The Beast in the Red Forest: An Inspector Pekkala Novel of Suspense

by Sam Eastland

Overview

An American auto worker, disillusioned with the stubborn, stagnant inequality in America, moves his family to Russia. His letters home are glowing arias about Stalin's New Man in Soviet Paradise. Then, suddenly, the letters stop. Inspector Pekkala thrills again! By best selling Sam Eastland. The world of Soviet espionage is shaken with the shocking disappearance of Stalin's invincible Inspector Pekkala whose charred remains are reported from the frontlines. But Stalin refuses to accept the demise of his indomitable lieutenant and dispatches Pekkala's assistant deep into the wild forests of Western Russia, to follow a wilderness trail of clues, each one leading to a more tortured turn of fate. A new enemy has emerged from the fog of war, more deadly than any Pekkala has ever faced before. Meanwhile, Pekkala's Nemesis is closing in for the kill.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781623160494
Publisher:	Subtext
Publication date:	06/01/2014
Pages:	340
Sales rank:	300,397
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

Sam Eastland, the nom de plume of celebrated novelist and memoirist Paul Watkins, lives outside Princeton. He is the grandson of a London police detective who served in the legendary "Ghost Squad." His previous Inspector Pekkala novels includeEye of the Red Tsar,Shadow Pass, andArchive 17.

Editorial Reviews

06/02/2014
In Eastland’s engrossing fifth Inspector Pekkala novel, the fourth to be published in the U.S. (after 2012’s Archive 17), Joseph Stalin is worried, though the war is going well by early 1944. Pekkala, an Investigator for the Bureau of Special Operations in Moscow, vanished in 1941 after Stalin sent him on a secret mission behind enemy lines around Leningrad, “to determine the whereabouts of the priceless inlaid panels of the Amber Room, the greatest treasure of the Romanovs, last seen hanging on the walls of the Catherine Palace.” Though the missing inspector may well be dead, Stalin orders Pekkala’s assistant and longtime friend, Major Kirov, to find Pekkala and return him to Moscow. Meanwhile, an American autoworker who defected to the Soviet Union in 1936 has disappeared. Eastland (the pen name of British author Paul Watkins) delivers a surprise ending driven by grievances from the past, brutal betrayals, and the power of friendship. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

06/01/2014
The distinguished author Paul Watkins (The Forger; The Story of My Disappearance), writing as Eastland, has issued the fifth title in his engrossing historical series (Eye of the Red Tsar; Archive 17) about Pekkala, the favorite inspector of the last tsar and of Joseph Stalin. The story picks up at the end of World War II, when the Red Army has succeeded in repelling the German onslaught. Stalin sends trusted lieutenant Kirov, to find Pekkala in the forests of western Ukraine. Though the world believes him to be dead, the revered inspector must be hiding there because his identifying medallion was never found. Kirov's pursuit makes for a vivid and grisly narrative of wartime escapades suffered by desperate solders and partisans fighting in the region. Unbeknownst to anyone is the steady progress of an American determined to avenge the Soviet betrayal of his family, which had moved to Russia in the 1930s to find work. VERDICT Intricately weaving true details from the pages of history with the fantastic exploits of Pekkala and Kirov, the author has nailed another successful Emerald Eye saga. Writing with innate literary grace, he gives this series an air of swashbuckling romance with many glints of depraved humanity.—Barbara Conaty, Falls Church, VA

Library Journal

2014-05-29
The troubled and troubling Inspector Pekkala returns from exile to find himself trapped between giants at the end of World War II.For U.S. readers, this may be a confusing relaunch of a dynamic World War II spy series, but it’s bound to make those new to Eastland (Archive 17, 2012, etc.) seek out his other books. To clarify: This is the fifth Inspector Pekkala novel, released by new publisher OPUS, but the fourth book in the series, The Red Moth, will be published after this one. Add to the confusion the fact that British spy novelist Eastland has been newly revealed as a pseudonym for American literary novelist Paul Watkins (Ice Soldier, 2005, etc.), and it all gets a bit murky. To catch up, Inspector Pekkala is a Holmes-ian fellow who was once personal detective to Czar Nicholas II and now reluctantly works for the Communists. As the book begins circa 1944, Pekkala has disappeared at the Western front and is presumed dead. Refusing to believe the inspector has perished, Josef Stalin assigns Pekkala’s best friend and assistant, Maj. Kirov, to seek him out. While Kirov searches for Pekkala, Eastland also unfolds the eerie tale of William Vasko, a New Jersey steelworker who comes to Russia in 1936 seeking work and becomes trapped behind the growing veil of Soviet secrecy. When Pekkala surfaces, he's stalked by an icy German assassin who wants personal revenge, and he joins forces with a partisan warlord in an attempt to mitigate the bloody violence between the Russians and the partisan movement in the Ukraine. In a smart move, Eastland depicts his fictional Stalin as more than a James Bond villain, painting him as a conflicted, lonely tyrant whose retribution against slights both real and imagined makes him a very dangerous opponent.A complex and atmospheric thriller—perhaps not the best jumping-on point but a satisfying entry in a standout historical series.

Kirkus Reviews