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Jan 15, 2010

Jason rated it:

This was an unusually tough book to rate. After reading it, I was vacillating between either 2 or 4 stars, but not 3. That's too much of a spread for my comfort, and it happens only rarely. Consequently I waited two months before posting a review. As expected, after time and distance from Train to Potevka, my thoughts kluged into 3 stars, closer to 2.5.

Potevka is an autobiographical book about Ramsdell's life as a Russian expert in the CIA during the Cold War, especially highligh More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jun 26, 2008

Danielle rated it:

Despite my two-star review, this is actually a book that I wouldn't discourage people from reading. I just want to clarify what you can expect when you pick up this book:

- A glimpse into the Russian people, their challenges, a taste of their history, and their culture. The author of the book lived in Russia for many years and was able to offer some insights. I liked that.

- Bourne Ultimatum-ish story. What can I say? The opening storyline is about how the KGB is after him More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Dec 17, 2009

Garett rated it:

The author took an experience that happened in Russia as a CIA agent that by itself was interesting. The problem was I had to suffer through the cheesy narration of his life in the process. I downgraded from two stars to one star because it annoyed me so much - and it continues to annoy me. If it is still bugging me in a month I may go to zero stars (if that is possible).

1 comment like (3 people liked it)

May 18, 2010

Carol rated it:

I met this author at Costco in Bountiful, Utah. He let me know that a few changes had to be made for personal safety purposes. Like names, places, dates, times???? He said that the events in the book really happened. (My orthodontist went to school with his son.) -Small world!

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Nov 25, 2011

Liz rated it:

I was touched by the sincere and honest storytelling of Mike Ramsdell. This is my favorite book I have read lately. I learned many things about the history of Russia, but even more about the strength of the human spirit and the Love of God for his children.

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Feb 19, 2009

Janell rated it:

Surprisingly, I really enjoyed this book. This is a true story written by an LDS man who served with US intelligence in Russia. He actually was raised in Northern Utah and attended Utah State University. While serving in Russia, his covert operation was compromised, he was attacked by the mafia and had to flee into Russia to Potevka. He was severely injured and was without food for days. He describes his thoughts and experiences about his work and his religious beliefs. The book is written as if More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 28, 2008

Amy rated it:

I was really looking forward to reading this story of "espionage, intrigue and love", but ended up extremely disappointed. The writing is incredibly disjointed. The author jumps around in time period and story line in such a way that is confusing and often feels as though the book was never edited. I found the storyline during the first hundred or so pages generally interesting enough that I was able to get past the typo's and repetative phrases and even entire paragraphs which were More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Jul 20, 2008

Doran rated it:

Another book I read recently is "A Train To Potevka" written by Mike Ramsdell, a native Utahn.

Train To PotevkaRamsdell spent many years working in Military Intelligence (MI) and with his mastery of the German and Russian languages, was involved in missions behind the Iron Curtain in the 1980s.

This book, Ramsdell's first, is classified as fiction, but it's clear from reading that it is, at a minimum, based on real events. The stories take place shortl More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 06, 2008

Jenny rated it:

Okay, I am having a hard time consistently using the star rating system. My inclination is to give this two stars, but as I look back at books I have rated as two stars, I liked this book better so I guess it means barely three stars for "Train to Potevka."

I pretty much have the same impression of this book as others I know who have read it. It starts as interesting spy type novel, then the author digresses a bit to provide some background. I personally did not like the More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Jul 09, 2008

Shasti rated it:

I wouldn't really recommend this book, but I enjoyed it.

*warning: stop reading now if you don't want my views on Mormonism*

Mormons amaze me... I have a dear friend who is Mormon, and I he's quite simply the closest thing I've ever met to a saint. I mean that perfectly sincerely, not sarcastically... So speaking, of course, very generally: I absolutely love Mormons, with something very close to worship, and am completely creeped out by them at the same time.
So there More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jan 26, 2009

Kari rated it:

I really enjoyed this book, it was a pleasent surprise. It was scary to see the fall of the Soviet Union and all the trials that the people went trough. It definitely concerned me with the trails that the USA is going through, however in the book great miracles happen, and if you put your trust in the Lord you can get through anything.

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

May 06, 2008

Sarah rated it:

The core adventure story of this book (escaping from the Russian mafia in Siberia) is quite good but the author is not a practiced writer and there's a lot he could have left out. For example, the lectures on what was wrong with communism and how things came to be are not necessary. I mean, after all, I think the failure of almost all of the communist regimes is a testament to that fact. In addition, the author gives more autobiographical information than is necessary.

This would h More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Feb 19, 2009

Joel & Christie rated it:

Did anyone like the movie 'The Cinderella Man'? Its a movie about a boxer (true story). It got mixed reviews. I found the movie compelling, from this singular point of view. The movie painted a very vivid and fascinating portrayal of poverty and survival and happiness and everyday life during the Great Depression. I found Cinderalla Man's depression depection far more meaningful than Grapes of Wrath or The Sting or Seabiscuit.

Sam got A Train to Potevka for Christmas and its made More...

1 comment like

Jan 22, 2009

Jodie rated it:

I enjoyed the true story of an American agent and his narrow escape from the Russian Maffia and the KGB. I didn't like some of the side stories that took away from the action and suspense of the main story. They seemed more like fillers, a way to take up more pages. There were a couple of quotes from the book that really touched me...

"It is not the Lord's way or His plan to take away our hardships and difficulties. It is these challenges that give us the opportunity to grow More...

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Jan 04, 2012

02elizabethb rated it:

The main issue in this story is, Mike is being followed by the Russian mafia and is trying to get back to safety. The main setting in the story is in Russia, and a lot of it is in Potevka. this story took place in the early 80's. Mike went on a mission to Russia, so he already spake the language so he decided he wanted to be an american spy in Russia. the protagonist is Mike Ramsdell. The antagonist is the Russian mafia. I really liked this book because it was so intense!!!! There was one part i More...

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Aug 15, 2011

Robin rated it:

I have a unique perspective on this book for two reasons: the first is that the author is my dad's best friend. The second is that I was the editor for this book. My dad and Mike Ramsdell served in the military together in Finland and Russia. My dad went to Finland on an LDS mission and has worked with the National Guard as a Russian linguist.

When Mike decided to write this book, he had no real writing experience. He just wrote down his memories of these amazing experiences, in the sa More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Oct 26, 2010

Austin rated it:

This book is based on actual events, but classified as a work of fiction since many of the actual events remain classified. Michael Ramsdell, the author, is a native of Bear River, Utah who joined the military as an intelligent agent after graduating from college. In the military, he learned to speak Russian which plotted his career as a linguist, a diplomat and ultimately a CIA agent.
In this book, Michael talks about some of his own experiences while serving as a secret agent in Russia. More...

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Jan 09, 2010

Miandmiksmom rated it:

Hmmmmm...this is a tough book to rate. Some parts of the book were definitely a "4", but overall, it just wasn't that great. If I knew he was writing this book for his family as a memoir and didn't mean for it to be published, I'd rate it higher. However, he seemed to need a little platform to complain about his family a little (remember the section where the brothers keep asking what he's REALLY doing in Russia and according to the author won't leave him alone about it? There were More...

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Jul 09, 2009

Tom rated it:

Any one interested in the former USSR will want to read this story set during the evil empire's collapse and dissolution, but it is by no means targeted only at that audience.

Don't let the fact that this story is written by a local (that is, Utah) author with no previous books to his credit turn you away from reading this story. This page turner tells a great story that I couldn't put down, especially in the first half of the book. The author becomes more introspective in the second More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 21, 2010

Barbara rated it:

I was really interested to read this book. I love spy movies and was intrigued by a real-life American spy story. One of my main issues with this book was the fact that it is a work of fiction. The author explained in the prologue that it is fiction because he had to change names and places to protect himself as well as to follow the laws of confidentiality regarding national security. He wrote, "Thus due to the foregoing reasons, several of the events, dates, places, and names in the book More...

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Mar 13, 2011

Kim rated it:

Mike Ramsdell was a tour guide on a trip DeVaughn's parents took, and so they bought this book. His mom loved the book and gave us a copy for Christmas. It starts out pretty interesting.....

Okay, I finished this book and I enjoyed it. This is first and foremost a MEMOIR. The cover implies that it is a spy story, and that is a very interesting part of the book, but if that is why you are reading it, you will be bitterly disappointed. It is more of a book about how this small spy expe More...

2 comments like

Dec 24, 2010

Abby rated it:

Two days ago I wasn't sure if I wanted to read this book, because there were so many reviews on here saying it wasn't that great. However, I read the book in less than 24 hours. I was annoyed that I had to stop reading to do non-important things like shower and make food, or answer the phone. Or respond to my crying children. (Seriously, there was this part where a guy was dying, and every other sentence my children were interupting me, and I was like, PLEASE GO AWAY GO AWAY GO AWAY!!! Then I lo More...

5 comments like

Sep 13, 2010

Vanessa rated it:

Once upon a time there was a spy from Utah serving his country in Cold War Russia. Well, even though A Train to Potevka may be classified as fiction, it’s based on the true-to-life experiences of Mike Ramsdell, Utah native. As a young man Ramsdell served his mission in Switzerland and Germany, and had learned enough Russian to make him an excellent candidate as a spy for the U.S. CIA. His mission: to find and capture a known mafia kingpin deep in Siberia. Unfortunately, things go wrong.

More...

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Dec 17, 2009

Jane rated it:

This book finds itself in a rare group of mine: I cannot finish it.
I bought this under the pretense that he's a former CIA agent who worked in the USSR, which is all true.
What I didn't bargain for was his childhood history. I DON'T CARE ABOUT THAT!
This must be a pet peeve of mine...authors that have a wonderful story to tell, yet ruin & dull it with their boring past history. Ugh. I'd prefer my toenails get pulled out!

4 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 03, 2009

Mosop rated it:

I really enjoyed this story. Perhaps readers will have an easier time appreciating this book, if one does not go into it with any pre-conceived ideas or expectations, nor attempt to classify the genre. Potevka is not fully a spy novel. It is not fully an adventure novel. It is not fully a religious and/or Mormon novel. Rather, "A Train to Potevka" is a first-hand account of the authors true-life survival story serving as a secret agent who must escape cold-war Russia. It is a story of More...

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Dec 15, 2010

Autumn rated it:

I'll give it four stars even though the writing could have been tighter. Ramsdell took some of his stories from his experience as an American intelligence agent in the USSR toward the end of the Cold War and put them into novel form. Fascinating historical backgrounds and images of Russia and its people at the time. And his descriptions of the life of a spy are anything but glamorous. The movie "The Ipress File" comes to mind while reading this: no action-packed soundtrack, no amazing More...

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Apr 09, 2009

Amanda rated it:

One man's memoirs of a mission to capture a Russian who had embezzled millions from the United States while involved with building the American embassy in Russian. His mission is compromised and he barely escapes the Russian mafia with his life. He makes it safely to the train that is will take him to a safe house only to have his food stolen the first day. After several days journey with no food except black Russian tea and one small boiled potato he makes it to the safe house only to find i More...

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Sep 02, 2010

Kym rated it:

Ramsdell wrote a book on "his experiences" about being a spy in Russia. So some if might be fiction, some true. He leaves that up to you to decide.
I really enjoyed hearing about his experiences as a spy. He tells a great story if it's about his work. He had many interesting stories and he also applied his LDS religion into the story effectively. When he got into his personal life he just made me uncomfortable and his story telling ability declined. Talking about his failed More...

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Sep 24, 2009

Sally rated it:

It was just okay. I enjoyed this book because of my experience living in Russia. I lived there at the same time the author did and met him at chuch in Moscow. Because of my experience there and my interest and love for Russia, I liked it. But I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who doesn't have a connection to Russia. The spy part of the story is short and not terribly thrilling.

I also found it annoying how he spoke about his first marriage and then that we were supposed to feel overj More...

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Nov 28, 2011

Brenda rated it:

This is a fast read - a biography of some of the author's life. He is a fellow Utahn and refers to many places and some people in Utah. It was interesting to read about Russia and some of his experiences there. How grateful I am to live in America! Innoticed that several times he repeated information he had previously given us - as though we wouldn't make the mental connection. The writing was ok, the details often felt a bit too personal - more like a church fireside talk than a novel. Glad More...

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