I was riveted during the prologue, but the author almost lost me completely on pages 7 and 8; anyone inclined to read this book should skip those pages.  Nothing of consequence happens, and you'll be left with a mental image you'll never be able to unsee.  

So given all that love and nausea happening before page 10, I was unsure of what the rest of the book was going to bring.  Fortunately, the story evened out for the better.  I went back to being lost in what is a fabulously decadent 'what if' fantasy of old school East vs. West.  There are a lot of names dropped in this tale: Noël Coward, Marlene Dietrich, the Kennedys, even Ian Flemming.  It was pure, escapist fun. 

Unfortunately, Silver didn't quite stick the landing.  He created an intensely intricate plot, but didn't give himself (or the publisher didn't give him) the pages to fully realise it.  The result is a somewhat rushed and muddy climax that falls a little flat for lack of, and I can't believe I'm saying this, drama.  I love what he wanted to do with it, but given more time and attention it could have been a breath-taking scene and that scene deserved the extra time and attention.  Instead, it ended up being not much more than someone yelling "Fire" in a theatre.  Finally, the last half dozen lines in the book should have been deleted. They were ridiculous, and of all the unrealistic things that happen in this book, they are by far, the most implausible.  

This author is not without talent; I was enthralled for 75% of this book and it was, in spite of its shortcomings, a fun and entertaining read.

I don't know about this one; I was 100% sucked in at the prologue, but Silver's choice to mold his fictional president along the lines of the current orange wonder idiot, and a scene that involved... *ahem*, a renewal of his mile-high-club membership in Air Force One, damn near had me DNFing the book and left me with a dangerous impulse to gargle bleach.

Nobody of any political affiliation wants a mental image of that flabby, saggy, nasty mess getting it on stuck in their head.  That's just not o.k.  

This story is a bit of everything, a mystery at its base, a tad of political shenanigan to captivate us, some known historical figures to pique our interest (Kennedy, Hitler, Churchill and the French physician Nostradamus) oh…to put a smile on our faces, thinly disguised are our 2 maverick and colourful leaders in a cameo role. To top it all off which is the base of this novel is a conspiracy to keeps us on our toes. With a soupçon of reality and a big dose of fiction we have one ambitious novel that should please most readers.

The setting mainly plays out in Moscow but changes locations between London and Alaska. The mystery features Larissa Klimt, who is a professor of Geopolitical History and her twin brother Lev, who works in Alaska monitoring the oil fields. The plot comes to life when Lara (Larissa) is asked to translate six audio recordings done in the 1940’s from English to Russian and find the book, subject of the recordings. What she hears is just the beginning of her troubles…the book (Bible) contains a false prophecy of all time. Through a series of circumstances Lara and Lev become entwined in the hoax and are pulled into danger and the world of espionage…..

I have mixed feeling about this book. In great parts I liked it a lot and in others I found it dragged so much I was losing interest. It took too much time to get going although I do admit lots was happening but everything seemed to turn in circle then suddenly action and suspense kicked in and voilà you just reached the end. As for the characters they missed colours but were OK in their roles but lacked the credibility and motive to push the mystery forward and make it captivating. I liked the premise, the story is great and interesting and some of the side bars are also very good “ the Bookworm mystery”, “Conception Day”, “King takes Queen”, Lara’s events with her ex-husband the Russian spy just to mention some…..(I let you discover all this). 

This novel may not have been my favourite of all times but it was worthwhile passing time reading it nevertheless. 

I received this ARC for review from Pegasus Books via Netgalleys