Comment

Aug 10, 2015InsJavert rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
This is a book worth the read. Set in Soviet Russia near the end of Stalin, a police investigator finds that he must not only conduct and unsanctioned investigation, but must fight a system that works completely against him, while as the same time dealing with a wife who also mistrusts and hates him. To put it mildly, if I had to work in the system and conditions that Leo (the main character) had to work in to solve his investigation, I would have thrown up my arms in utter frustration. That I believe is what make this book so captivating, Leo's perseverance. This is the system, the only system, and the only way he knows and understands. At the beginning, Leo is a dedicated and loyal member of the soviet system. He knows the rules and knows how to manure within the system. While investigating what the system says is train accident in which a four year old boy is killed, Leo is left with questions about the investigation that do not add up. Then his loyalty is suddenly challenged when he is forced to denounce his wife, which he will not do and is therefore sent to the outer reaches of Russia, and reduced to the lowest level in the militia. No Leo finds that there is another child that has been killed, with all the similarities of the alleged accident in Moscow. While saving what he can, if he can, of his marriage, Leo presses on with his investigation of this child killing, which reveals other child killings, all the while, the system refuses to accept that such killings would even exist, much less happen in their society. It is incomprehensible to most everyone, why any one would travel about killing children in the soviet state. To them, it is an impossibility and therefore can not be. This is system that Leo must work through. Denounced by his superiors, working in system that approves everything, in a society of deep distrust of everyone, all the while dealing with a marriage that is under the greatest stresses any marriage could encounter. I was continually caught up in the fact that Leo, above all else, was true to himself, no matter what was dealt him. He was going to do what was right, in a society in which the only right thing was everyday survival and to hell with your neighbor. In a system which fostered and bread this fear and distrust, which tried to control every aspect of everyones lives, who determined what was and what would be best only to protect the image of the state and the politicians, who leached off of this society. This is a story of endurance, perseverance, and finding out what one is truly made of and what one can endure, at the worst of times, even when they are ready to give up, but their inner being, drives them on to do what is right. Well worth the read. I think you will find the story intriguing and suspenseful, all the while waiting to see if Leo will overcome all that he must deal with and encounters. if you think I have spoiled the story for you, I have come no where close with all the events and developments in this story. There is a lot more Leo must deal with, but you will have to read it to discover them.