Monstrum

Service fine, but did not like the book.. donated it

In the year 2?015 , The National Democracy forces under Leonid Kobra ended the civil war by defeating the Anarchist/Marxist forces, taking back the city of Moscow. Cheka (secret service) official Roy Rolkin asks for the transfer of his friend, Inspector Constantin Vadim, from his home grounds of Murmansk to Moscow. There, Vadim should find a serial murderer who kills and carves up young women. He is placed in the worst possible district of the city, completely bombed out and destroyed,without water or electricity, and the meager population reduced to fighting for the barest survival. Slowly and energetically, he burrows his way into this underground of absolute human misery. He finds that the promised amnesty for the anarchists brings a one way ticket to Siberian hell once they surrender. Dr. Imogen Sheperd, the American supervisor of the program, is more interested in the luxury life the party bosses lead in another part of town. Vadim is also interested in the fate of his ex-wife Lydia, the anarchist commander of a regiment of women, and of their son Misha. He visits the buildings where bands of teenage robbers and murderers congregate, and goes into the underground passages where Father Alexander celebrates his libidinous church. Nothing ever is what it seems to be. The former enemies surface as top party officials of the new government. The people at the bottom of the ladder are persecuted as before, tortured and murdered. Everything has changed, and yet nothing is different.Mr. James published this book in 1997 when Jelzin was in power. His previous book, ?the Fortune Teller?, places Vadim in the hopeless harbor scene of Murmansk. His next one, ?Vadim?, plays in 2?020 and will be published shortly. A fourth one, ?the Benefactor?, is scheduled for next year. Mr. James wrote the 10-part series on Russia for PBS. He also published a book on modern Russian history. To compare the present book to ?Gorki Park? does it an immense injustice. The author uses the form of a mystery to tell us about Russia, and he comes through very loud and clear.Mr James makes a very strong point: The lot of the Russian citizen is a sad one. In command is the Cheka, the KGB, or whatever name it gives itself. And no matter how much they smile and act human they still imprison, torture and kill. At this point we should remember that Vladimir Putin is a product of the KGB.

Donald James has written a strange novel that I enjoyed, but only in a limited fashion. In it the stage is set in 2015, in Russia. Constantin Vadim has been transferred from Murmansk to Moscow to run a homicide squad, for which he has no experience and little talent. This, however, is a cover, as he in reality is to act as a double impersonating the Vice President of the new country, Leonid Koba, who is really the power behind the throne.No sooner does Vadim arrive in Moscow than it develops that his assignment as homicide investigator is going to be a real problem for him. For one thing, though his staff is large, most of them only engage in private enterprise for one of his superiors, and he can't complain about this. As a result, his squad of investigators is very small. In addition, there's a particularly nasty serial killer on the loose, nicknamed Monstrum because of the gruesome mutilations he inflicts on his female prostitute victims.Then there are Vadim's personal problems. He's divorced from an ideologue who joined the losing side in the just-concluded Civil War, an anarchist with a seemingly endless ability to prevaricate and justify her actions, though they are less and less moral as time goes on. Vadim also has an affair with an American official who's helping with the Amnesty program locally in Russia, and a flirtation with the medical examiner. There's a dead son by the ex-wife, who figures in the plot, and various other characters.One of the problems with this story is the way it's structured. I recently read a Mickey Spillane novel where the author managed to hold the final surprise of the book to the last sentence: there's no pretence of that here, instead the mystery concludes 40 pages from the end of the book, and the author then has to wind up the various plots. It's a bit anti-climactic...I will say, though, that I did enjoy this book, and would recommend it.

Being a Russian living in Moscow I have a certain advantage over the readers who were not brought up in Russia and have no knowledge of the Russian literary tradition.You can believe me - this book is superb if you see it in a way that makes the enjoyment unhindered. Please do not compare it to Gorky Park and the schlock of this kind. Also it's unwise to test the novel's characters and events against the patterns of the real life. Just see it as a modern Russian fairy tale.I am sure the author is familiar with the Russian fantastic tradition of Bulgakov, Odoevsky, etc.- the authors inspired by E.T.A.Hoffman.If you'll read these tales you will see that usually they start with quite veritable everyday happenings and the characters occupation and rank is stated. But a few pages later the fabric of reality is torn and the world of supernatural is shining through the gaps.The mood of the novel is dark - it's definitely Russian. Cowards turn into heroes and the heroes are traitors, former classmates are united by vodka but one of them is the chief of the secret police and another - the prime suspect.I was amused that one of the reviewers could not buy the fact that the rebellious general's husband was recruited as the dictators body double. What would you say about Stalin's comrade Molotov, who had his wife rotting in a death camp and still stood at the Mausoleum near his boss, flinching at his jovial inquiries about the woman's health?So see this novel as a perfect opportunity to experience the life very different from your own and even if you do not care for the Russian literary tradition the novel's beautiful(and mostly evil) heroines, courageous underdogs and exotic settings will make a couple of your evening very enjoyable.

Once again Donald James proves why he is considered by other writers as the best. His stories draw you in form the very first page until the last page. Very under-rated unless you read his books. The best thriller writer I have ever read, and I have read most of the popular writers but they don't hold a candle to Donald James.

I first read this book when it was first released and thoroughly enjoyed it. It wasn't quite as good as I remembered, but still an excellent read. If you enjoyed Archangel, Child 44, and particularly Fatherland, you'll probably enjoy this.

Excellent as expected

Rubbish.

Pretty good but slow to build and a bit of a meandering plot. The Express review said this guy is better than Thomas Harris - he is not.