An authoritative but skewed look at recent Russian history.
Part fiction and part freewheeling analysis, an insider's look at the world of Vladimir Putin.
The book's narrator is Vadim Baranov, a fictional stand-in for Vladislav Surkov, the young ideologue and spin doctor known as "Putin's Rasputin." Baranov becomes attached to Putin in the late 1990s, when Putin is the largely unknown head of the FSB. With his background in theater and television, Baranov becomes part of media-savvy billionaire Boris Berezovsky's campaign to promote Putin as a strong, decisive, fear-inspiring replacement for the boozing, ideologically soft Boris Yeltsin. The Russian people, Putin's supporters say, crave a return to the time when the Kremlin "set the tone" and "had a certain moral superiority over the private sector." And also when cell phones didn't ring during performances of the Bolshoi Ballet. Culturally hip with references to Sex and the City, Johnny Depp, and Putin's appearance on Larry King Live, the cooly detached Baranov is less interested in exposing the sins of the president, to whom he refers as tsar, than tossing off pithy observations, opinions, and hard insights in what amounts to an epic monologue. With elements of Baranov's personal life mixed into the narrative, the book can be quite entertaining—though not for those unhappy with Baranov's essentially admiring portrait of Putin, which da Empoli, who was an advisor to former Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, does little to diffuse. First published in 2022 in France and then Italy, this bestselling, prize-winning quasi-novel was viewed by some as dangerous propaganda at a time when Putin was waging war in Ukraine. "Power is like the sun, like death: you can’t look at it head-on," the author writes, highlighting one of his own shortcomings.
An authoritative but skewed look at recent Russian history.Pub Date: Oct. 31, 2023
ISBN: 9781635423952
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Other Press
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2023
Come for the forensics, stay for the nonhumans.
A Christmas bout between Kay Scarpetta and the Phantom Slasher.
But first, Scarpetta, Virginia’s chief medical examiner, has to figure out how software designer Rowdy O’Leary died. Fished from the Potomac River on Christmas Eve six years after a hit-and-run driver left him permanently disabled and a week after he plunked down the cash for a pricey emerald ring, he fell off his fishing perch and drowned—or did he? Scarpetta’s examination of his body is cut short by two disturbing developments: the discovery of an unidentified woman’s remains buried on the grounds of Mercy Psychiatric Hospital, and celebrity TV reporter Dana Diletti’s report that the red-eyed ghost associated with the Slasher’s three murders has floated through the window of her home. She’s got video, too, and the apparition looks real and scary. The final blow to Scarpetta’s plans for a Christmas getaway with her husband, Secret Service forensic psychologist Benton Wesley, is an attack on an Alexandria home that kills Mercy psychiatrist Georgine Duvall, who used to treat Scarpetta’s niece, Lucy Farinelli, and nearly kills graduate student Zain Willard, White House intern and nephew of presidential candidate Sen. Calvin Willard. This time the Slasher’s ghost has been spotted on the scene by none other than Pete Marino, head of investigations for the medical examiner’s office and Scarpetta’s longtime sidekick. Cornwell’s use of Robbie, Zain’s robotic dog, and Janet, Lucy’s AI companion, integrates the futuristic elements she favors more successfully than in her recent outings. But the solutions to all these mysteries will leave fans of the venerable franchise pursing their lips rather than gasping in awe.
Come for the forensics, stay for the nonhumans.Pub Date: Oct. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9781538773963
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
Amateurish, with a twist savvy readers will see coming from a mile away.
A woman accused of shooting her husband six times in the face refuses to speak.
"Alicia Berenson was thirty-three years old when she killed her husband. They had been married for seven years. They were both artists—Alicia was a painter, and Gabriel was a well-known fashion photographer." Michaelides' debut is narrated in the voice of psychotherapist Theo Faber, who applies for a job at the institution where Alicia is incarcerated because he's fascinated with her case and believes he will be able to get her to talk. The narration of the increasingly unrealistic events that follow is interwoven with excerpts from Alicia's diary. Ah, yes, the old interwoven diary trick. When you read Alicia's diary you'll conclude the woman could well have been a novelist instead of a painter because it contains page after page of detailed dialogue, scenes, and conversations quite unlike those in any journal you've ever seen. " 'What's the matter?' 'I can't talk about it on the phone, I need to see you.' 'It's just—I'm not sure I can make it up to Cambridge at the minute.' 'I'll come to you. This afternoon. Okay?' Something in Paul's voice made me agree without thinking about it. He sounded desperate. 'Okay. Are you sure you can't tell me about it now?' 'I'll see you later.' Paul hung up." Wouldn't all this appear in a diary as "Paul wouldn't tell me what was wrong"? An even more improbable entry is the one that pins the tail on the killer. While much of the book is clumsy, contrived, and silly, it is while reading passages of the diary that one may actually find oneself laughing out loud.
Amateurish, with a twist savvy readers will see coming from a mile away.Pub Date: Feb. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-250-30169-7
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Celadon Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2018
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