Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)EDIT JANUARY 14, 2011: I went back and read the first book of the series, Eye of the Red Tsar, and it is well worth it.
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The title of my review is a quote from page 274, at least of an advance uncorrected copy of the book, and I think it sums up many major points of this book. The point is that one lunatic is enough to stir up enough trouble to cause a war, especially if one side wants a war. Hmmm...I wonder what Eastland had in mind there.
This book is not what one would call great literature, but if a person has an inclination towards reading mystery and suspense novels, it will do. It is really more mystery than suspense, and frankly, was not that mysterious, since I knew the answer to one of the main mysteries (who murdered the T-34 creator) before page 90, but I think the strength of the novel rests in the historical nature of the fiction.
If one is drawn to the history of Russia and the Soviet Union, and thinks even the darker components of Russian history have something of a romantic nature, Eastland's novel will please. If one has ever read a Tom Clancy novel -- one of the older ones -- and found oneself at least partially intrigued and respectful of the Soviet characters, that reader is likely to find something of interest here.
Pekkala is the main character, and is not a spy working for the KGB (which did not exist as such at the time) as in Clancy novels, but a detective for Stalin, working with the NKVD (People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs), in pre-WWII U.S.S.R. His adventures are in regard to the investigation of crimes, particularly murders in the the first two novels of this series. The first novel is Eye of the Red Tsar. I have not read that one yet, but after the opportunity to read this second one, I regret not reading the first one already -- not because the first is necessary to understand this one, but because I like the way Eastland writes and presents his characters. Some of the other interesting characters are the Tsar, Tsarina, and Rasputin in flashbacks, as well as Stalin in Pekkala's current timeframe.
Some people may get distracted by the flashbacks Pekkala has, which provide opportunity to get a view into the past, when Pekkala worked for the Tsar as Nicholas's personal investigator in pre-Soviet Russia. I, however, found them to be a way to break up the main story with interesting background shots of Pekkala, and views of his personal relationships that helped to form his character.
The title of the book, "Shadow Pass," refers to a third page in Pekkala's government pass-book that identifies him as one of less than a dozen holders of the Classified Operations Permit, which essentially allows him to go wherever he wants, requisition whatever he wants, and prevents him from be held or questioned by anyone. It states he is acting under the direct orders of Comrade Stalin.
The "mysterious weapon" idea has the potential to turn off some readers, I think, if they suppose it is talking about a weapon that did not really exist, because it sounds a little like science-fiction, but that is not the angle at all. All the potential reader needs to do is imagine themselves in late 30's Russia, and imagine what type of weapon with significant advancement may be in development at the time. If that is not enough, look up T-34 on Wikipedia.
Overall, I give this four stars as readable, escapist fiction that can take the reader almost 75 years into the past of what would be a future world power.
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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.
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