Category: Reviews by book publication date (Page 11 of 13)

Our Kind of Traitor by John Le Carré (2010)

15 October 2020 / Russia in Fiction

Le Carré books stand out from the crowd. They are atypical in the world of thrillers, and Russia-related thrillers. Not for them the fast-moving plot-based story packed with clichéd characters. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is the finest Russia-related espionage novel ever written. (The Honourable Schoolboy runs it very close, but has little to do with Russia). Whether it is a thriller is a different question. It represents rather the thriller as literature.

Our Kind of Traitor has of course the main Le Carré traits, but, like several of his later books, it is a slighter work than his greatest novels.

The Cambridge Theorem by Tony Cape (1990)

11 October 2020 / Russia in Fiction

You would think that after several decades reading spy thrillers about Russia, I would know all the good ones. Then, browsing the Oxfam bookshop on the Woodstock Road in Oxford a few years ago, I came across The Cambridge Theorem.

How had I missed this for so long? The Cambridge Theorem is brilliant. What is more, it turned out —or so I thought at the time— that it was the first in a trilogy based around its central character.

Moscow Gold by John Salisbury (1980)

8 October 2020 / Russia in Fiction

With Cold War espionage fiction at its height, the Moscow Olympics of 1980 presented a fine opportunity for authors to write thrillers whose very titular contemporaneity might propel them into the best seller list.

Strangely, the two thrillers that I know of —and have read— in this category were both written by well-known authors who chose to adopt pseudonyms for the purpose.

Brandenburg by Henry Porter (2005)

4 October 2020 / Russia in Fiction

Ssshh, I’m sneaking this book into these ‘Russia in fiction’ reviews , despite the fact that Henry Porter’s Brandenburg is not about Russia or set in Russia.

So why am I mentioning it here? Two real reasons: first, it’s just a terrific book — one of my favourite political thrillers; second, whilst it might not really be ‘Russia in fiction’, it does feature —as a major character— a young Vladimir Putin, serving as a KGB Colonel in Dresden.

Rancid Aluminium by James Hawes (1997) – part two

27 September 2020 / Russia in Fiction

James Hawes’ second novel screams 1990s Brit-lit in the same way that Blur and Oasis riff us back to the Britpop era whenever their guitar twangs ring out from an unsuspecting radio.

Rancid Aluminium by James Hawes (1997) – part one

24 September 2020 / Russia in Fiction

Part Two of this review is here

‘Rancid Aluminium: The worst film ever made in the UK?’
Wales in the Movies YouTube Channel

The First Billion by Christopher Reich (2002)

15 September 2020 / Russia in Fiction

Christopher Reich’s third book very much merits the description of Russia-focused thriller. And a turn-of-the-century one at that, with the plot revolving around oligarchs, violence, and financial misdeeds.

Neat Vodka by Anna Blundy (2006) – part two

6 September 2020 / Russia in Fiction

Part one of this review is here.

‘It’s always strange to be back. There is something about even flying into Russian airspace that makes me relax. I’m not weird in Russia.’

So says Faith Zanetti, the first person narrator of Neat Vodka. She feels a bit like I do when I go to Russia.

Neat Vodka by Anna Blundy (2006) — part one

31 August 2020 / Russia in Fiction

Part two of this review is here.

Neat Vodka encapsulates so much of what lies behind this Russia in fiction blog.

On the one hand it’s a fairly light frolic of a paperback novel. On the other, it brims with detail and description redolent of Russia in recent decades.

Mikhail Suslov and the poetry of Steve Turner

30 August 2020 / Russia in Fiction

Category: Reviews by book publication date (Page 11 of 13)

Our Kind of Traitor by John Le Carré (2010)

The Cambridge Theorem by Tony Cape (1990)

Moscow Gold by John Salisbury (1980)

Brandenburg by Henry Porter (2005)

Rancid Aluminium by James Hawes (1997) – part two

Rancid Aluminium by James Hawes (1997) – part one

The First Billion by Christopher Reich (2002)

Neat Vodka by Anna Blundy (2006) – part two

Neat Vodka by Anna Blundy (2006) — part one

Mikhail Suslov and the poetry of Steve Turner

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