Shadow Pass: A Novel of Suspense Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I have been dying to write that as my title for this review. For those of you who haven't read this book, this is Sam Eastland's sequel to Eye of the Red Tsar. It is about the main returning character Inspector Pekkala along with his assistant Major Kirov going off to investigate another perplexing crime: the murder of an eccentric inventor of a new type of tank at the eve of WWII. The book starts off to me at a good pace and have the same style of writing used in the first book along with good descriptions, characters, and lines! Which to all people who have read this book already hopefully get the joke of the title. By the time this book concludes, to me, the closing chapters are a bit dry despite the so-call action but the ending leaves us on a funny and mysterious note as to what will happen next to one of our (Me, included) favorite characters. Spoiler: To find out where Inspector Pekkala supposedly goes next, go to Eastland's website: [...]. Thanks for reading my review. I can't wait for the next book.
Spoiler Line(s):
"Come on, Inspector, let's go have a look at this tank. Maybe they will let us take one home."
"We wouldn't have to worry about someone taking our parking spot...We just parked on top of them." (pg. 45)
Sorry, but I really want to post the quotes with my review.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Shadow Pass: A Novel of Suspense

Pekkala: He was the Romanovs' most trusted investigator. Now he's Stalin's greatest fear. He operates in the shadows of one of history's most notorious regimes. He seeks the truth in a nation where finding it can mean death—or worse. His name his Inspector Pekkala, and this time he's taking on a case with implications far deadlier than anything he can imagine: a shattering revelation that was never meant to be unearthed. Its official name is T-34, and this massive and mysterious new weapon is being developed in total secrecy in the Russian countryside, a thirty-ton killing machine. Its inventor, Colonel Rolan Nagorski, is a rogue genius whose macabre death is considered an accident only by the innocent. And Josef Stalin is no innocent. Suspecting assassins everywhere, he brings in his best—if least obedient—detective to solve a murder that's tantamount to treason. Answerable to no one, Pekkala has the dictator's permission to go anywhere and interrogate anyone. But in Soviet Russia that's easily a death sentence. The closer Pekkala gets to the answers, the more questions he uncovers—first and foremost, why is the state's most dreaded female operative, Commissar Major Lysenkova, investigating the case when she's only assigned to internal affairs?Pekkala is on a collision course not only with the Soviet secret police but the USSR's deepest military secrets. For what he is about to learn could put Stalin and his Communist state under for good—and bury Pekkala with them. Brilliantly researched and rivetingly plotted, Shadow Pass is a superb story of suspense in a series growing only richer—and with a detective getting only better.

Click here for more information about Shadow Pass: A Novel of Suspense

Read More...

The 900 Days: The Siege Of Leningrad Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Few events in the annals of modern history compare to the saga of the terrifying siege of Leningrad for almost three years by the German Wehrmacht during World War Two. In this classic historical work, "The 900 Days" written by long-time New York Times correspondent and editor Harrison Salisbury, the incredible toll in terms of blood, sweat and tears of the millions of Russian protagonists trapped by the Nazis in the city is told. The story is told in such a graphic and moving fashion that the individuals involved are portrayed from a common sense, human perspective, in terms of describing breathing, struggling individuals locked into a living nightmare, each of them having to make a titanic effort day after day just to endure the hardships and survive.
The scale of the siege itself boggles the mind; some three million residents and soldiers were encircled and entrapped at the beginning of the Nazi incursion into Russia in Operation Barbarossa, intensifying with a ruthless German offensive in early October of 1941 that literally strangled the lifeline for food and critical supplies from the embattled urban area. Of those trapped, almost half succumbed, and most of these fatalities were in a relatively brief period of time, commencing with the events of October 1941 and climaxing in early April of 1942. People starved, froze, drowned, were run over by tanks, walked into mine fields, succumbed to a wide range of diseases, were murdered by German soldiers, and sometimes were caught in artillery fire. In all, almost one and one half million people were lost during the siege.
Yet in the midst of all this immense suffering and the degraded conditions that forced many to the brink of extinction, the people of Leningrad consistently fought back, fighting environmental conditions, temperatures that dipped below 30 degrees below zero, with no heat, no light, little or no food or water. Yet the fighting on the front went on, supported by the inhabitants, who did everything from digging ditches to helping to care for the wounded in the midst of their own daily struggles to survive. In this instance, they didn't merely endure; in fact they prevailed against incredible odds. In the final analysis, it was the German army that was destroyed.
The scope of this achievement seems to be little appreciated today. And while Salisbury traces the causes in the tragedy of Leningrad in Stalin's sectarian governmental policies that ultimately played into Hitler's plans for capturing the city, he also describes the incredible contributions of a cross-section of the citizenry of the city, including artists, factory workers, soldiers, teachers, housewives, children, writers, and others engaged in the common daily struggle to survive without ever ceding the ground or the war to the foe. Even more impressive is his unflinching attention to detail, and his retelling of the final coup-de-grace delivered by Stalin, jealous and politically fearful of the genuine heroes made by the siege, who then arranged to charge, convict and execute all the principals of the city's campaign against the Germans based on trumped up charges of treason. This was one of the first books to deal with the levels of Soviet suffering and contribution to the war effort, and it has been praised quite consistently by readers and critics alike. I can recommend this book without reservation.
Enjoy!

Click Here to see more reviews about: The 900 Days: The Siege Of Leningrad

The Nazi siege of Leningrad from 1941 to 1944 was one of the most gruesome episodes of World War II. Nearly three million people endured it; just under half of them died. For twenty-five years the distinguished journalist and historian Harrison Salisbury pieced together this remarkable narrative of villainy and survival, in which the city had much to fear-from both Hitler and Stalin.

Click here for more information about The 900 Days: The Siege Of Leningrad

Read More...

Between Shades of Gray Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)It's been a long time since a book has touched me as much as this one has. I stayed up late to finish it and even though I was so tired I could not fall asleep for awhile because I could not stop thinking about the story. The story was haunting and heartbreaking.
I have read The Diary of Anne Frank several times and in fact just re-read it this year and I'm sure that is one of the most well known accounts from a victim of the Holocaust and really helped put a face on the victims. I felt like this book did the same for me about the victims of Stalin's deportations. This topic was something that I studied when I took Russian in high school and Russian History in college but I did not truly feel the horrors these people went through during Stalin's reign. It's made all the worse when you read that Sepetys based some of the events in the book from stories that actual survivors recounted to her.
The story is told from the point of view of Lina and the passages alternate between what is happening to her in the present and happier memories from her past. Through her observations we see how different people reacted to their circumstances. Some were defeated and gave up all hope where as others were determined to survive whatever the Soviets did to them. The circumstances brought out such acts of depravity and at the same time unbelievable depths of kindness from unexpected sources that you have to wonder how would you react in their positions.
If you have never read about the re-locations that Stalin ordered of the native people of countries like Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and other countries that the Soviet Union annexed then you have to read this book. The writing was entrancing and will keep you glued to the book until the very end. It's really hard to put into words just how amazing this book is but I highly recommend it to everyone. I'd even go so far as to say if there is only one book you will read this year, this should be it.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Between Shades of Gray

Click here for more information about Between Shades of Gray

Read More...