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Staff Reviews & Reader’s Guides

The Eye of the Red Tsar

Rating:

A soldier's life during Russian turmoil...

The Eye of the Red Tsar The writing of this first novel by Sam Eastland, was initiated, the author suggests, by an “unexpected catalyst that sets everything in motion,” in this case, handling a regimental belt buckle from the Tsar’s (Nicholas II) Army. Eastland was forced to think about the thousands of people whose lives were changed, and the course of history significantly altered, which resulted from the execution of the last of the Romanovs on July 17, 1918. This is a real historical and political thriller. Protagonist Pekkala, a Finnish soldier, had served under the Tsar, and, as The Emerald Eye, as Nicholas’ personal investigator. With the overthrow and presumed execution of Nicholas and Alexandra and their five children at the Ipatiev house, Pekkala was banished to the Siberian gulag – Prisoner 4745-P of the Borodok Labor Camp, a tree marker, “the man with the bloody hands.” From this harsh isolation, Pekkala was summoned to serve the Tsar one last time, and, at now-Comrade Stalin’s request, to find the bodies, and any survivor of that July night. Descriptions of people and places are detailed and fascinating, the author’s research fastidious, plot twists and turns are complex, and the possibilities for speculation about what could have happened on that most eventful night continue to intrigue us in 2010, just as they have now for almost 100 years. I could not put this book down, and, happily, there will be more to read about The Emerald Eye next year. I highly recommend The Eye of the Red Tsar, and award it 5 stars.