Moskva: 'The new Le Carre' BBC Radio 2 The Sara Cox Show
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By Jack Grimwood
avg rating
2 reviews
‘Even better than Child 44’
Telegraph
Moskva is a brilliantly written, chilling and sophisticated début serial killer thriller set in Cold War Moscow. Makes Kolymsky Heights look like a walk in Gorky Park.
*
Red Square, 1985. The naked body of a young man is left outside the walls of the Kremlin; frozen solid – like marble to the touch – missing the little finger from his right hand.
A week later, Alex Marston, the headstrong fifteen year old daughter of the British Ambassador disappears. Army Intelligence Officer Tom Fox, posted to Moscow to keep him from telling the truth to a government committee, is asked to help find her. It’s a shot at redemption.
But Russia is reluctant to give up the worst of her secrets. As Fox’s investigation sees him dragged deeper towards the dark heart of a Soviet establishment determined to protect its own so his fears grow, with those of the girl’s father, for Alex’s safety.
And if Fox can’t find her soon, she looks likely to become the next victim of a sadistic killer whose story is bound tight to that of his country’s terrible past . . .
Praise for Jack Grimwood:
‘Given that the definitive thriller in 1980’s Moscow already exists (Martin Cruz Smith’s Gorky Park), Jack Grimwood’s Moskva looks like a crazy gamble. But it’s one that comes off . . .’
Sunday Times
‘Tom Fox is well drawn, the action scenes are filled with energy and tension, but the real hero of Moskva is Russia itself, bleak, corrupt, falling apart, but with an incurable humanity’
Tom Callaghan, author of A Killing Winter
‘A compulsive and supremely intelligent thriller from a master stylist’
Michael Marshall, author of The Straw Men
‘A first-rate thriller – Moskva grips from the very first page. Heartily recommended’
William Ryan, author of The Twelfth Department
‘Like the city herself, Jack Grimwood’s Moskva is richly layered, stylish, beautifully constructed, and full of passion beneath the chills. Part political thriller, part historical novel, part a story of personal redemptions, Moskva cements Jack Grimwood as a powerful new voice in thriller writing. Not to be missed’
Sarah Pinborough, author of The Dog-Faced Gods trilogy
‘Hard to know what to praise first here: the operatic sweep of this mesmerising novel; the surefooted orchestration of tension; or the vividly realised sense of time and place; all of these factors mark Jack Grimwood’s Moskva out as something special in the arena of international thrillers’
Barry Forshaw, author of Brit Noir
‘Memorable characters, powerful recreations of history and an unrelenting pace that will keep you breathless. A striking début in the genre’
Maxim Jakubowski
‘A sublime writer . . . I felt glimmers of Le Carré shining through the prose’
CrimeSquad
Reviews
A gripping read, hard to put down. I didn't enjoy the descriptions of brutality but they were an important part of the story. Some scenes seemed little far fetched but didn't detract from the overall storyline.
Moskva : Jack Grimwood : Pelican Pageturners
A fast paced and multi layered thriller set in 1980’s Moscow, which follows army intelligence officer Tom Fox, on a hectic life or death chase under the watchful eyes of everyone: from Embassy Staff, the deshurnaya jealously guarding free movement around Moscow, through KGB shadows and Stalinist veterans, to modern day political players fighting to gain the upper hand.
Fox is drawn into a compelling mystery which seems to start in the fragile bubble of the British Embassy with the Ambassador’s step-daughter, but develops into an intricate web of subterfuge and concealment.
The novel provides a fascinating portrayal of the closed society of Russia at this time, as well as exploring the brutality of open conflict in World War 2 Russia and Berlin, and the covert warfare of 1980’s Northern Ireland.
The violence in the novel is raw and uncomfortably graphic. Through the thematic depiction of familial relationships the author explores the extreme actions and sacrifices provoked by these ties, whether to protect self, family or indeed the ‘Motherland’. The parallel depictions of fatherhood are thought provoking and create an extreme spectrum of what it means to be a parent.
The narrative is urgent and the plot is certainly engaging in its twists and turns. Perhaps a weakness of the novel overall lies in the characterisation of Fox: failed priest, husband, father, redeemer and James Bond archetype: his roles are many and credulity is inevitably stretched during the extended action packed escapades.
Overall though, a great choice for our Reading Group. All members read it eagerly and it engendered plenty of discussion and interest about setting, characterisation and plot.
