A review by lorinlee
Eye of the Red Tsar by Sam Eastland

4.0

Sam Eastland’s thriller historical novel kept me fascinated. Pekkala is Czar Nicholas Romanov’s personal investigator, The Emerald Eye. Imprisoned in Siberia after the Bolshevik Revolution, he is eventually freed by Stalin to determine who assassinated the Czar and his family. Do this and you’ll win your freedom, he is promised. The quest takes Pekkala on quite a journey, during which we witness some of the ravages of Stalin’s rule. Flash-back chapters provide insight into Pekkala’s personality and his unique access to the Czar and explain why Stalin offers him a future. Eastland’s attention to the historical record (for broad context) makes this an interesting foray; Stalin’s record of duplicity makes it questionable why Pekkala would trust him. The author handles motivations pretty well, however, and perhaps the closing will satisfy. I’ll have to read the forthcoming Shadow Pass, a second Pekkala novel, to see if it holds up for me. Still, a good, solid read.