The Holy Thief by William Bryan

4 stars
R- 1

Murder and mayhem in Moscow!

An interesting mystery/suspense set in 1936, this story follows Korolev, a detective, as he tries to solve a series of horrific murders amid the fears of purges and coming war.

At first I had a hard time with the character of Korolev-- he seems to contradict himself.  But you know what?  It works.  Life was full of contradictions for those striving to be loyal to a government who insisted that the God you believed in didn't exist.  Not to mention the fine lines between guilt and innocence.

Overall, recommended.  Very interesting.

Russian Winter by Daphne Kalotay

(My Amazon widget is broken... stupid thing.)

5 stars
R- 2

Heartbreaking and beautiful-- I enjoyed this one so much more than I expected.

The cover still freaks me out a little, though.  It looks like her head is turned around backward.  Freaky.

The past intruding on the future and tryinng to make things right seem to be the themes of my reading lately.  Though there's no reincarnation in this one, memories force Nina, a former Soviet ballerina, to reevaluate why she left her homeland, who hurt her and whom she hurt.

Interestingly, the present-day passages are written in past-tense while the past passages are in present-tense.  It makes for a different narrative flow, but I found that I liked it.

I also really liked the characters.  And while some mysteries remain unsolved, you feel like there's resolution for everyone involved (in the present).

Anyway, a melancholy book, but recommended.