The Turkish Gambit (Erast Fandorin)

'The Turkish Gambit' continues the career of erstwhile Russian police detective Erast Fandorin in this the third in Boris Akunin's distinctive mystery series (which is wildly popular in Russia). The book is set during the 1877-1878 Russo-Turkish War (the Russian and Ottoman Empires fought some 11 wars altogether and this was the last one, excepting WWI). Fandorin, now in the Russian Army, but still stunned from his tragic loss in 'The Winter Queen' (the first book in the series), takes a back seat for most of the book to the primary narrative voice of the young radical Varya Suvorova. As usual Akunin's tale twists and turns with delightfully chameleon-like characters. The book's denouement centers on the Siege of Pleven - was a traitor providing information to the Turks? Or perhaps a murderous spy was afoot? Or was it just bad strategy implemented with poor tactics by the Russians? Actual historical characters such as the 'White General' Mikhail Sobelev mix with Akunin's inconstant inventions in a complex web of international warfare and intrigue. Highly recommended.

This is the first novel written by Boris Akunin. I was very pleased! The story, which takes place during the Russian Turkish War of the early to mid 1870s is, as another reviewer pointed out, a rather Victorian mystery and is filled with action. The author does a wonderful job of character development and his twisting plot line keeps the interest of the reader from cover to cover. It of course is impossible for me to compare this work with the previous works of this author, as I have not read them, but after completing this one, I certainly plan to. Unlike many translations of other work I have read, this is not stilted or forced and flows quite naturally. I must admit that I did have trouble keeping up with all the Russian names, something I always have trouble with when I am reading Russian history or other works by Russian authors, but by the second chapter this all came together. I will say that the reader with some knowledge of this time period, and has some knowledge of the geographical location, will probably get more out of the book than a reader who does not. This is not a major problem though...a good detective story is a good detective story. Overall recommend this one highly.

Akun switches to more of a thriller here and succeeds way beyond expectations. He plunges you right into the middle of a Russo-Turkish war (1877) and before you know it, you are back in the last of the cavalry days. Who could possibly be guilty of betraying Russia in this historical tour de force? It's enough to keep you reading way past your bedtime to find out! Akunin has an easy style that vididly pictures his characters, the era they are in, and more. A real page turner!

Boris Akunin's Erast Fandorin series has been spectacularly successful in Russia. Akunin's books have sold millions of copies there. Akunin, whose real name is Grigori Chkhartisvili, was born in (Soviet) Georgia. He grew up in Kazakhstan and then Moscow. Highly educated, Akunin was a student of linguistics, editor of a scholarly literary journal and a Japanese-Russian translator. He turned to writing these stories at age 40 during his self-described mid-life crisis. He saw a niche between the serious tomes that marked Russian literature (Tolstoy, Solzhenitsyn, etc.) and the mass market pulp fiction that dominated the low end of the post-Communist literary market. His book sales both in Russia and in Europe and the United States have proved him correct. Turkish Gambit takes place in 1877. Russia is at war with Turkey after Russia and Serbia came to the aid of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Bulgaria in their struggle to free themselves from rule by the Ottoman Empire. The war had important implications for all of Europe. The war was concluded at the Congress of Berlin, a congress that pretty much stripped the Russians of the gains they had made in the war. The Congress of Berlin humiliated the Russians and paved the way for future unrest in the Balkans that eventually led to the First World War. Newspaper reporters and others (including assorted spies) flocked to the battlefront from all over Europe. This is the historical context in which we find Fandorin and the Turkish Gambit's cast of characters. The story centers on a young lady, Vavara Surovova. Like many children of the Russian aristocracy she considered herself progressive, smoked, enjoyed the pleasures of the flesh, and had a great disdain for Tsarist rule. Nevertheless, she decides to travel from Moscow to meet up with her fiancé, a Russian officer serving in the corps of cryptographers. No sooner does her journey start than she encounters a life threatening situation. It is here that Fandorin makes his initial appearance. Although she has no small amount of disdain for the man who rescued her they make their way to the front, near the town of Plevna where the Russian army is laying siege to a Turkish stronghold. As the story progresses Vavara soon becomes the focal point not only of the romantic advances of the soldiers and reporters encamped near Plevna but also of the spies and counter-spies who are trying desperately to influence the course of the war. The intensity of the story and Akunin's writing builds as the siege reaches its conclusion. As was the case in both Winter Queen and Leviathan nothing is truly as it seems and the layers of mystery created by Akunin are peeled away slowly by Fandorin. Akunin does an excellent job in maintaining the mystery throughout, even for those very familiar with plot devices and red herrings in stories of this sort. One of the more interesting aspects of this series of books has been the marked change in the style of each book.