Promotional Information

Boris Akunin's Erast Fandorin series is growing in sales with each new book A worldwide success THE WINTER QUEEN has sold over 12,000 hardcovers. LEVIATHAN has already sold more than 15000 hardbacks and trade-paperbacks (combined), and has consistently been in the Evening Standard bestseller list.

About the Author

Boris Akunin is the pseudonym of Grigory Chkhartishvili. He translated Japanese texts before the worldwide success of his Fandorin series. He lives in Moscow.

Reviews

If chatty digressions on love and war tend to slow the third Erast Fandorin historical to appear in the U.S. (after 2004's Murder on the Leviathan), Russian author Akunin does a superb job of rendering the immediacy of battle in the 1877-1878 conflict between the Motherland and Turkey, and illuminating the politics behind czarist fantasies of recapturing Constantinople. At the Balkan front, the quiet, stuttering Fandorin befriends Varya Suvorova, a midwife turned telegraphist. Varya is bent on visiting her court-martialed fiance, who's accused of being a spy. Fandorin and Varya are soon caught up in the fortunes of the Russian army, which a well-placed mole seems intent on betraying. Suspicions point to various Russian staff officers and to some glamorous foreign correspondents, including Seamus McLaughlin from London's Daily Post and Michel Paladin from the Revue Parisienne. Codes, courtesans and love letters all come into play, as well as murder and suicide in combat, in a plot more complex than some West Point battle plans. While the plethora of minor characters can be confusing, the quirky Fandorin and determined Varya stand out amid the turmoil of their surroundings. Agent, Linda Michaels Ltd. (Mar. 15) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Though he keeps bringing back diffident yet penetrating sleuth Erast Fandorin, Akunin never exactly repeats himself. The Winter Queen, which introduced Fandorin, was a chilling evocation of pre-revolutionary Russia; Murder on the Leviathan was a Byzantine nod to Agatha Christie. Here, Fandorin seems almost like a secondary character, as in gentlemanly fashion he yields to fiery Varya Suvorova. Russia is warring with the Ottoman Empire, and Varya has trekked to the Bulgarian front to be with her fiance. When she is abandoned by her carriage driver, Fandorin rescues her and escorts her to headquarters, further smoothing the way by arranging for her to serve as his assistant. With her fiance accused of treason, Varya is truly in the thick of things; a veritable cavalcade of officers and foreign correspondents keep her (and the reader) occupied. Varya is a terrific character, though fans will miss seeing more of Fandorin, and having him share the spotlight diffuses the energy a bit. Yet this is a complex and cutting tale, with a surprise villain, that should appeal to the international thriller crowd. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 11/1/04.]-Barbara Hoffert, Library Journal Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.