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GHOST DIRECTIVE: The Price of Love
From the author of BLOOD AND CAVIAR—a #1 Bestseller in Historical Russian Fiction—comes a gripping international thriller where power is engineered, loyalty is expendable, and love is the most dangerous variable of all.
“The future cannot be predicted. It must be managed.”
The Cold War ended without settling old scores.
As the European Union is born—fragile, untested, and divided—new power struggles begin not at the borders, but from within. Peace was never the goal. Control was.
From the ruins of collapsing empires rises Adrian Porosh, a technocrat who believes chaos, faith, and freedom are obsolete. His system—Terra Nova—will manage humanity itself, one doctrine, one algorithm, one life at a time.
Across a fractured Europe, a man trained to disappear is forced to break his code.
Known only as Ghost, covert operator Attila Keller has survived years of sanctioned violence by staying invisible. But when a woman and her child become collateral damage in Terra Nova’s experiment, Ghost makes the one mistake no system can allow—he chooses mercy.
Now hunted by the forces that created him, Ghost forms an uneasy alliance with Russian intelligence officer Major Ivan Chernov to expose Porosh’s growing machine. From Budapest’s riverfront shadows to Washington’s corridors of power, their pursuit uncovers a conspiracy hidden behind eco-activist movements, digital finance, and global NGOs—an architecture of control selling salvation through design.
As Europe’s new union is quietly pulled apart by competing interests, engineered crises, and hidden handlers, Ghost must decide whether one act of defiance can outweigh a lifetime of obedience—and how much he is willing to sacrifice for the one thing he can’t kill.
GHOST A shadow-drenched international thriller fusing le Carré’s moral ambiguity with Clancy’s razor-sharp tactical intensity—set at the treacherous dawn of 1990s globalization, where power brokers and ghosts collide.
For fans of The Night Manager, I Am Pilgrim, and Sicario.
Book One of The Terra Nova Cycle.
“The future cannot be predicted. It must be managed.”
The Cold War ended without settling old scores.
As the European Union is born—fragile, untested, and divided—new power struggles begin not at the borders, but from within. Peace was never the goal. Control was.
From the ruins of collapsing empires rises Adrian Porosh, a technocrat who believes chaos, faith, and freedom are obsolete. His system—Terra Nova—will manage humanity itself, one doctrine, one algorithm, one life at a time.
Across a fractured Europe, a man trained to disappear is forced to break his code.
Known only as Ghost, covert operator Attila Keller has survived years of sanctioned violence by staying invisible. But when a woman and her child become collateral damage in Terra Nova’s experiment, Ghost makes the one mistake no system can allow—he chooses mercy.
Now hunted by the forces that created him, Ghost forms an uneasy alliance with Russian intelligence officer Major Ivan Chernov to expose Porosh’s growing machine. From Budapest’s riverfront shadows to Washington’s corridors of power, their pursuit uncovers a conspiracy hidden behind eco-activist movements, digital finance, and global NGOs—an architecture of control selling salvation through design.
As Europe’s new union is quietly pulled apart by competing interests, engineered crises, and hidden handlers, Ghost must decide whether one act of defiance can outweigh a lifetime of obedience—and how much he is willing to sacrifice for the one thing he can’t kill.
GHOST A shadow-drenched international thriller fusing le Carré’s moral ambiguity with Clancy’s razor-sharp tactical intensity—set at the treacherous dawn of 1990s globalization, where power brokers and ghosts collide.
For fans of The Night Manager, I Am Pilgrim, and Sicario.
Book One of The Terra Nova Cycle.
434 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 18, 2025
1 person is currently reading
7 people want to read
About the author
Nikolay Ignatiev
3 books10 followersHis debut novel, Blood and Caviar, a dark political thriller set in post-Soviet Russia, explores ambition, betrayal, and survival in a fractured era. The book reached ,#1 in Russian Historical Fiction,, earning strong early reader praise for its cinematic scope and emotional weight.
His second novel, Ghost Directive: The Price of Love, expands his thematic focus into post–Cold War Europe, examining power, ideology, and the human cost of systems designed to control the future. The novel continues Ignatiev’s interest in moral ambiguity, psychological depth, and historically grounded geopolitical tension.
Ignatiev’s work centers on the collapse of systems, the price of power, and the personal choices made in moments of political and moral uncertainty. His storytelling blends historical realism with psychological nuance, favoring atmosphere and consequence over spectacle.
Based in Miami, he divides his time between writing, business consulting, and exploring the intersection of technology, politics, and storytelling.
His second novel, Ghost Directive: The Price of Love, expands his thematic focus into post–Cold War Europe, examining power, ideology, and the human cost of systems designed to control the future. The novel continues Ignatiev’s interest in moral ambiguity, psychological depth, and historically grounded geopolitical tension.
Ignatiev’s work centers on the collapse of systems, the price of power, and the personal choices made in moments of political and moral uncertainty. His storytelling blends historical realism with psychological nuance, favoring atmosphere and consequence over spectacle.
Based in Miami, he divides his time between writing, business consulting, and exploring the intersection of technology, politics, and storytelling.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
December 23, 2025
Earlier this year I read Blood and Caviar, Nikolay Ignatiev's first book and it was superb, so when I got this ARC, I was hoping it would be as good, it was, in fact it was even better.
A clever, well written and utterly engrossing political spy thriller, to me this was as good as the early Robert Ludlum, indeed Ghost is a brilliant creation.The plot is set in early 1990's in Hungary, and the various complex power plays and strategies throughout the book are both believable and realistic, as are the action sequences.
It has been a long while since a rival to Ludlum has even come close to matching Jason Bourne, yet in some respects Ignatiev has actually surpassed him with this book.
My favourite find of 2025 , hopefully the next book in the Terra Nova series won't be to long , as I am certain it will be as good if not better that this one.
A clever, well written and utterly engrossing political spy thriller, to me this was as good as the early Robert Ludlum, indeed Ghost is a brilliant creation.The plot is set in early 1990's in Hungary, and the various complex power plays and strategies throughout the book are both believable and realistic, as are the action sequences.
It has been a long while since a rival to Ludlum has even come close to matching Jason Bourne, yet in some respects Ignatiev has actually surpassed him with this book.
My favourite find of 2025 , hopefully the next book in the Terra Nova series won't be to long , as I am certain it will be as good if not better that this one.
Displaying 1 of 1 review