Sonja's Run

by Richard Hoyt

"Hoyt has a fresh, invigorating style that grabs the reader immediately."—The New York TimesAt the 1852 Christmas party hosted by Tsar Nicholas I, the plucky half-Chinese, half-Russian poet Sonja Sankova decks Peter "Colonel Cut" Koslov, who is infamous for his necklace of ears taken from serfs and Jews. In London that same night, American Jack Sandt, the Matthew Brady of Asia, conspires with Karl Marx to con the tsar into letting Sandt take daguerreotype images inside Russia.So begins this immaculately researched, wildest of romantic wild rides, an odyssey of two lovers fleeing for their lives through the vast reaches of the Russian empire. The period detail is a supper with Ivan Turgenev; a visit with the craftsmen who designed and cut gems for the Romanov tsars; a ball in a frontier town in the Urals; a glimpse of life inside the yurts of nomadic herdsmen.With Koslov and his special unit, the Wolfpack, in hot pursuit, Sonja and Jack flee Saint Petersburg, cross European Russia, and go over the Urals, there risking their lives on a turbulent mountain river. Sonja and Jack take turns telling their story, as they fall in love and marry in a Siberian chapel. In a narrow escape, Jack shoots Koslov in the ankle.A sadistic Kyrghyz nomad grabs Sonja and spirits her away. Jack and a Cossack pursue the nomad and his men across the Asian steppe, but Koslov gets to him first. Koslov takes Sonja to a fabled mountain near Lake Baikal, where he is to retrieve rubies destined for a new Romanov throne. He waits, vowing revenge for his stiff ankle. Jack rescues his wife, and with their lives and a fortune of rubies at stake—and real wolves howling in a blizzard—Sonja and Jack face down Colonel Cut and the Wolfpack

Kindle Edition

First published February 1, 2005

About the author

The author of 27 mysteries and thrillers, I’m a former army counterintelligence agent, newspaper reporter, Newsweek writer and college professor with a PhD. in American studies. The New York Times included four of my titles on its annual notable books list. My novels include 10 John Denson Pacific Northwest mysteries and 10 James Burlane international thrillers. My John Denson mystery 30 for a Harry was nominated for a Shamus by the Private Eye Writers of America and Siege won the American Mystery Award for best espionage novel. The French publisher Gallimard published Trotsky’s Run as a Serie Noir best-of-the best title. I’ve been widely published in British commonwealth countries, France, Holland, Belgium, Finland, Japan and Germany.

Reviews

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Found this book randomly at the library. The premise of the book was interesting. Definitely written by a man for men. Sexy woman, american "cowboy", guns, adventure, forced sex, shoot outs. I did enjoy the descriptions of the vast country and lifestyle of the Kyrgyz. Already had a base understanding of the brutal ways serfs were treated in Russia after reading a few other non-fiction books about Russia. Glad Jack and Sonja found each other. I think the repeated rape scenes were unnecessary.