Ekaterina Romanova and Scott Mitchell are the center piece characters around which the events of 2013 unfold with some cold war echoes. Lots and lots of Russian names/places but they do add to the realism. Great story for a weekend read.

I am very grateful to Netgalley for providing a kindle copy of this book to read and honestly review, particularly in view of the fact that this a quite brilliant read.
Ekaterina Romanova the estranged wife of Russia's wealthiest oligarch, employs Scott Mitchell English civil rights lawyer based in Moscow, and considered public enemy number one following his success defending Chechen's in European court of human rights. She wants him to find the father she has never met and believes is languishing in the Gulag system for over thirty years without trial.
General Pravda of military intelligence will hinder their search at every opportunity as he struggles to protect the covert operation he inherited, and been running for years. Throw in a mysterious murderer professionally killing ageing Russians, linked to our heroes investigation which turns out to be a fifty year old cold war secret.
This is the first book in the "Puppet Meisters Trilogy", and is such a quality read that i thoroughly enjoyed i have already bought the second book.
Brilliant from first to last page, a very well plotted complete thriller in every sense of the word, John Le Carre's cerebral style meets Frederick Forsyth intense in depth description.
Great credible characterisations, a real sense of time and place, constant plot twists, fast paced, absorbing, intriguing a complete page turner in ever sense of the words.
Heartily recommended.