Eye of the Red Tsar (Inspector Pekkala #1)

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Eye of the Red Tsar (Inspector Pekkala #1)

3.72 of 5 stars 3.72 · rating details · 1,122 ratings · 300 reviews

One July, 1918, the imprisoned family of Tsar Nicholas Romanov was awakened and led down to the basement of the Ipatiev house. There they were summarily executed. Their bodies were hidden away, the location a secret of the Soviet state.

A decade later, one man lives in purgatory, banished to a forest on the ouskirts of humanity. Pekkala, was once the most trusted secret ag...more

ebook, BONUS: This edition contains an excerpt from Sam Eastland's" Shadow Pass.", 304 pages

Published April 27th 2010 by Bantam

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Feb 26, 2010 Jennifer W rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: first-reads

I won this book on goodreads giveaways!! My first win! Can't wait to get it. I love the Russian Revolution, it's got the perfect mix of story elements- kings and queens, a mystical doctor who basically controls the family, rebellion, murder, and a possible escape. What more could you want in a story?

I was really quite impressed with this book. There are some minor areas that could be better but overall a very good first book from an author that I will certainly be reading in the future. I think...more

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Apr 29, 2012 Anne rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery, historical-fiction

Sam Eastland's first (as far as I can tell) novel offers an intriguing setting: the Soviet Union in 1929. HIstorical novels of Russia abound, but most are set either in Tsarist times or in recent decades. Eastland's protagonist, Pekkala (his first name, like Spenser's, is never given), was a detective who was very close to Tsar Nicholas II and his family. After the revolution he was sent to a Siberian labor camp, where he managed to survive in conditions that no one else was able to endure. As t...more

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Mar 02, 2010 Brad rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: first-reads, 2010, mystery, history

I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads. It's still an honest review, but the FTC wanted you to know...
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This was a good story, which I won from goodreads. Despite being a little slower than I expected (the book is advertised as a thriller, but is more of a historical mystery) I really enjoyed it. It takes place in the early 1900s in Russia, where the Tsar's most trusted investigator is pulled from a prison camp to investigate the death of the Tsar and his famil...more I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads. It's still an honest review, but the FTC wanted you to know...
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This was a good story, which I won from goodreads. Despite being a little slower than I expected (the book is advertised as a thriller, but is more of a historical mystery) I really enjoyed it. It takes place in the early 1900s in Russia, where the Tsar's most trusted investigator is pulled from a prison camp to investigate the death of the Tsar and his family.

Pekkala is a character with a mind like Shawn from Psych--he is very observant and has an amazing memory. He also is a good man, and is a protagonist you want to cheer for despite some of the crummy things he's been through. The novel interweaves his back story with the plot of the novel, which mostly has the feel of a "journey" novel. One of the big twists was foreshadowed early on and I saw it much more clearly than Pekkala did. But there was one other big twist that I didn't see coming, which helped make the end of the book quite a bit more exciting. I look forward to the rest of the series.

Pekkala's relationships with his brother, with the officer in charge of the investigation, and with the people that he meets were interesting. I also found the mystery town they passed through and the way Stalin spread his propaganda to be very interesting.

Rating: PG-13 for some violence.

***SPOILERS AHEAD***
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May 15, 2010 Jeanette rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: all-fiction, russia, four-star-fiction, miss-trees

Mysteries within mysteries. I loved the complexity of this plot.
I've been having some great luck with first novels lately, and this is another excellent one. The story takes place in 1929 and presents some fresh twists on the old "what really happened to the Romanovs?" conundrum. It's meticulously researched for period detail. Parts of the book were so fascinating that I almost wished it was longer, but I appreciate the author's all-too-rare ability to keep it tight and contained.

There's a sup...more

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Jan 09, 2013 Derek rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, historical-fiction

I have to admit. I inadvertently read the second book in the Pekkala series (#2 Shadow Pass) first. I enjoyed it quite a bit, so I received this as a gift from my girlfriend, and while it was slow mostly the first half of the book, it ended with a much more intense tone. The book is labeled as a "suspense/thriller" novel, but I would consider it more a "mystery/suspense". Admittedly, I am 100% new to the genre of mystery, technically this is my second mystery book ever (Shadow Pass being my firs...more

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Nov 08, 2011 Shawn Davis rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A wild man lives a life of hard labor in Siberia - until the emerging Soviet Union needs him to resume the duties that sentenced him outside the gulag in the first place.

Pekkala was the investigator to the Tsar. Both above the system and existing beside it, he was able to see those things which escape even the most observant. But with the emergence of the Soviet Union, Pekkala's loyalty to Nicholas II and his knowledge of the Russian Royal Family make him dangerous enough for Stalin to first try...more

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Oct 26, 2011 Tony rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: thrillers

EYE OF THE RED TSAR. (2010). Sam Eastland. ***1/2.
The author is writing under a pseudonym. The publishers will only say that he is British, currently living in the U.S. This is his first novel under this name. From the title, it is obvious that it has a Russian theme, and you will be right in guessing so. It is the first installment in a series (the second novel has already been published, and the third title has been announced) featuring a man named Pekkala. Pekkala was a young man who was bor...more EYE OF THE RED TSAR. (2010). Sam Eastland. ***1/2.
The author is writing under a pseudonym. The publishers will only say that he is British, currently living in the U.S. This is his first novel under this name. From the title, it is obvious that it has a Russian theme, and you will be right in guessing so. It is the first installment in a series (the second novel has already been published, and the third title has been announced) featuring a man named Pekkala. Pekkala was a young man who was born and raised in Finland, then a Russian possession. When his older brother, Anton, was ultimately drummed out of the Finnish Guards – an elite group that protected the Tsar – Pekkala was sent by his father to take his place and ultimately achieve the honor that his father had hoped would come from Anton. Pekkala – then only sixteen – was ultimately noticed by the Tsar when he refused to carry out an order from one of his trainers that ran counter to his beliefs, in this case having his horse jump over a fence that was covered with barbed wire. In time, Pekkala was given a special position within the Tsar’s regime known as “The Emerald Eye,” – sort of like Amazon Woman’s ring. He was the highest ranking “agent” in the Tsar’s arsenal; he answered to no one except the Tsar, and could arrest anyone he wanted and be privy to any secret documents he wanted to read. We first meet Pekkala in the forests of Siberia. He had been there, in the Borodok Labor Camp, for over nine years. It was now 1929. His job was to go through the forests and mark trees that were ready to be cut with a red slash. No one knew his name; he was simply prisoner #4745-P. The Romanovs were dead – executed in a basement by soldiers. Exactly who those soldiers were was not known. They could have been from either the White or Red factions. Suddenly, Pekkala finds himself taken from his crude hut in the woods to the central post of the camp, where he was told he was to be set free. In exchange for this, he was given a task: find the fabled treasure of the Romanov’s that they had hidden prior to their execution. We suddenly find ourselves playing see-saw in time with Pekkala, from the time when the Romanov’s were still alive, to the present day. Flashbacks are in italics to keep the reader from getting too confused. Along the way, the adventure becomes more and more complicated. Were the Romanov’s all killed? If any of them was alive, which ones were, and where were they. (It is interesting to note that the author did not dwell on Anastasia) Who else was looking for the Tsar’s treasure. Were the assistants to Pekkala trustworthy?, and were they really who they said they were? The story is set against the background of both the Russian wilderness and the various Russian cities, with the author showing his knowledge of Russian geography and of the various residences of the Tsar and his family. Although the story could have been told with lots less running around on the part of the characters, you quickly come to realize that the whole purpose of the novel is to introduce Pekkala and, perhaps, his allies – along with the character of Stalin. Maybe later novels in the series will concern themselves more with the plot at hand once we have gotten over this hurdle. Recommended.
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Sep 22, 2011 Suzan rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical, thriller

Inspector Pekkala, once the feared Emerald Eye of the Tsar, has been imprisoned by the Soviet government for years. Living in exile, he barely exists while carrying out his assigned task of marking trees for harvesting in the great Siberian forest. His life takes an unexpected turn with the arrival of Lt. Kirov, a brash young commissar who brings him a proposition from Stalin himself. Discovering what really happened the night the Romanovs were executed he says, whether or not one or more of th...more Inspector Pekkala, once the feared Emerald Eye of the Tsar, has been imprisoned by the Soviet government for years. Living in exile, he barely exists while carrying out his assigned task of marking trees for harvesting in the great Siberian forest. His life takes an unexpected turn with the arrival of Lt. Kirov, a brash young commissar who brings him a proposition from Stalin himself. Discovering what really happened the night the Romanovs were executed he says, whether or not one or more of the children survived the massacre, and the location of the Tsar’s fabled treasure, would win Pekkala his freedom.
Much of the story is told in flashback as Pekkala remembers the world before the Bolshevik Revolution and how he came to attain his high position in the dreaded Okhrana, the secret police. We learn about his childhood in Finland, how he came to Moscow to join the crack Finnish regiment, how he met Tsar Nicholas and earned his trust. Eastland does a great job of humanizing Nicholas. Most biographies and histories of the time judge the Tsar harshly, portraying him as cruel and indifferent to the suffering of his people or the very least a weak and ineffectual ruler, afraid of his mother and his wife. But here, he is a shy and lonely man who is devoted to his family, concerned for the welfare of animals, who wants even his exercise program to be of use, preferring to chop firewood rather than use a gym or lift weights to keep fit
Eastland beautifully contrasts the grace and elegance of pre-revolutionary Russia with the bleak and artificial world of the early Soviet Union, a world of Potemkin villages and farms built solely to impress foreign visitors, where nothing is real, the wooden apples perfect in their beauty but useless to the starving people. His descriptions of the landscape are lush and evocative, his characters well realized. I especially enjoyed watching Lt. Kirov evolve from a slightly bewildered young man whose highest ambition had been to be a chef into a competent assistant in Pekkala’s investigations, possibly a sidekick in future adventures?
I did have a problem with the ending, finding it not quite believable, particularly the revelation of the identity of the villain and the final scenes with Stalin. Creating a novel of suspense out of one of the most infamous murders of the 20th Century was quite a challenge, but for the most part Sam Eastland’s debut novel pulls it off. I hope we see more of Inspector Pekkala.
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Jun 15, 2011 LJ rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 1900s_early, golden_age_1918-1939, male_author, historical, suspense, russia

First Sentence: Through blood-dimmed eyes, the Tasr watched the man reload his gun.

Pekkala was once a highly respected, and feared, secret agent trusted by both the government and Tsar Nicholas Romanov. Now is a prisoner in Siberia with only his survival skills to keep him alive. Suddenly the Stalin and Mother Russia need him back. There is a rumor that one of the Romanov children survived the slaughter of the family. It is up to Pekkala to prove, or disprove, the rumor and to find the equally r...more First Sentence: Through blood-dimmed eyes, the Tasr watched the man reload his gun.

Pekkala was once a highly respected, and feared, secret agent trusted by both the government and Tsar Nicholas Romanov. Now is a prisoner in Siberia with only his survival skills to keep him alive. Suddenly the Stalin and Mother Russia need him back. There is a rumor that one of the Romanov children survived the slaughter of the family. It is up to Pekkala to prove, or disprove, the rumor and to find the equally rumored Romanov treasure.

There’s nothing more enjoyable than a book with a gripping, dramatic opening. Eastland delivered.

The character of Pekkala could have come off as stereotypical superhero/super spy but that pitfall was neatly avoided by our being provided a fascinating and reflective history of his life which is interwoven throughout the story. From this, one has a greater depth of understanding and perspective on the protagonist than one is usually granted. Young Lt. Kirov is a wonderful balancing character with presence and confidence but the unusual background in that he was studying to be a chef. The building relationship between the two characters works very well. It was mentioned to be that they remind one of buddies from the Old Westerns.

There is excellent dialogue and delightful occasional humor. “Where will you go when you are free?” asked Kirov. “Paris,” he replied. “Why there?” “If you have to ask that question, you have never been to Paris….” Eastland uses descriptions of nature and weather very effectively—he paints visual pictures. He also provides an informative look at the period, good historical information and a very different view of Rasputin that was interesting.

There was never a moment where I considered putting this book down. There was a very good red herring followed by an interesting twist, capped by a tragic and dramatic climax, but the very end didn’t quite work for me, or at least, I didn’t quite believe it. Nor do I think we were meant to, but it makes a very good possible segue to a future story line. What I particularly liked was that the author didn’t take 400 pages to tell what really was a very good 200-page story.

Eastland definitely has a way about him and I am certainly looking forward to his next book.

EYE OF THE RED TSAR (Hist/Susp, Insp. Pekkala, Russia, 1929) – VG
Eastland, Sam (aka Paul Watkins) – 1st in series
Bantam Books, ©2010, US Hardcover – ISBN: 9780553807813
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May 23, 2011 Beth rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Pekkala is a prisoner in one of the gulags that dot Siberia. It is 1929 and Pekkala has been a “marker” in the forest for nine years. His job is to walk through the forest carrying a can of red paint. When he sees a tree that should be cut down by other prisoners, he puts his hand in the red paint and leaves his mark on the tree. The average lifespan of a marker is six months. Pekkala has survived using the extraordinary talents and intelligence that made him, a Finnish conscript in the army of...more

Pekkala is a prisoner in one of the gulags that dot Siberia. It is 1929 and Pekkala has been a “marker” in the forest for nine years. His job is to walk through the forest carrying a can of red paint. When he sees a tree that should be cut down by other prisoners, he puts his hand in the red paint and leaves his mark on the tree. The average lifespan of a marker is six months. Pekkala has survived using the extraordinary talents and intelligence that made him, a Finnish conscript in the army of Tsar Nicholas II, to his post as the man closest to the tsar, his chief spy. He is known, and feared, throughout Russia, as the Emerald Eye.

Alone in the woods for nine years, Pekkala is shocked to discover a commissar in Stalin’s government waiting for him at his hut. Pekkala is ordered back to Moscow to serve the new government. Stalin needs Pekkala to find the bodies of the Romanovs so that rumors of the survival of Alexei and Maria, the heir and his sister, can be denied before they undermine the government of the Red Revolution. There is no one alive who knew the Romanovs as intimately as Pekkala did. In return for his help, his sentence will be commuted and he will be free to leave Russia and go wherever he wishes to spend the rest of his life.

The story alternates between the time before the revolution and the time after Pekkala is brought from the gulag. The author brings the royal family to life, particularly Nicholas II. This is fiction so some of the details aren’t accurate but the changes are in service to the authors vision of the story. It is a story I know very well.

In 1967, Robert Massie published NICHOLAS AND ALEXANDRA, a biography of the last of the tsars and his empress. Massie approached the book from a most unusual, and fascinating, point of view. Massie’s son had been diagnosed with hemophilia, a disease passed from mother to son that carries a burden of guilt for the mother. He became interested in the stories of other mothers and sons and discovered that Queen Victoria had passed the gene onto a number of women in her family. One of these was the German woman who would marry Nicholas of Russia.

Massie’s theory was based on his belief that Rasputin, the Mad Monk, would not have had the control over Alexandra that he gained were it not for his ability to convince Alexandra that he alone could keep her son alive. Nicholas and Alexandra were an unusual royal couple; the marriage was built on mutual respect and genuine love. He could not refuse her when she begged him not to send Rasputin away from court even though Nicholas was being told that his enemies were using Rasputin’s hold over Alexandra as an excuse for getting rid of the Romanovs as rulers of the country.

One of the most interesting chapters in any book is the one in which Massie describes the night when some young royals decided that the survival of their country depended on killing Rasputin. I used Massie’s non-fiction, brick-sized book as the basis of a course in European history leading to WW I. My tenth grade students were fascinated by the book and saddened by the fate of the Romanovs.

Sam Eastland includes a timeline of the events in the book down to the use of DNA to identify all the bodies found in the mine shaft. Anastasia did not survive though the story of her escape and amnesia has kept generations of little girls enthralled.

Pekkala is an original character and I look forward to reading the next book in the series.(less)

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Feb 04, 2011 Paul Pessolano rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The first thing that came to my mind was that if you liked "Child 44" you will also love this book.

The book starts off at a Russian Prison Camp in Siberia. An inmate, Pekkala, who was the trusted investigator of the Romanov family, is given the opporunity to leave the camp if he will try and solve the mystery of the murder of the Romanov family.

As is always the case, there is more to this opportunity than meets the eye.

He is reunited with his brother, who he has not seen in over twenty years, an...more

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Jan 07, 2011 Jackie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I picked this book up from the latest batch of Reader's Choice at the library. My expectations (as with the last Reader's Choice I read) were quite low. And yet, for the second time in a row (lucky me!) I was most pleasantly surprised. Again, this book isn't perfect by any means. A couple of times I caught myself thinking critically about something and wondering why the author did what he did - but only a couple of times. Other than that this was most enjoyable for me.

I'm amazed that this is the...more

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Oct 29, 2010 Tony rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This debut historical thriller takes the execution of the Romanov royal family in 1918 as the catalyst for its plot. (A word of warning to anyone with a an interest in or knowledge of the Romanovs and/or that era of Russian/Soviet history -- the author takes a great deal of fictional liberties with the known facts -- as is his right as a storyteller -- so don't expect one of those works of historical fiction that dovetails perfectly with reality.) The protagonist is a Finn named Pekkala who enli...more This debut historical thriller takes the execution of the Romanov royal family in 1918 as the catalyst for its plot. (A word of warning to anyone with a an interest in or knowledge of the Romanovs and/or that era of Russian/Soviet history -- the author takes a great deal of fictional liberties with the known facts -- as is his right as a storyteller -- so don't expect one of those works of historical fiction that dovetails perfectly with reality.) The protagonist is a Finn named Pekkala who enlists in Tsar Nicholas' personal guard as a teenager, and is hand-picked by the Tsar to be a counter-terrorist investigator with almost unlimited powers and scope. However, in the wake of Bolshevik revolution, Pekkala is thrown into a gulag, where he spends the next decade. As the book opens in 1929, he is released into the custody of his Bolshevik brother and a a young political commissar. It seems that Stalin wants him to investigate the fate of the Romanovs, and establish whether or not they were all really killed.

The story switches back and forth between Pekkala's training and rise to a position of renown and influence in the court, and the investigation into the Romanovs. Unfortunately, the results never rise beyond being merely serviceable. Pekkala is a too-honorable-to-be-true man (as we learn in a very clumsy scene, he is rarer than one in a million), with photographic memory and all kinds of of useful skills, not to mention intelligent, brave, etc. He's a hero in desperate need of some flaws or really anything to make him interesting. As the story unfolds, we get quite effective portrayals of life in pre and post-Bolshevik Russia, which goes a long way to making the book readable. There's a palpable sense of how tenuous the Bolshevik's control of the country was, which contrasts nicely with a sequence set in a Potemkin village.

The plot is fairly run-of-the-mill thriller stuff, as Pekkala follows threads of information from point A to point B to point C and on to the inevitable twists at the end. Unfortunately, pretty much every reader will recognize the major clue that Pekkala is given several hundred pages before he does. There are also logical problems that crop up from time to time, for example, we learn that Pekkala was purposely not killed in the purges, but tucked away at the gulag in case Stalin decided to use him -- however, the job Pekkala was given at the gulag killed every other man who held it within a few months... The worst part of all is a surprise twist at the end that is wholly unbelievable given Pekkala's supposed skills as someone who notices details (not to mention, is intimately familiar with the people involved). So, despite the generally evocative atmosphere, the book has to be considered mediocre at best. But the era is interesting enough to me that I'd give the inevitable sequel a chance, in the hopes that some of the deficiencies of this first book have been improved upon.(less)

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Jun 04, 2010 Paul rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Eye of the Red Tsar is Sam Eastland’s introductory novel. It is an entertaining mystery suspense novel set in Post Imperial Russia.

Inspector Pekkala was the Tsar’s most trusted advisor and enforcer. Prior to the revolution, he was called the “Eye of the Tsar” as Tsar Nicholas had given him the title of The Emerald Eye and declared that no one, not even the Tsar himself, was above answering to Pekkala. After the royal family was murdered at the start of the revolution however, Pekkala was torture...more

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Apr 10, 2010 Cheryl rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Nicholas Romanov, Tsar of Russia was a very powerful man. With wealth and power comes the danger of people always wanting to kill you.

While training in the military, Pekkala met Romanov. They became friends, formed form their admiration for each other. Due to Pekkala amazing ability to remember things, even down to the smallest of things like how many buttons are on someone’s coat; Romanov brought Pekkala into his closest circle. Pekkala became known as “The Red Eye of the Tsar.
In 1917, Romano...more

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Mar 29, 2010 Barbara Mitchell rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is a story set in Stalinist Russia with flashbacks to fill in the life story of Pekkala, the main character, and the fate of the Romanov family. Although we all know Tsar Nicholas and his family were murdered near Ekaterinberg and their bodies thrown down an abandoned mine shaft, there have always been rumors that one or more of the children survived. Eye of the Red Tsar picks up on those rumors and fleshes them out into a intriguing suspense novel.

The character of Pekkala is fascinating. I...more

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Mar 08, 2010 Elizabeth rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

What an amazing trip through those years immediately following the Russian Revolution. This is an antihero with such strength of character developed so gradually that you literally feel as if you would know this man should you see him crossing the street. That is the extent of the authors ability to paint this world with a gritty , despondent realism . There are those who might think at first blush that this is a rehash of Child 44 ,not so dear readers. Inspector Pekkala is a whole new type of d...more

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Sep 10, 2011 Lorin Cary rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Sam Eastland’s thriller historical novel kept me fascinated. Pekkala is Czar Nicholas Romanov’s personal investigator, The Emerald Eye. Imprisoned in Siberia after the Bolshevik Revolution, he is eventually freed by Stalin to determine who assassinated the Czar and his family. Do this and you’ll win your freedom, he is promised. The quest takes Pekkala on quite a journey, during which we witness some of the ravages of Stalin’s rule. Flash-back chapters provide insight into Pekkala’s personality...more

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Jul 22, 2010 Zohar - ManOfLaBook.com rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2009

There is something about the Romanov’s which has always been lighting up people’s imaginations, whether it’s the rumors about their death (helped immensely by misinformation from the Russian government), or the enormous wealth symbolized by the fabulous Faberge eggs or the legends of the survival of Princess Anastasia.

In “Eye of the Red Tsar”, a fictional tale with historical accuracy, author Sam Eastland introduced his audience to the Tsar’s personal detective Inspector Pekkala. We first meet P...more

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May 20, 2013 Gaby rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Inspector Pekkala is a Finn, who began his career in the Royal Finnish Guards and was discovered by Tsar Nicholas Romanov and trained to serve as an independent detective. He is a man unlike any other in that he is not motivated by greed, power, or anything beyond the desire to perform the task for which he was born - to seek the truth. The Tsar has a deep respect for Pekkala and creates a position specially for him and Pekkala is known as the Emerald Eye. The Emerald Eye has unlimited power and...more Inspector Pekkala is a Finn, who began his career in the Royal Finnish Guards and was discovered by Tsar Nicholas Romanov and trained to serve as an independent detective. He is a man unlike any other in that he is not motivated by greed, power, or anything beyond the desire to perform the task for which he was born - to seek the truth. The Tsar has a deep respect for Pekkala and creates a position specially for him and Pekkala is known as the Emerald Eye. The Emerald Eye has unlimited power and authority to investigate anyone and arrest anyone - no one is above his reach, even the Tsar.

The first book in the series opens with the end of the Romanovs. Inspector Pekkala is the last of his kind, the only of his kind and is in the outskirts of the gulag in Siberia. He's been given a task that usually kills prisoners within 6 months but he's on his 8th year of his sentence of marking trees in the forest. He is surprised to find a young political agent by his cottage - and orders from the political office calling Pekkala back to civilization.

We discover that Pekkala is a legend in his time - respected by the people and by his enemies. Even Stalin recognizes Pekkala's value and it is this that calls him back for a special mission. Stalin orders Pekkala to find out whether the Romanovs survived, to catch the assassins who may have murdered the Romanovs and to find the Romanov treasure. Stalin promises that if Pekkala finds the bodies and solves the mystery, he will have won his freedom.

There are uneasy alliances, unexpected treachery, and long hidden clues. Pekkala must return to places and relationships that had ruled their lives.

What is it that makes The Eye of the Red Tsar and the Inspector Pekkala mysteries so addictive? Sam Eastland recreates a lost world with great attention to detail. Reading Eye of the Red Tsar, I kept researching the Romanov family, Stalin, the Russian Revolution. After learning the small details of Inspector Pekkala's world, I wanted to know how much of the story was real and how much Sam Eastland created.

The characters are fully fleshed out, sympathetic, and fascinating. Pekkala has an amazing memory, unparalleled skills of detection and survival, and a deep loyalty to his friend and master Tsar Nicholas and the Romanov family. The loyalty and courage that Pekkala displays are just another sign of his exceptional character. Like many of the unforgettable detectives (Lee Child's Jack Reacher, Sherlock Holmes, Alan Bradley's Flavia de Luce, Louise Penny's Chief Inspector Gamache), Sam Eastland's Inspector Pekkala is larger than life, brilliant, and charismatic. It's hard to overemphasize just how fun the series is - I do recommend you discover for yourself!(less)

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Nov 05, 2010 Emilio rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The first book I read was called The Red Eye Of Tsar by Sam Eastland. I would recommend this book to historical-fiction readers. It was written as a Thriller, but when reading it feels more like Mysterious. My personal opinion about this book is that it's more interesting if you like reading books about death and mysterious which are my kind of books.

My opposition of The Red Eye Of Tsar is thats it's amazing. I like all the action with the shooting and especially the stories he tells about his...more The first book I read was called The Red Eye Of Tsar by Sam Eastland. I would recommend this book to historical-fiction readers. It was written as a Thriller, but when reading it feels more like Mysterious. My personal opinion about this book is that it's more interesting if you like reading books about death and mysterious which are my kind of books.

My opposition of The Red Eye Of Tsar is thats it's amazing. I like all the action with the shooting and especially the stories he tells about his past cause then that story gives you more information about what's happening in the story. This book doesn't really relate to my life cause I'm not a killer like Gordon or a great investigator like Pekkla. But I would like to be trained like he did, that would be quite exciting.

In the book there is a man named Pekkla a young kid sent to the army to replace his brother who all of a sudden disappeared. The young boy was founded by the great Tsar and a few years later he was the Tsar's most trusted investigator also known as the Emerald Eye. His past was filled with investing and arresting and solving the cases for he great Tsar. He was the most trustworthy partner for the Tsar. Now he's a prisoner at the worst prison in Russia for the reset of his life. Living off old meat and living on the cold with nothing but a blanket. A few years later he is called by the government and sent back to the streets to solve the death of the Tsar and more find the treasure not even the Tsar would trust with him. Along the road he finds his brother whose story for disappearing devastates his memories with his brother. In the end near of death Pekkla's greatness fear has shown his face again. Will Pekkla find the treasure and the killer responsible for the death of Tsar and his family, and the surviving son Alexis rumored to be alive.

Well well the last paragraph I don't have my book so I can't tell you much about the author. I'm really sorry for this and I hope all of you can forgive me and I will be more prepared in the future. Thank you for you time.
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May 10, 2010 Robert Intriago rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: p-i

The protagonist is Special Investigator Pekkala, who worked for Tsar Nicholas II as his personal investigator. Inspector Pekkala is imprisioned by the Bolsheviks in a Gulag from 1919-1929. In 1929 Stalin brings him back to investigate the murders of the Tsar and his family, who according to Stalin were murdered by somebody other than the Bolsheviks.

The story takes place in the 1929 era in the town of Vladivostok with flasbacks to the time Pekkala was recruited and worked for the Tsar. It has som...more

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May 15, 2010 Bettie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: published-2010, spring-2010, mystery-thriller, period-piece, slavic, debut

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Read by Paul Michael

Unabridged - 9 hours, 4 minutes - 8 parts

blurb - This riveting suspense debut introduces both a stellar new voice and a remarkable detective, an outsider who must use his extraordinary talents to solve the one case that may redeem him.

Shortly after midnight on July 17, 1918, the imprisoned family of Tsar Nicholas Romanov was awakened and led down to the basement of the Ipatiev house. There they were summarily executed. Their bodies were hidden away, the location a secret of t...more

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Jun 30, 2010 Traci Haley rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2010, audiobooks, historical, best-of-2010, series-books

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Mar 06, 2012 Spuddie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

It is late 1920's in the Soviet Union and Joseph Stalin is beginning his rise to power. At his behest, a prisoner sent to the forests of Siberia is freed--Pekkala, also known as The Emerald Eye, who was formerly a close aide to and spy for the Tsar Nicholas Romanov. Barely recognizable as his former self after years in the gulags and living in the forest, Pekkala is brought by a young officer to receive his instructions from (much to his surprise) his brother Anton, whom he has not seen for many...more It is late 1920's in the Soviet Union and Joseph Stalin is beginning his rise to power. At his behest, a prisoner sent to the forests of Siberia is freed--Pekkala, also known as The Emerald Eye, who was formerly a close aide to and spy for the Tsar Nicholas Romanov. Barely recognizable as his former self after years in the gulags and living in the forest, Pekkala is brought by a young officer to receive his instructions from (much to his surprise) his brother Anton, whom he has not seen for many years.

Stalin has charged Pekkala with discovering what really happened on the night the Romanov family was slaughtered ten years previously, and to establish at last whether the entire family died or whether there is a possibility of one or more of the children escaping. Were this the case, they would now be of age and a possible threat to Stalin's rising star.

As Pekkala, Anton, and the young officer go to the Sverdlosk region to Ipatiev House where the executions took place, they find themselves being told much conflicting information and Pekkala must use his knowledge of investigation and human nature to glean the wheat from the chaff. Soon their lives are in obvious danger, but Pekkala is unsure who is trying to stop them from discovering the truth since there could be several parties with that objective in mind.

Very excellent reading of this first book in series (reader: Paul Micheal) and a unique main character in Inspector Pekkala. He does fit the stereotypical Scandinavian (he is Finnish by birth, from before Finland broke free from the Soviet Union) character, rather taciturn and reticent and with a gloomy outlook on life--although given his experiences, that's certainly justified.

The story itself was interesting and the prose and dialogue flowed nicely and was well-balanced between detail and description and action. I'm not a big fan of Russian history in general, so I can't speak to the accuracy of the details about the period or the Romanovs, but looking at it as strictly fiction about some real-life people and events, I enjoyed it very much. Inspector Pekkala has a unique skillset that means he will likely have several other lively adventures in him, and I plan to be along for the ride!(less)

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Jan 19, 2011 Shannan rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Megan

Shelves: 2011

This book had nice character development and some very thoughtful reflections on life and war and change. I enjoyed reading this book merely as a stand alone suspense novel, but not as a work of historical fiction. Actually the sub-title reminds us that this is indeed a "Novel of Suspense" perhaps so the reader wont get too caught up in the names and dates and well, the truth. The author does include an index at the end with facts, and I fought the urge to flip back and read it because I think i...more

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Jan 24, 2011 Stephanie C. rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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May 20, 2011 Tiffany rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction

This book made me want to know more about Russian history. It made me wish I had listened more closely in my world history classes growing up. I really liked Pekkala's character. I love characters who have strong morals and stick to them despite adversity and/or temptations of monetary gains or promises of power.

I have to admit that I wasn't always sure who could be trusted throughout this book which kept me on the edge of my seat throughout it. I don't know if that is a function of my lack of k...more

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Mar 29, 2010 Larry rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: crime-mystery-thriller

Few more interesting periods exist in modern history than that of the Revolution in Russia, and the fate of the Tsar and his family. Sam Eastland has taken that period and the following decade as the backdrop for a novel that caught and held my interest from almost the first word. I remember reading a Reader's Digest article as a child about the fate of the Romanovs, so this book was bound to draw me in.

That said, it takes more than a nifty narrative hook to sustain interest, and Eastland doesn'...more

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Aug 13, 2012 William rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: russia, nook, police-procedural, suspense-thrillers, espionage

Set in post-revolutionary Russia, Eye is a well-written thriller, if a little too by-the-book in how its mystery -- centering around the deaths of the Romanovs -- unfolds. The author, under his given name of Paul Watkins, has written richer, more detailed novels that capture the feel of their period at least as well as Eye: Night Over Day Over Night, The Forger: A Novel, and the beautiful In the Blue Light of African Dreams are all highly recommend for readers who enjoy Eastland's language and p...more

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“Some people thirst for fame. They will do anything to have it. They will betray anyone. They will humiliate themselves and those around them. To be hated or loved makes no difference to them. What they want is to be known. Is is a sad addiction, and such people wallow in it all their lives, like pigs in filth.” — 2 people liked it

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Eye of the Red Tsar (Inspector Pekkala #1)

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