Volk's Game: A Novel (Volk Novels)

Alexei Vokovoy straddles two sinister worlds where he reports to two powerful men who can take everything he cares for, including his life, with the snap of a finger. This small space he occupies wedged between two masters allows him to conduct his own counter intelligence against those who desire to see him dead. Volk's Game is a powerful, visual read that captures the attention of anyone interested in espionage and intrigue. Centered on the mythical existence of Leonardo Da Vinci's masterpiece, Leda and the Swan, Alexei, a veteran of Russia's brutal war in Chechnya, has been ordered to bring this prize to an underworld Russian Mafioso and the general of the Red Army. Lost in a maze of deception, together with his companion Valya, a homegrown assassin, must decide whom they can trust and how they can escape alive with this highly priced piece of art. I grew up reading espionage and absolutely loved this book. It has all of the elements of deception, murder and the twists and turns of uncovering the truth from enemies and comrades. Truly I was on the edge of my seat until the end. Sadly, I must wait for the launching of the author's next installment. Ghelfi, a former lawyer, has beyond doubt discovered his next career. Like Robert Ludlum, Brent Ghelfi has introduced a protagonist who has a life of his own beyond the pages of Volk's Game. Armchair Interviews says: Whew! What a ride, what a read.

Pity the Russians, a people scarred by their country's repeated strivings for empire, now locked in a transition from a collectivist society that promised little for all to a form of capitalism that, under the Putin regime, delivers many to some and none to others. Russia's DNA is encoded for endurance, not stability and optimism. Brent Ghelfi understands that dynamic. His debut thriller, "Volk's Game," captures the Russian spirit, that weird combination of brutal strength and mournful acceptance of hardship that's mixed with a fatalism that's native to the Russian character. Readers should be warned: there is plenty of action, but also no hope nor heroes. Alexei Volkovoy is a gangster in Moscow who provides whatever illegal delights his foreign businessmen clients want. He also works for a man known only as the General, a Russian army officer headquartered in the weeping stone catacombs near the Kremlin, whose life Volk saved in Chechnya. It's a brutal life, but better than war, capture and torture at the hands of Chechen rebel. Only the small acts of charity -- giving money to war widows and arranging adoptions for foundlings -- give him, well, not so much hope, but possibly some relief from his misery. With his lover and partner, Valya, Volk is hired to spirit out of the Hermitage in St. Petersburg a "lost" painting called "Leda and the Swan" by one L. DaVinci. As expected, there are crosses and double-crosses, and Volk sets off to recover the painting with the directness of a laser and pitilessness of a tiger. What makes this hunt different, is something Volk didn't expect. He fell in love with a painting. "I lust for her beyond reason as I scheme," he reflects, amazed at how a dab of paint on a wooden panel can find a living nerve deep within his deadened soul. There are no heroes in "Volk's Game." Even Volk is a hard man to find sympathy with, but Ghelfi finds the key to his character that doesn't make him into an angel with dirty faces, nor a killer with a heart of gold. It's a thriller that challenges the mind as it tingles the nerves.

This is a cool thriller -- an action-packed story in an exotic setting with compelling characters. But it is way more than that too. The writing is so good it almost transcends the genre. The author's insights about good and evil in this contradictory "post-postmodern" world are powerful and thought provoking. This novel is almost literary in its ambition to reveal what it means to be human, even in a place and time where just about everything and everyone works to strip humanity away. And Ghelfi's way with language is hypnotic. Corruption of the soul and human degradation has rarely been so evocatively, even lyrically described. So when reading Volk's Game, you find yourself in the middle of a fast moving page turner, anxious to find out what happens next, but at the same time you want to slow down and linger with each vivid paragraph. It's like stopping for a quick bite at a dingy eatery in the concourse of a faraway airport and discovering a four-star quality meal. To extend the analogy, this novel is a juicy, blood red filet mignon, a carafe of hearty Bordeaux, and a dark (very dark) chocolate soufflé dripping with gooey raspberry sauce. It is so richly rewarding you don't mind taking your time. You can always catch a later flight -- rarely do you get to savor an edifying guilty pleasure like this.

This debut novel set in modern-day Russia is a lot of things. It's a bit formulaic, filled with a lot of characters whose sole purpose is to die violently, provides glimpses into the most vile precincts of organized crime, has its share of cliches, and introduces an almost indestructible (I'm not kidding here. Think The Terminator.) main character. But for all of that, I found it immensely readable. The Chechnyan war and its attendant brutality, rarely reported in the West save for Beslan level atrocities, is a brilliant choice for Alexei Volkonoy's battlefield. The effect of such warfare on the Soviet soldiers there might well produce a Volk or two in the new Russia. The oomparisons to Forsyth may be valid, but I am more reminded of Andrew Vacchs' "Burke" novels. Same type hero: brutal and merciless when required but basically a decent man, albeit wounded physically and mentally, in a dark world dispensing street justice. Rather like the Punisher in the graphic novels. Ultimately, Volk is a pawn, but a deadly one and one who lives and is willing to die for his personal code of honor. A couple of minor complaints: would a Russian talk about something being "catty cornered" instead of the Soviet equivalent? And Volk a colonel? For some reason authors love that rank but given Volk's background and age, Captain, if he were an officer at all and not a senior NCO, would have been more appropriate. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and I'm looking forward to the next one, although I have to say that this initial outing will be hard to beat! I trust it has been optioned for the movies; done properly with the right casting, it could be a box office winner. But don't wait. Read this now.

In today's Russia, Alexei Volk dabbles in everything from drugs to porn.He also works for brutal crime boss Maxim Abdullaev and the mysterious General.Both Maxim and the General use Volk for their own purposes which leads to serious complications for Volk.The plot of this story has Volk hunting for a lost Da Vinci painting called Leda and The Swan.While Volk searches other parties hunt Volk and will stop at nothing to ensure that he does not get his hands on the painting.The writing for 300 pages is tight and muscular,no wasted words.The violence is brutal and bloody.If you enjoy Barry Eisler's John Rain series you'll get a kick out of Volk.