Crime Fiction from Russia

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Tom Clancy (1992) The Hunt for Red October (Jack Ryan Series).

Somewhere under the Atlantic, a Soviet submarine commander has made a fateful decision: the Red October is heading west. This trademark military thriller has launched Tom Clancy's phenomenal career.

Tom Clancy (2002) The Sum of All Fears.

The trademark of Tom Clancy's series of Jack Ryan action thrillers is the accurate description of military hardware and procedure. But there is more than a dramatic story line and nail-biting tension: Clancy has a deep understanding of international political conflicts and he is able to realistically paint fundamental human responses to extreme danger and unbarable pressure.

Fyodor Dostoevsky (1984) Crime and Punishment.

Dostoevsky's rendering of the student Raskolnikov in 18th-century Russia is a true classic. In a process of moral decline, the impoverished intellectual robs and kills his pawnbroker. As he is hunted down for his crime Dostoevsky tells a surprisingly fast-paced story, full of moral dilemmas and psychological thrill. A masterpiece.

Boris Akunin (2006) The Death of Achilles.

Special agent "Petrovich Fandorin", a Russian version of Sherlock Holmes, not only speaks Japanese and English, but is also a martial arts fighter and lady-killer in a historical plot set in 1882. Time Magazine compares best-selling author Boris Akunin with Gogol and Chekhov.

Boris Akunin (2008) Special Assignments: The Further Adventures of Erast Fandorin.

Erast Fandorinh, a nineteenth-century sleuth in Russia, is hunting a swindler and a serial killer. The cast is populated by eccentric characters and superbly twists through the underworld of Czarist Russia. Well crafted literature - both entertaining and thrilling.

Boris Akunin (2005) Murder on the Leviathan.

19th-century Russian sleuth Erast Fandorin investigates undercover on the luxurious steamship Leviathan en route to India from England in 1878. While the setting may be conventional Agatha Christie style (all suspects gathered in a secluded place), there is nothing conventional about Akunin's characters, which all have their own history, style and voice.

Boris Akunin (2005) The Turkish Gambit.

In the chaos of a military conflict between Czarist Russia and the Ottoman Empire Special Agent Fandorin investigates a suspicious colonel in Bucharest. Don't read this book if you like straight plots! The Turkish Gambit contains everything - from politics in 1877 to suffragettes, harems, courtesans, deadly duels, suicides, combat action, numerous quirky characters and a dramatic climax.

Boris Akunin (2004) Winter Queen.

A historical conspiracy, set in Czarist Russia. The hero is the somewhat naive, but good-looking Police Detective Fandorin, who investigates the suicide of a student and finds much more than he expected. If you like linear action thrillers with short sentences, forget this book! But if you savor elaborate, intricate plots, historical atmosphere, unique characters, bizarre plot twists, deception and disguise, read the "Winter Queen".

Boris Akunin (2006) Pelagia And The White Bulldog: The First Sister Pelagia Mystery.

Unlike Akunin's Erast Fandorin series, this book features nun Pelagia solving crimes in rural Czarist Russia. Her investigation of the initial crime, the killing of white bulldogs, is just the first step into the labyrinth of this story.

Elizabeth Darrell (2005) Russian Roulette.

British army officer Judith King has spent the night in the arms of half-Russian intelligence officer Leo Bekov. Unfortunately, he is found killed the next morning. MPs Max Rydal and Tom Black are assigned to the case and soon find out that the good-looking and charismatic Bekov was the darling of his fellow soldiers' wives.

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