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Man of Bones
Winter 1953. Beneath a pitch-black Leningrad sky, two bodies lie near the towering statue of Lenin outside the Finland Station. 'Nothing sinister, here, just a simple hit and run,' an officer in the MGB secret police assures militia detective Revol Rossel. Now he knows it's murder.
Only recently released from a brutal Siberian labour camp and determined to find his missing sister at last, Rossel wants nothing to do with this new case. But his alcoholic, broken superior officer, Captain Lipukhin, seizes upon it as his salvation - a last chance to be a true Soviet hero.
Along with sharp-witted Senior Lieutenant Lidia Gerashvili, and Major Nikitin, the interrogator who once cut off Rossel's fingers, Rossel sets off on the trail of a murderer whose crimes surpass those of even the deranged tsar Ivan the Terrible. A trail leading to a dark, hidden episode in Bolshevik history filled with unspeakable horrors.
There is only one eyewitness - Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, better known as Lenin, whose giant right hand stretches out towards the frozen River Neva. Lenin, Rossel thinks, seems to be pointing at someone. But who?
Only recently released from a brutal Siberian labour camp and determined to find his missing sister at last, Rossel wants nothing to do with this new case. But his alcoholic, broken superior officer, Captain Lipukhin, seizes upon it as his salvation - a last chance to be a true Soviet hero.
Along with sharp-witted Senior Lieutenant Lidia Gerashvili, and Major Nikitin, the interrogator who once cut off Rossel's fingers, Rossel sets off on the trail of a murderer whose crimes surpass those of even the deranged tsar Ivan the Terrible. A trail leading to a dark, hidden episode in Bolshevik history filled with unspeakable horrors.
There is only one eyewitness - Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, better known as Lenin, whose giant right hand stretches out towards the frozen River Neva. Lenin, Rossel thinks, seems to be pointing at someone. But who?
413 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 9, 2024
14 people are currently reading
61 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
August 12, 2024
Superb!
August 5, 2024
Smashing.
This book transcends to few levels above the others. Didn't I read the other 2 books and thought them divine?? But this book, the one that I waited and kept scouring for, is akin to a mystery within a mystery within a mystery like an onion. The more you read, the more you will be immersed and the spatterings of music that turns up in Revol's mind- exquisite. That ending - brilliant 5/5. An apt closure.
Revol Rossell is my kind of hero - a nobody who is a smart lucky somebody. However, his sheer blatant disregard for shall we say - violent opportunities or outcome taxes on my nerves. I wonder what will turn up next. I really did entertain the idea that this was going to be the last book. Can't wait for a new one again.
This book transcends to few levels above the others. Didn't I read the other 2 books and thought them divine?? But this book, the one that I waited and kept scouring for, is akin to a mystery within a mystery within a mystery like an onion. The more you read, the more you will be immersed and the spatterings of music that turns up in Revol's mind- exquisite. That ending - brilliant 5/5. An apt closure.
Revol Rossell is my kind of hero - a nobody who is a smart lucky somebody. However, his sheer blatant disregard for shall we say - violent opportunities or outcome taxes on my nerves. I wonder what will turn up next. I really did entertain the idea that this was going to be the last book. Can't wait for a new one again.
January 1, 2025
“You’re the one who’s missing, Revol.”
Third in the Ben Creed 1950’s Russia series, with militiaman Revol Rossel seeking to navigate Stalin, the MGB, friends who may be enemies and enemies who may be friends.
Well written, plenty going on to, with dissidents, fanatics and the paranoia of living in a police state. And all the time looking for his missing sister.
“You seem the kind of fellow who sees thin ice as an invitation to tap dance”
“We Russians are as familiar with grief as we are with tiredness at the end of the day”.
Third in the Ben Creed 1950’s Russia series, with militiaman Revol Rossel seeking to navigate Stalin, the MGB, friends who may be enemies and enemies who may be friends.
Well written, plenty going on to, with dissidents, fanatics and the paranoia of living in a police state. And all the time looking for his missing sister.
“You seem the kind of fellow who sees thin ice as an invitation to tap dance”
“We Russians are as familiar with grief as we are with tiredness at the end of the day”.
June 30, 2024
In the third novel in the series, set in Leningrad in 1953, Senior Militia detective Revol Rossel attends a hit and run where a man and woman were killed. Shortly thereafter a Cornel from the MGB arrives and instructs the Melitia record the hit and run as an accident, but Rossel soon learns it was no accident and that the deceased holds a huge secret. An extremely well written and detailed historical murder mystery. Beautifully and brutally descriptive.
October 15, 2024
Really enjoyed this. The story of Revol Rossel gets tied up with the fate of Stalin in a murder investigation, all set in a post-war Leningrad that's brought grimly to life. Plus lots of fascinating historical context from the early 1950s USSR that sent me rushing to Wikipedia.
May 31, 2024
brilliant
I think this is the best of the trilogy, I enjoyed the other 2 but this was at another level.
I think this is the best of the trilogy, I enjoyed the other 2 but this was at another level.
July 21, 2024
excellent
Well researched and lots of information to make the mood of the period very real.A wonderful series one hopes will follow
Well researched and lots of information to make the mood of the period very real.A wonderful series one hopes will follow
April 30, 2025
Another Great Ben Creed Story
Read all of Ben Creed’s books and was never disappointed. Great main protagonist and haunting description of the Soviet era.
Read all of Ben Creed’s books and was never disappointed. Great main protagonist and haunting description of the Soviet era.
February 1, 2025
Set in the winter of 1953 in USSR, two bodies are found amongst the snow at Finland Station in Leningrad. When militia detective Revol Rossel arrives at the scene he is assured by an officer in the MGB secret police that it is simply a hit and run. However Revol remains unconvinced, and after gaining support from above within the militia he begins an investigation. What follows is a journey to discover the truth, during a time in history where the truth can get you killed.
I struggled a little through the first half of the story, finding myself struggling with numerous characters to keep track of, and doing a little research of Soviet Russia. Once all of the pieces of the story have been introduced the story flows and the book becomes addictive. Keen to checkout the previous books, as this is the third story in the #revolrosselseries
I struggled a little through the first half of the story, finding myself struggling with numerous characters to keep track of, and doing a little research of Soviet Russia. Once all of the pieces of the story have been introduced the story flows and the book becomes addictive. Keen to checkout the previous books, as this is the third story in the #revolrosselseries
June 1, 2025
In 1953 Leningrad, militia detective Revol Rossel investigates a hit-and-run that claimed the lives of two people. Caught between the ruthless MGB secret police warning him off the case and his superior officer pressuring him to press ahead, a reluctant Rossel must tread very carefully in his quest for the truth.
A riveting read that immerses us in its Stalinist Russian setting, an environment teeming with treachery, conspiracy, and dangerous secrets.
A riveting read that immerses us in its Stalinist Russian setting, an environment teeming with treachery, conspiracy, and dangerous secrets.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews