her years. She’s now thirteen and still very much a tomboy. Not only does she hate wearing dresses, she’s unwilling to abide the social expectations that girls must be demure and, well, girlish at all times, preferring instead to act like a boy – to have adventures, to be taken more seriously, to exercise more agency. It helps that she is smart, clever, willful, and goodhearted. And as those in Rian’s orbit understand, and those who underestimate her soon discover, she’s a force to be reckoned with. All of which make her a great protagonist!
Many other people populate the narrative as well. Most are fictional (such as members of Rian’s family and her friends), but several are actual historical figures. In Russia these include Prince Volkonsky, the Tsar’s influential (and malevolent) gatekeeper; General von Benckendorff, head of the Tsar’s powerful secret police; the Tsar’s four children, most notably 15-year-old Duchess Olga; and George Mifflin Dallas, the US Ambassador at the time. In Philadelphia, there are Lucretia and James Mott, prominent Quaker abolitionists; John Greenleaf Whittier, poet and abolitionist; William Lloyd Garrison, the publisher; James Forten, a very wealthy Black businessman; and his son-in-law Robert Purvis, a wealthy Black landowner and prominent abolitionist.
Author Roger Smith neatly weaves these historical figures into Rian’s story along with some of the remarkable events with which they were associated. As Mr. Smith’s Rian Krieger saga advances, the story just gets deeper and more rewarding. Book 4 in the series is expected in autumn 2024, and I can’t wait to see what’s in store.
The tale is intelligent and quite unusual. It’s a story that weaves in Russian history, going back to the Tsar’s grandmother, Catherine the Great; power struggles, secrets and intrigues within Nicholas’s court; and the stark contrasts between the largely agrarian economy, tradition-based culture and authoritarian society of Russia with the much more fluid culture, society and economy of the upstart United States, with its embrace of individualism, capitalism, and democratic ideals. The attitudes and issues of that time, of course, also reflect (not always favorably) upon our own.
The Blackmailer is the third book in a projected 9 volume series called Rian Krieger’s Journey. One does not need to have read the earlier books to enjoy this one. Rian started out 2 books ago as a 10-year-old tomboy, old beyond her years. She’s now thirteen and still very much a tomboy. Not only does she hate wearing dresses, she’s unwilling to abide the social expectations that girls must be demure and, well, girlish at all times, preferring instead to act like a boy – to have adventures, to be taken more seriously, to exercise more agency. It helps that she is smart, clever, willful, and goodhearted. And as those in Rian’s orbit understand, and those who underestimate her soon discover, she’s a force to be reckoned with. All of which make her a great protagonist!
Many other people populate the narrative as well. Most are fictional (such as members of Rian’s family and her friends), but several are actual historical figures. In Russia these include Prince Volkonsky, the Tsar’s influential (and malevolent) gatekeeper; General von Benckendorff, head of the Tsar’s powerful secret police; the Tsar’s four children, most notably 15-year-old Duchess Olga; and George Mifflin Dallas, the US Ambassador at the time. In Philadelphia, there are Lucretia and James Mott, prominent Quaker abolitionists; John Greenleaf Whittier, poet and abolitionist; William Lloyd Garrison, the publisher; James Forten, a very wealthy Black businessman; and his son-in-law Robert Purvis, a wealthy Black landowner and prominent abolitionist.
Author Roger Smith neatly weaves these historical figures into Rian’s story along with some of the remarkable events with which they were associated. As Mr. Smith’s Rian Krieger saga advances, the story just gets deeper and more rewarding. Book 4 in the series is expected in autumn 2024, and I can’t wait to see what’s in store.
April 25, 2024
The Blackmailer, Roger A. Smith’s, Book 3 in the Rian Kreiger Journey is marvelous! In this edition we experience several exciting and in some cases trying adventures with Rian Kreiger, her family and friends. This book is an excellent read, but if you have read the first two books, your knowledge of these characters will enrich your experience. Each book teaches us much about the real history of our country, a history we did not learn in school. These books weave it into a captivating story.
In the beginning of this book we are with Rian, her Uncle Adrian and cousin Seamus in Russia, as she navigates involvement with the Tsar’s older children after the big fire that destroyed their home. During this time she discovers an interesting secret that eventually changes the direction of lives important to her. Through this part of the story we are learning some Russian language, customs and a bit of their history as she interacts with these royals.
Meanwhile, on the home front, Jules Freeman and his family are experiencing their own changes and involvements. Freeman was a self emancipator, owner of Freeman Hydrolics and foreman of Kreiger Coach. This was a rarity for a black man in the 1800’s. Several buildings important to the cause of racial justice are in the process of being built in Philadelphia. Important people from history recruit his skills to finish Pennsylvania Hall, where national meetings of blacks will be held. These exciting projects insight hatred among those who don’t think a black man should be in charge of anything and especially not whites and blacks working together. These difficulties are a part of our real history and take us back to many challenging and emotional situations. Things are about to get hot in Philidelphia, Maybe for the first time we navigate the turmoil of racial hatred with characters we have learned to care about through this series of books.
Adventures abound in this volume. Rian and Seamus are in a race against time to save her Uncle Adrian. The Freeman children are growing up and making alliances that may create havoc for several families. And the health and future
of Philadelphia are in question.
Along with the real history I talked about earlier, we are also privy to being taught much about how things work as each stage of the story unfolds. It’s exciting to learn about the actual facts of how to build a large building1800’s style, or the mechanics of boat travel, etc…. The author treats us to such knowledge in many instances throughout this book. This is part 3 of an engaging and transporting story with more to come.
In the beginning of this book we are with Rian, her Uncle Adrian and cousin Seamus in Russia, as she navigates involvement with the Tsar’s older children after the big fire that destroyed their home. During this time she discovers an interesting secret that eventually changes the direction of lives important to her. Through this part of the story we are learning some Russian language, customs and a bit of their history as she interacts with these royals.
Meanwhile, on the home front, Jules Freeman and his family are experiencing their own changes and involvements. Freeman was a self emancipator, owner of Freeman Hydrolics and foreman of Kreiger Coach. This was a rarity for a black man in the 1800’s. Several buildings important to the cause of racial justice are in the process of being built in Philadelphia. Important people from history recruit his skills to finish Pennsylvania Hall, where national meetings of blacks will be held. These exciting projects insight hatred among those who don’t think a black man should be in charge of anything and especially not whites and blacks working together. These difficulties are a part of our real history and take us back to many challenging and emotional situations. Things are about to get hot in Philidelphia, Maybe for the first time we navigate the turmoil of racial hatred with characters we have learned to care about through this series of books.
Adventures abound in this volume. Rian and Seamus are in a race against time to save her Uncle Adrian. The Freeman children are growing up and making alliances that may create havoc for several families. And the health and future
of Philadelphia are in question.
Along with the real history I talked about earlier, we are also privy to being taught much about how things work as each stage of the story unfolds. It’s exciting to learn about the actual facts of how to build a large building1800’s style, or the mechanics of boat travel, etc…. The author treats us to such knowledge in many instances throughout this book. This is part 3 of an engaging and transporting story with more to come.
September 13, 2024
If you enjoy impeccably researched historical novels, with well-developed characters, interesting plots, and beautiful prose, this is the series for you! The Blackmailer is the third of 3 books written, out of 9 planned. I've stayed up too late at night recently devouring the first three! I highly recommend them and can't wait for the 4th to come out!
June 26, 2024
A rollicking tale full of historical characters and incidents. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone interested in Russia and/or Philadelphia in the late 1830s.
August 4, 2024
Well plotted and unusual setting. I appreciated the style of writing and the storytelling.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews