Red Snow: 2

Topol, who co-authored the superb Red Square, shows he is no slouch on his own with this intriguing thriller set in the days running up to the December 1984 opening of a pipeline destined to pump gas from the Soviet Arctic to Western Europe. A series of nasty murders threatens to scupper the opening ceremony and panic sweeps through the region amidst rumours that the angry spirits of the local nomadic Nenets people are taking their revenge for the destruction of their traditional homeland by the oil and gas industry. The book is sometimes marred by some rough and ready translation from the Russian (and some abominable proof-reading) but is a must-read. I waited 10 years to find my copy and it was worth every second