What We're Reading: Edward

Eye of the Red Tsar: a novel of suspense

by Sam Eastland

Prisoner 4745-P has been in the Siberian gulags since the fall of the Romanov Dynasty. He is feared by both his fellow prisoners and the gulag's guards. 4745-P was a Finnish soldier who was chosen by Tsar Nicholas to be his special investigator, the Emerald Eye. During the Great Terror, Stalin calls the Emerald Eye back to Moscow to get to the truth about the murder/disappearance of the Romanov family. The Emerald Eye, Pekkala, knows that he and his investigation are pawns in Stalin's larger game. But Pekkala was treated like one of the Royal Family. His pride and curiosity force him to take the assignment. The Tsar's enemies and other fear his investigation. Will his superior skills unearth the truth about the end of the Romanovs? A sequel is in the works. Great Read. This is the first book on my ten best of the year for 2011.