What do you think?
Rate this book
Spy Dust
Winner of the 2020 Fiction Awards (for Best Plot Twist) and 2020 Mafia Romance of the Year.
A chance encounter with an enigmatic Russian oligarch turns a young woman into the target of a criminal empire. Caught in a web of deceit, greed, and betrayal that stretches from the depths of Russia’s gangland to the Kremlin’s gilded halls, she is forced to forge a perilous alliance with an unlikely protector.
From London to Moscow, this thrilling, sensual, and richly textured story transports the reader to the heart of a mafia empire — perfect for fans of dark romance and spine-tingling suspense.
Originally published under the title "Russian Gambit".
A chance encounter with an enigmatic Russian oligarch turns a young woman into the target of a criminal empire. Caught in a web of deceit, greed, and betrayal that stretches from the depths of Russia’s gangland to the Kremlin’s gilded halls, she is forced to forge a perilous alliance with an unlikely protector.
From London to Moscow, this thrilling, sensual, and richly textured story transports the reader to the heart of a mafia empire — perfect for fans of dark romance and spine-tingling suspense.
Originally published under the title "Russian Gambit".
374 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2020
38 people are currently reading
9354 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
April 7, 2021
Russian Gambit by Laureline Ducros is a breathtaking spy thriller set in the glamorous and shady world of organized crime.
Labelled as both, a mafia romance and spy thriller, Ducros defies all the cliches of the traditional mafia romance by creating a strong yet delicate heroine, capable of holding herself beside an ingenious and elusive Russian undercover agent tasked with the near impossible mission of taking down the world's most powerful crime syndicate.
Throughout the book, Ducros manages to surprise and even astonish not only with an elaborately staged and fastpaced plot, but with the depth and complexity of her characters. In her characters the noblest of ideals go hand in hand with moral compromise - there is no black and white, but a raw and tantalizing touch of realism.
Glamorous locations, in depth-research, but most of all elaborately staged deceptions and conspiracies are the tools of Ducros' trade. A masterful storyteller.
Labelled as both, a mafia romance and spy thriller, Ducros defies all the cliches of the traditional mafia romance by creating a strong yet delicate heroine, capable of holding herself beside an ingenious and elusive Russian undercover agent tasked with the near impossible mission of taking down the world's most powerful crime syndicate.
Throughout the book, Ducros manages to surprise and even astonish not only with an elaborately staged and fastpaced plot, but with the depth and complexity of her characters. In her characters the noblest of ideals go hand in hand with moral compromise - there is no black and white, but a raw and tantalizing touch of realism.
Glamorous locations, in depth-research, but most of all elaborately staged deceptions and conspiracies are the tools of Ducros' trade. A masterful storyteller.
January 20, 2021
5 stars. Amazing storyline, exceptional writing, beautiful romance, and compelling action.
Isn’t it marvelous to find books that completely drags you in, makes you sit on the edge of your seat for every exciting, and nail-biting moment of it and makes you fall in love with the characters? This is one of those books for me. A true page turner that I couldn’t put down for too long!
“Russian Gambit” follows the story of Sophie Akehurst, a politics students who works at night as a bartender at the London Savoy. There, she accidentally bears witness to the secretive business of the Vor V Zakone and gets dragged into the sinister underworld of the mafia.
Offered as a toy in an auction, she gets sold to the highest bidder and finds herself in the hands of Alexei Ronov, a tycoon of the illegal arm trade. But Alexei, is a man of many secrets, and in a world as dangerous as this sinister underworld, these secrets can only lead to some unlikely alliances.
When I first started reading this book, I expected to read a very cliché story that romanticizes this menacing and dangerous underworld, with a female protagonist that would fall for her abusive captor in the span of ten chapters. But boy was I wrong! This book was nothing like I expected.
𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐲, the amount of research done by the author to create her world was clearly felt. I learned a lot from this book of this secretive underworld, that I used to ignore before. For instance I learned how it operates, how complex it is and of course how TRULY frightening and merciless it is. (The reality of this world is very romanticized in this genre nowadays, so it was really an eye opening and welcome change.)
𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐥𝐲, the characters (the MCs especially) had so much depth and thought put into them. They all had their own flaws and qualities, their weaknesses and strengths, their moments of power and moments vulnerability. In short, they were relatable characters that had normal human traits, and a great character development. This is really refreshing because in this genre the characters tend to be very superficial with no deep psychology.
𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐝𝐥𝐲, the storyline was very captivating, and always managed to keep me on the edge of my seat. Seriously though, there were many moments in the book where my heart pounded very strongly, my hand got sweaty and I was lost in the moment of the particular scene. So it was in every meaning of the word 𝘛𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨.
𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐥𝐲, and last but not least; the writing. *clears throat* the writing was exceptional, remarkable, wonderful, noteworthy, well you get my idea. For me the writing is the essence of a good book, it comes before the storyline does.
Laureline Ducros writes in a really extraordinary way that transmits vivid images and actions in your head. Her writing transports you directly into the scene and makes you live it as if you’re in there with the characters, and that really did it for me.
Laureline is an amazing author whose her work is astonishing. I am confident that one day she, and her books will get the recognition they deserve.
If you’re a fan of James Bond and spy thriller movies and books, then this mafia/thriller/romance masterpiece is definitely for you!
Isn’t it marvelous to find books that completely drags you in, makes you sit on the edge of your seat for every exciting, and nail-biting moment of it and makes you fall in love with the characters? This is one of those books for me. A true page turner that I couldn’t put down for too long!
“Russian Gambit” follows the story of Sophie Akehurst, a politics students who works at night as a bartender at the London Savoy. There, she accidentally bears witness to the secretive business of the Vor V Zakone and gets dragged into the sinister underworld of the mafia.
Offered as a toy in an auction, she gets sold to the highest bidder and finds herself in the hands of Alexei Ronov, a tycoon of the illegal arm trade. But Alexei, is a man of many secrets, and in a world as dangerous as this sinister underworld, these secrets can only lead to some unlikely alliances.
When I first started reading this book, I expected to read a very cliché story that romanticizes this menacing and dangerous underworld, with a female protagonist that would fall for her abusive captor in the span of ten chapters. But boy was I wrong! This book was nothing like I expected.
𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐲, the amount of research done by the author to create her world was clearly felt. I learned a lot from this book of this secretive underworld, that I used to ignore before. For instance I learned how it operates, how complex it is and of course how TRULY frightening and merciless it is. (The reality of this world is very romanticized in this genre nowadays, so it was really an eye opening and welcome change.)
𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐥𝐲, the characters (the MCs especially) had so much depth and thought put into them. They all had their own flaws and qualities, their weaknesses and strengths, their moments of power and moments vulnerability. In short, they were relatable characters that had normal human traits, and a great character development. This is really refreshing because in this genre the characters tend to be very superficial with no deep psychology.
𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐝𝐥𝐲, the storyline was very captivating, and always managed to keep me on the edge of my seat. Seriously though, there were many moments in the book where my heart pounded very strongly, my hand got sweaty and I was lost in the moment of the particular scene. So it was in every meaning of the word 𝘛𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨.
𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐥𝐲, and last but not least; the writing. *clears throat* the writing was exceptional, remarkable, wonderful, noteworthy, well you get my idea. For me the writing is the essence of a good book, it comes before the storyline does.
Laureline Ducros writes in a really extraordinary way that transmits vivid images and actions in your head. Her writing transports you directly into the scene and makes you live it as if you’re in there with the characters, and that really did it for me.
Laureline is an amazing author whose her work is astonishing. I am confident that one day she, and her books will get the recognition they deserve.
If you’re a fan of James Bond and spy thriller movies and books, then this mafia/thriller/romance masterpiece is definitely for you!
March 2, 2021
I couldn’t stop reading this book; It kept me on the edge of my seat! 10 hours later...I was looking for more to read about American Expat, Sophie and her benefactor through shady means, Russian Mob Lt. Alexei. Nothing is ever as it seems and just like a “007” spy-movie, it was an absolute wild ride!
She is writing a second book and I can’t wait!!!
She is writing a second book and I can’t wait!!!
October 16, 2022
absolutely wonderful writing. really well planned and always keeps the reader on their toes. definitely worth recommending!
March 9, 2021
A truly phenomenonal book! I constantly had butterflies in my stomach with every chapter.
February 23, 2025
I LOVED the concept of this book. It incorporated silly romance tropes (shout out Wattpad) as well as geopolitics and a myriad of foreign intelligence entities and their respective potential capabilities. Was it completely realistic? Absolutely not; however, it was so fun and interesting that for the first 3/4 I couldn’t put it down. Towards the end it did kind of drag and there were some grammar/spelling mistakes that I noticed throughout the book (and no, I am not talking about the British/European word spellings that were used). I am extremely interested in the future of the series/books that will come after this one!
December 13, 2025
More of a 3.5⭐️ star for me but have to give props to author bc the plot and details were actually insane. This mafia book had an insane worldwide plot going on and I loved it. However I was expecting more from the love story. It fell kinda flat for me and I just felt like I didn’t get enough there unfortunately. It just suddenly was, no build or focus on them.
January 22, 2021
Wow. That’s all I can say. This books keeps you on the edge of your seat. It reminds me of an Ocean’s 11 movie with higher stakes and more power. The entire books is like a symphony everything falling together like a masterpiece. HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend.
January 22, 2021
This book is amazing ...it's so hard to come upon a book as good as this one and I'm sooo happy to have read it...it was fantastic the storyline is gripping and it's soooo addicting
April 15, 2026
I loved the whole idea for this book - story line, writing style, plot, main characters, their relationship, the whole vibe. I loved that it was not very action driven, not very fast, but you could feel the tension all the time. The romance plot line was not at the front, but I loved that it was not of the usual kind. The relationship between mmc and mfc was not built out of lust or love at first sight, but need to survive, mutual understanding and then trust. While I wished they got more moments for themselves, I still felt their deep connection.
I could name some things I did not like, but as a first book for the author it is still really great. The ending was like the book could be read as a standalone, but as I understand that there is an idea of continuation and more for the characters and their world I would really be looking forward for it and 5 star rating is to hype up the author for the sequel 🤭
I could name some things I did not like, but as a first book for the author it is still really great. The ending was like the book could be read as a standalone, but as I understand that there is an idea of continuation and more for the characters and their world I would really be looking forward for it and 5 star rating is to hype up the author for the sequel 🤭
January 30, 2021
I finished this book in half a day I just couldn’t put it down! It was amazing. I applaud the effort and hard work the author put into this. This book was so different it wasn’t a cliché mafia book it was so much more.
And the romance not over-dominating yet delightful, was magnetic. The bond the two characters Sophie and Alexei shared was so special. The way Alexei would say reassurances that he’d keep her safe in his mind was so endearing.
I am hooked with this series. I cannot wait to keep reading The Tsar.
And the romance not over-dominating yet delightful, was magnetic. The bond the two characters Sophie and Alexei shared was so special. The way Alexei would say reassurances that he’d keep her safe in his mind was so endearing.
I am hooked with this series. I cannot wait to keep reading The Tsar.
May 5, 2021
The storyline, the little details in all of it, the amount of time it took to figure out how to set this book up was amazing. This really was deeper than you excepted which added to the whole “hot mafia man” style. I got through this so quick!!
July 11, 2021
Awesome storyline. Amazing plotting. I'm a sucker for action and this book really delivered on that. The writing is exceptional, and Alexei's bad boy charm is off the charts.
Want to Read
July 31, 2023Recommended at PT.
November 20, 2023
A masterpiece from start to finish! Story so well developed and plot twists all the way! I highly recommend this! 5/5 Stars!
May 15, 2023
If it was possible, I would give this book more than five stars. It is by far one of the best Mafia and Spy books I have ever read. The author is an incredible writer and had me hooked from the very beginning to the end. I can't wait to have this masterpiece of a series on my shelf in paperback or hardcover.
February 8, 2023
One of my favorite books when it was on Wattpad! I would love to buy and reread it when it’s published.
March 22, 2022
Fantastic book with an amazing plot that would keep you on your toes! Highly recommended !
December 23, 2021
I read this book when it was published on Wattpad. I started it just before the last few updates came out, and let me tell you, I could not put my phone down while reading it. I was reading it during a really rough point in my life, and it was my little escape when I finally found the time to read. Every aspect of the book was so well thought out, I couldn't believe I got the chance to read it for free! You can tell how much effort Ducros put into each and every one of her characters and plot points. It was obvious she did tons of research for this book. Absolutely obsessed. Will definitely read again when it's published!
April 18, 2021
This one is exceptionally well-written. I utterly enjoyed reading the story and was fortunate enough to be able to finish the novel in one seating. I seriously recommend the book to anyone who enjoys this particular genre, but also to anyone who looks for a brilliant example of what a romance thriller has to offer.
March 27, 2021
I absolutely loved this book! It's quite descriptive, passionate and overall amazing. It is an exceptionally complete story, something that many books lack of but in this case, it's not and I love that! I have no complaints about this book 😁
March 29, 2021
I literally just finished and I don’t know how I can describe how amazing this book was, I think I started it a few days ago and pretty much couldn’t put it down, I LOVE IT!!! Literally one of the best written books on wattpad and each character is just amazingly perfect at the same time flawed.
November 1, 2021
A great read. Though I wouldn't normally read a book of it's kind, it kept me intrigued till the very end. Well thought through storyline. Laureline Ducros is truly talented. I cannot wait for book no 2.
January 29, 2021
i've never read a book this detailed and intricate. the laureline ducros put a lot of thought and research into it and i applaud her! i can't wait to read the next book!
March 14, 2021
A thrilling adventure of deceipts, romance, puppets, a white Knight and a protégé. One among the stories that will keep you wanting for more.
March 26, 2021
THIS BOOK IS AMAZING. I have no other words.
July 14, 2021
No words enough to explain how I feel about this story just Wow 👏👏👏👏👏
July 17, 2021
its a great book
July 24, 2021
I have yet to read more chapters but the writing is exquisite and the plot seems really intriguing.
September 16, 2021
Where can I read this book, please suggest.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews