- Hardcover: 436 pages
- Publisher: Villard Books; First Edition edition (Aug 1997)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0679457704
- ISBN-13: 978-0679457701
- Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 15.5 x 3.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,016,092 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Ace historian Donald James, who wrote the script for the excellent PBS television series Russia's War and whose book The Fall of the Russian Empire is a fine guide to recent past events, projects his expertise into the near future to create a chaotic, completely believable landscape of terror and frustration in this memorable thriller. It's 2015, and Russia-- racked by civil wars since the fall of the Yeltsin Government and its short-lived liberal successors--is under the strong grip of leader Leonid Koba. A melancholy, alcoholic (are there any other kind?), provincial policeman named Vadim is shipped from Murmansk to a bombed-out district of Moscow, ostensibly to investigate the brutal murders of women credited to a demonlike killer called the Monstrum. But what the people in power really want from the increasingly desperate Vadim is something completely different-- his resemblance to Koba and his connection to the woman who led the defeated rebels. --Naomi Gesinger
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Product Description
The new Russia, 2015: Nationalist forces have finally defeated the Anarchist rebels, but it is an uneasy peace. Provincial police inspector Constantin Vadim is plucked from backwater Murmansk to head up a murder investigation in the decaying, crime-ridden Red Presnya district of Moscow. His task: to solve a succession of unspeakable crimes committed by a serial killer who has become a terrifying local legend, almost a cult symbol: Monstrum.
In the suspenseful tradition of Gorky Park and Fatherland, Donald James's Monstrum is a political thriller that also features a hunt for a brutal murderer. And, in Inspector Vadim, James has created a cynical but all-too-human hero, who navigates across a Russian terrain at once familiar and frighteningly new.
Vadim unwittingly discovers governmental intrigue and conspiratorial deceptions so terrible they threaten to undermine the revamped Russia. And when his past--in the form of his estranged wife, Julia Petrovna, a general in the defeated Anarchist army--collides with his ongoing current hunt for the killer, these two forces threaten to crush the detective and Russia itself.
Replete with vivid characters and an audacious, unforgettable plot, Monstrum is the sort of thriller that redefines the genre.
In the suspenseful tradition of Gorky Park and Fatherland, Donald James's Monstrum is a political thriller that also features a hunt for a brutal murderer. And, in Inspector Vadim, James has created a cynical but all-too-human hero, who navigates across a Russian terrain at once familiar and frighteningly new.
Vadim unwittingly discovers governmental intrigue and conspiratorial deceptions so terrible they threaten to undermine the revamped Russia. And when his past--in the form of his estranged wife, Julia Petrovna, a general in the defeated Anarchist army--collides with his ongoing current hunt for the killer, these two forces threaten to crush the detective and Russia itself.
Replete with vivid characters and an audacious, unforgettable plot, Monstrum is the sort of thriller that redefines the genre.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
By chance I discovered Donald James while vacationing in England last year. I read "Vadim" and immediately launched a search for James' other books. "Monstrum" was a particularly pleasurable read. What makes the story is its leading man, Constantin Vadim, a character so desperately flawed and so compellingly real that it's impossible to not be drawn to him.
The insight into Russian history and the character and mindset of the people is particularly interesting. The history lesson that you get as the story unfolds competes heavily with the mystery and intrigue of the main plot and on several occassion manages to steal your attention.
Although at the end, James doesn't quite manage to pull everything together neatly, you'll forgive him because along the way he made you laugh, cringe, shiver and scream. The final destination does leave a bit to be desired, but getting there is all the fun.
I'm on to "The Fortune Teller" now.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Quite simply, the greatest crime/detective novel I have ever encountered. The premise itself is fascinating, the plotting is a work of genius and the beauty of Mr James' prose is immensely satisfying. I read this in three sittings and I am still turning it over in my mind. A very rich book with echoes of Martin Cruz Smith and Robert Harris. I have recently acquired the next installment, The Fortune Teller, which I intend to devour in one sitting!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Mr. James has written an immensely satisfying novel that is layered with converging plot lines that implode (rather than explode) in a multi-climatic continuum that is both reminiscent of noir classics and as energized as contemporary pulp fiction.
A decidedly subtle read so evocatively written that you are subconsciously drawn in. Be prepared to be thoughtfully distracted between readings as your mind unwillingly reviews the details of the story and the intricacies of the characters.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
BRILLIANT READ
COULDNT PUT THE BOOK DOWN ONCE I HAD STARTED TO READ IT , ONCE AGAIN AN EXCELLENT BOOK BY DONALD JAMES WOULD RECOMMEND IT TO FAMILY AND FRIENDS .
Published 14 months ago by sue
not quite up to what I expected
I have bought this based on other reviews, not knowing the author before, and I have been left quite disappointed. Read more
Published on 4 Nov 2004
No other like it!!!
when you see the book you don't think that it will be the best book you have ever read... vadim is a great character, and the plot takes several surprising turns. Read more
Published on 18 Jun 2003 by Jinx
Another good one!
I rate James highly and, interestingly, others have written that this is his best. I'm not sure if I agree with this call but, then again, I haven't read them in order. Read more
Published on 25 Oct 2002 by johnverp
Gripping thriller
Picked this up at Bahrain airport and paid well over the retail price. I just hoped it would be a good read to fill the 8 hour flight time.
It exceeded my expectations. Read more
Published on 10 Feb 2001
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