RED WINTER.

RED WINTER by DAN SMITH.

SOURCE: A giveaway win, thanks Lindsay over at THE LITTLE READER LIBRARY

Central Russia, 1920.

In a country torn to shreds by civil war, Nikolai Levitsky deserts his army unit to return home to his wife and sons. But he finds his village silent and empty. Only a wraithlike old woman remains. She has witnessed the darkest forces of human nature at work. She babbles incoherently of Koschei, the Deathless One, the stuff of chilling Russian folk tales, and drags a bewildered Levitsky into the forest to see first-hand what this Koschei has done.

The men of the village have been massacred among the trees. The women and children have disappeared.  

Suddenly, the terrifying legends of childhood begin to feel very real.

Levitsky must journey through haunting forests and burnt-out villages to find his family, following the black and charred paths of army units that now destroy everything they once fought for.

As bitter winter sets in, he is forced to confront not only the fear of what lies ahead, but also his own part in the terror that has seized his homeland. And he must decide what his part will be from now on, as a soldier, as a father and as a man.
...... Inner front cover. May contain spoilers, scroll across to view.

FIRST SENTENCE {Chapter 1}: The village cowered with doors closed and windows shuttered.

MEMORABLE MOMENT {Page 68}: Babushka would have said that Galina would remain a rusalka now, an unquiet spirit that would only rest once she was avenged, and for an awful second I imagined her roaming the clearing moaning for her husband.

MY THOUGHTS: Having read and reviewed the authors debut novel, DRY SEASON , and described him as a 'master story teller in the making' I was intrigued to read this his fourth book.

Every bit as good and even better than his first novel, as well as concentrating on his characters Dan Smith has done a wonderful job in creating a very readable historical thriller.

Set in 1920's Russia Red Winter is a chilling read that is not without its blood fuelled moments and yet at its heart is a powerful story all about relationships, the nature of human behaviour and what it is to have hope.

Beautifully written and obviously thoroughly researched (my only concern being that I had slight reservations about the ending which I thought rather idealised). Not only was my attention and interest gripped from the beginning but it was held throughout no doubt helped greatly by the fact that the author wove some Russian folklore into the story.

Tense, rich in atmosphere (who would have thought a journey through a forest could be so compelling?) and so vividly described that I found myself transported to the most harsh and uncompromising of landscapes, I was right, Dan Smith is indeed a master story teller.

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