Investigator Arkady Renko, the pariah of the Moscow prosecutor's office, has been assigned the thankless job of investigating a new phenomenon: late-night subway riders report seeing the ghost of Joseph Stalin on the platform of the Chistye Prudy Metro station. The illusion seems part political hocus-pocus and also part wishful thinking, for among many Russians Stalin is again popular; the bloody dictator can boast a two-to-one approval rating. Decidedly...

In post–Cold War Moscow, business is booming and crime pays Capitalism has come to Russia, and money is raining from the sky. As the trickle of cash turns to a torrent, bureaucrats become oligarchs, and the brutal Russian mafia consolidates its power. In the center of this madness is police inspector Porfiry Rostnikov, a thoughtful detective who is struggling to adjust to life in these turbulent times.   A prominent businessman is kidnapped in...

Brought to Moscow in 1990s Russia by his mother's abusive boyfriend, five-year-old Mishka is forced by a gang of homeless children to lie and steal until he finds comfort and love with a pack of dogs. Includes historical note.

Five young people are stranded in Moscow, fighting to survive in the wake of a devastating alien attack.

American journalist Milly Bennett has covered murders in San Francisco, fires in Hawaii, and a civil war in China, but 1930s Moscow presents her greatest challenge yet. When her young Russian husband is suddenly arrested by the secret police, Milly tries to get him released. But his arrest reveals both painful secrets about her marriage and hard truths about the Soviet state she has been working to serve. Disillusioned and pulled toward the front...

"Red to Black has more in common with the elegantly paced books of John le Carré than it does with Ian Fleming's James Bond novels. But readers who appreciate a healthy dose of real-world worries in their spy novels won't complain. "-Richmond Times-Dispatch Gorky Park for the Putin era, Red To Black by Alex Dryden could have been ripped from recent headlines. At once a spy thriller, a love story, and a chilling look at a dangerously resurgent superpower,...

"March, 1917. Petrograd is on the eve of revolution. For Countess Sophia Orlova, the city of her childhood--the only home she has ever known--has become her deadly enemy. The mob are ready to get rid of anyone connected to the old regime, including Sophia. When rebels threaten to shoot Sophia and her husband, they are saved by Nikolai, a fervent supporter of the revolution. Determined to help Nikolai's cause, Sophia sets up a hospital wing in the...

Texas businessman John Mills and his Czech companion, Petr Kovac, travel to the furthest reaches of post-Soviet Russia to acquire vouchers for the country's national oil company, Gazneft, moving town to town with suitcases full of cash--until the Russian mafia and Gazneft catch wind of their successes.

"When the Great Depression hits, Florence Fein leaves Brooklyn College for what appears to be a plum job in Moscowand the promise of love and independence. But once in Russia, she quickly becomes entangled in a country she can't escape. Many years later, Florence's son, Julian, will make the opposite journey, immigrating back to the United States. His work in the oil industry takes him on frequent visits to Moscow, and when he learns that Florence's...