TITLE: THE TWELFTH DEPARTMENT
AUTHOR: WILLIAM RYAN
Pages: 466
Date: 08/04/2013
Grade: 5+
Details: no. 3 Captain Korolev mystery
ARC
received from Mantle
Release date: 23/05/2013
Own
Captain Korolev of the Moscow Militia is supposed to
have a week off when his son Yuri comes to visit him. Unfortunately
arrangements like that are never certain in Moscow in the 1930’s and the day after his
son’s arrival Korolev finds himself ordered to investigate the murder of an
eminent scientist. Because the murdered man had close connections to those in
power this is going to be a sensitive investigation, but it doesn’t become
clear how sensitive until Korolev and his Sergeant, Slivka, are called off the
case again within 24 hours. Korolev’s opportunity to spend time with his son
doesn’t last very long though. Yuri and Korolev have only enjoyed one day in
the country together when two State Security agents come to pick him up and
bring him back to Moscow.
Yuri flees from the threatening looking and sounding men and Korolev is brought
back to Moscow
not knowing where his twelve year old son is or whether he is safe.
Back in Moscow Korolev discovers that a second man has
been murdered, the assistant of the first victim, and that he is back on the
investigation. This time though he’ll be working for State Security rather than
the Militia. With two competing State Security departments having a vested
interest in the investigation and the outcome, Korolev finds himself a pawn in
their power-struggles. With Yuri now captured by one of those departments, it
seems that our investigator has no choices if he wants to see his son again.
Korolev finds himself breaking his own rules, fighting his conscience and
depending on questionable allies in order to bring the whole affair to a
conclusion he can live with.
Wow, all I can say is ‘wow’! This is an amazing book
with a fascinating story.
As he did in his two previous Korolev books, William
Ryan has managed to impress and captivate me. He writes wonderfully plotted
mysteries but it is the setting and the historical detail that make these books
true works of genius. This is a mystery/thriller so you’d expect the tension
that results from the crimes under investigation and the intrigue around who
might be guilty of them. But with the story set in Moscow in 1937 where Stalin’s Great Terror is
in full swing, there is a lot more suspense. There is the constant menace and
fear resulting from the characters living in a society where nobody is innocent
of anything, a place where a good man is afraid to do an honest job because the
results he may come up with might not satisfy his superiors. And William Ryan
does a brilliant job showing this underlying threat in all its horrifying
glory. All Korolev wants to do is solve the crimes he’s ordered to investigate.
He doesn’t want to get involved in politics and yet finds himself, time and
again, trying to balance his conscience with the safety of those around him and
himself.
A lesser author might have taken this setting to write
a story in which the fear and suspense are unrelenting. Ryan however knows that
life and people don’t work that way. Even in a totalitarian society, where
danger lurks around every corner and the wrong expression on your face could
get you arrested, people have to live their lives; they still fall in love,
make jokes and worry about the little stuff. The fact that Korolev does just
that, even while his whole life is in turmoil, makes this character and his
story more realistic and captivating. In the midst of all the tension there are
lighter moments such as:
“If murders could be
committed without producing corpses then he’d be a happier detective.”
Picture taken from author's Facebook page |
Or there is the chapter set in Moscow Zoo. While it
plays an important part in the overall story, it also gives us a nice insight
into Korolev’s private life and his feelings. I loved the scene involving the
elephant and the children’s fascination with the lions and their feeding habits
is something every parent will recognise. But most of all I loved that the Zoo
Keeper mentioned in the story, Vera, is a real person, who lived and worked
there at the time.
There is a wonderful balance as far as the characters
in these books are concerned as well. We get our fair share of scary party
officials, which is to be expected given the setting of the story, but we also
encounter Count Kolya, the Chief Authority of the Moscow Thieves and his niece,
Sergeant Slivka who is Korolev’s colleague. And the relationship that is slowly
developing between Korolev and Valentina, the woman he shares an apartment
with, is a delight to watch.
I could go on gushing about this book indefinitely but
I won’t. I’ll end this review with this advice: Go and get the book, read it
and be enthralled. If you haven’t read The Holy Thief and The Bloody Meadow
yet I’d advise you to read them first. Having said that, it isn’t necessary to have
read those two books in order to enjoy The
Twelfth Department.
ARC give-away:
Because I managed to end up with two ARC copies of The Twelfth Department I find myself in
the fortunate position where I can give one of them away. If you are interested
just leave a comment below. I will pick a winner at random on the 23rd
of April, exactly one month before the book will be released.
7 comments:
Really looking forward to reading this! Ryan's first two were fantastic
Dave, I thought this one was even better than the first two so I'm sure you'll enjoy it.
Nice thought Marleen, if half as good as the first two we're in for a treat, good luck everyone.
Good luck to you too, Clive. And yes, this book is definitely at least half as good as teh first two. In fact, I thought it was a little bit better.
Korolev - the coolest cop of them all!
Indeed he is, Nick. Thanks for your comment, and good luck in the draw next week.
And so, today, I get to announce the winner. I had my husband pick a number and his choice means that the ARC will go to Nick C. Roberts.
Congratulations Nick, I hope you get this message. If you send me a mail at meentje63@gmail.com with your address details I'll mail the book to you as soon as possible. If I haven't heard from you within the next seven days I'll pick another winner.
My thanks to those who participated.
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