Brent Ghelfi

I was a bit thrown by the comparisons to Dostoyevsky et al in the book blurbs; the connection didn't hold for me at all. That was my initial attraction to the book, as well as the fact that I love all Russian literature and am fascinated with the dirty little art world. However, this is not a book for wimps (which I am; I don't watch scary movies and I don't ride scary roller coasters). It is brutal and mean in many ways, but it is a rather stunning portrait of contemporary Russia- not that it would make you want to visit anytime soon- and there is a humanity to it (in the protagonist Volk and Valya, his girlfriend) that is belied by the constant violence. I couldn't decide whether to give it two stars (due to the wimp factor) or three or four(because it is memorable and extremely written). You decide; but be prepared for graphic gore. I'm not sorry I read it...now, if someone can just stop the nightmares I'll be okay.… (mere)

It really disappoints me when I grab a book that has fabulous blurbs and that I have heard many good things about only to find that it was a huge waste of time. Barely 300 pages long (actually 302) it never, ever caught my attention. I actually felt that the few glimmers of action were caused by excess gore and violence. Add to all this the fact that it takes place in Russia and honestly who can keep up with Russian names and places? It´s really annoying to keep going back pages to recheck who Dubinin, Strahov and Vyugin were. In short, the plot centres around a dangerous art heist involving a long lost Da Vinci painting. I can´t believe this book got me stuck for 10 days! I was doing superbly good on my Goodreads challenge! Gah. My recommendation? Skip it. Moving along...… (mere)