by Boris Akunin
translated by Andrew Bromfield
The sixth book in the Erast Fandorin series, the last of which
I read 16 years ago. In 1891 Moscow, with tensions between
revolutionary factions and the Imperial government running high, a
daring and determined assassin kills a high-ranking official aboard a
secret train. The official's route was heavily guarded, and the
suspiciously well-informed killer was posing as the hero of the series,
Erast Fandorin. The real Fandorin must clear his name (a relatively
simple matter) and then track down the real killer and the revolutionary
group to which he belongs. Hindering his investigation are the
internecine struggles between two distinct and opposing government
forces: the local police, under Stanislav Sverchinsky, and the more
brutal secret police, the Okhrankists, under Pyotr Burlayev. The two
forces refuse to cooperate and vie for seniority in the case, forcing
Fandorin to play politics as well as solve the murder. One of Fandorin's
leads is a confidential informant and femme fatale who insists on never
revealing her face.
The narrative alternates between Fandorin's
perspective and that of his primary adversary, a stoic, near-automaton
revolutionary who calls himself Green. This is an intelligent
page-turner; Akunin seems incapable of writing any other kind. As he has
done before in the series, he makes his villain, despite Green's alien,
taciturn, and cold demeanor, somewhat sympathetic by giving him a fully
fleshed-out background and comprehensible motives. The book also works
as a clever period piece, offering insight into the psychology of
terrorism, state crackdowns, and the moral dilemmas of pre-revolutionary
Moscow. I was, at times, overwhelmed by the array of characters, who
are alternately identified by first names, patronymics, surnames, and
code names. I am not ashamed to say that I wrote out a guide.
