Book Review – Siberian Red

by Sam Eastland (Faber and Faber) ISBN 9780571260676

Who knows where the missing treasure of Tsar Nicholas II is hidden?

The Nazis are poised to invade Russia. Stalin’s need for the Tsar’s gold is greater than ever. When Stalin learns that a prisoner who could have revealed the place of the gold has been brutally assassinated, he sets off to send a second spy in to look for the gold.

Detective Inspector Pekkala is horrified to hear that he is being sent back to the brutal Gulag of Borodok – a concentration camp, but he endures all the lack of clothing, shoes, and meagre provisions, in the hope that he will learn something for Stalin.

He becomes a tree marker in the wilderness for two years, his red painted handprint becoming a chilling mystery to the rebels who live there and yet never see him. When the gold is found it is far too heavy to carry. How many bars of gold does one man need?

This story is one of violence, terror and the worthlessness of life and yet one reads on. You cannot to wait to arrive at the solution. In the most dangerous place in Russia, can the Truth, and Pekkala, survive?

Dee Andrew
4/5