The book was archived before our group could download it. We are sure that we would have enjoyed the book judging from the reviews it has received.

On the Brink

The second Sasha Vasin Cold War thriller focuses on the Cuban Missile Crisis and a much more shadowy affair, Operation Anadyr, which involves the deployment of nuclear armed Soviet submarines in American waters.

Vasin has been employed with finding a traitor among high-ranking Russian intelligence officers, a man passing secrets to the Americans. He believes this work to be a wild-goose chase which he had himself initiated for his own reasons in the first book of the series. But perhaps there really is a spy. Perhaps the Americans are better informed about Soviet strengths and weakness than they should be. And perhaps, too, there are Soviet Hawks who want nothing more than a military showdown with the capitalist foe.

Vasin walks a deadly tightrope throughout. He already has enemies and he manages to make more, Even his boss, KGB general Orlov, ultimately will find him dispensable, although he is more difficult to dispose of than expected. Vasin, too, is more ruthless and cruel, and less idealistic this time round. Perhaps only that way can he survive, but he sacrifices much of the reader’s sympathy in the use he makes of other, nobler, but weaker figures.

A gripping, page-turner this, I look forward to Alexander Vasin’s next (albeit remote) outing.

Red Traitor is Owen Matthews’ masterful new historical thriller featuring a blend of fact and fiction and a fictionalised account of the Cuban missile crisis (1962) from the Soviet perspective. Summer 1962 in Moscow and Alexander Vasin is a Moscow homicide detective seconded to the Special Cases Directorate of the KGB. With his reputation as a spy-catcher preceding him, he has been directed to find a high-ranking US mole within the Kremlin. His suspect, Colonel Oleg Morozov of the GRU, is surveilled around the clock as he is believed to be passing secrets to the Americans, but won’t — or can’t — reveal a double life. As Vasin learns to his cost, Morozov has redoubtable friends. As the pressure on Vasin to expose Morozov becomes unbearable, he finds himself in the middle of a vicious knife fight between powerful Kremlin factions. One group is alarmed by the decision to send Soviet atomic weapons to Cuba. The other believes that a pre-emptive nuclear attack on the United States wouldn’t be the end of the world. This is a riveting, enthralling and masterfully woven piece of historical espionage based on terrifying, little known real events.

It confirms Matthews as a major new talent and places Red Traitor among the finest crime thrillers of the year, in my opinion. Impeccably researched Cold War fiction is no easy feat to write, and the author has got the balance exactly right between the build-up and historical backstory underpinning everything and the unfurling of a fast-paced plot complete with devious twists and wickedly misleading misdirection. Ripe with palpable tension and interestingly told primarily from the Russian point of view, there is all you need here and more to satisfy the detail-orientated reader when it comes to espionage and geopolitical intrigue. You quickly become completely immersed in the struggles of a dangerous era, and I found Matthews’ focus on the often-overlooked role of Soviet submarines, all equipped with nuclear missiles, that were heading to Cuba in the days leading up to the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, thoroughly absorbing. All in all, this is a scintillating, insightful and entertaining novel about just how easily the course of history could've been different had the crisis ended in nuclear catastrophe. Highly recommended.

After Black Sun, Owen Matthews gives us a another cracking historical thriller, this time focusing on the Cuban Missile Crisis, set in 1962, an impressively researched blend of Cold War fact and fiction. It sees the return of the now promoted Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vasin facing the repercussions of previous events, with his failing marriage to Vera, and a son, Nikita, who has now joined the paths offered to the offspring of the Russian elite. His boss, General Orlov's hooks in him are stronger, Vasin becoming a native of Orlov's shadowlands where lies and secrets are weapons to break human beings. Here he hunts for evidence of a Soviet traitor, possibly mythical, believed to be Colonel Oleg Morozov in the military intelligence's GRU, headed by General Serov.

Orlov has every intention to use this to bring down his long term enemy Serov, both men sadistic monsters, big beasts who create their own realities, with Vasin caught up in the heart of their intrigue as he gets his hooks into the GRU's feisty, independently minded, Sofia Guzman to help him. He begins to hear whispers of the secret Operation Anadyr, the more he learns, the more worried he becomes at the all too real possibilities of a nuclear war as tensions flare between the United States and Russia over Cuba. Captain Vasily Arkhipov is on one of four covert submarines heading towards the Caribbean, each armed with ballistic missiles with thermonuclear warheads, the use of which is under personal command. Matthew's provides intricate details of the espionage and spycraft of the period, tuning into the escalating tensions and anxieties between the 2 superpowers led by President Kennedy and Nikita Khrushev, and within the two sides too.

If you are aware of this period of history, then you will know how it will all end, but despite knowing this, the author had me completely invested in his historical storytelling, and his characters. I was particularly captivated by the complex and flawed Vasin who is willing to put his life on the line and the incredible determination and bravery of Arkhipov within the submarine's claustrophobic atmosphere and mounting conflicts. Arkhipov's past history and trauma fuels his humanity in the face of the most challenging of circumstances. This is a entertaining, compulsive, and engaging read, of how close the world came to nuclear war, and for those wanting to know more about the Cuban Missile Crisis, this is both informative and insightful. Highly recommended. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

This is the second Owen Matthews thriller that I have really enjoyed. I have always been fascinated by the Cuban missile crisis of 1962 and this excellently written and researched book sheds further light and insight into that potentially cataclysmic time. I loved the portrayal of Vasin and admired his nerve and ability.

All in all this was an excellent thriller and highly recommended.

Excellent - I really enjoyed his previous book Black Sun and wondered if it would be just a flash in the pan. Absolutely not - this is even better, and the depth of research behind the book, weaving fact and fiction about the Cuban Missile Crisis works extremely well, making this a quality novel.

Great atmosphere throughout and I found myself rooting for Vasin, despite who he works for and what he's done in the past. The scene at the train station shows he's got balls of steel - awesome!

Plot spoier - we didn't all get nuked in 1962 - however, the tension created by the book makes you just wonder how close we really did come to Armageddon!

Closing thoughts - just read this book!!