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Wrong Side
1888.
It began with a casual conversation between two bored passengers during a long sea voyage from South Africa to England. Dr. Grant, a British surgeon returning from India explains to Count Peter Evdokimoff, a Russian Nobleman the advantages of using hypnosis in place of an Anesthetic during surgery. A few days later a fight breaks out below decks leaving one man dead and his killer seriously injured. Dr. Grant requests the assistance of the Count as he believes the injured man is speaking Russian. The Count agrees to assist and he visits the patient. But Evdokimoff is no ordinary Count, he is a high ranking officer of the Russian Secret Service, the Okhrana, on his way to London to find the man who is funding Anti-Russian Jewish dissidents. And he discovers that the injured man is not an ordinary Russian passenger, he is a Circassian with a Russian mark on his shoulder. The mark of a high-security Russian Island prison where convicted prisoners only go to be executed and none have ever escaped. Evdokimoff believes he is "the butcher of Kokand, a ruthless killer, who is number one on the Russian Army most wanted list. He needs to be certain who this man is and what he is doing on the ship with a false boarding card. When Grant jokingly offers to teach the Count's assistant Gurin to hypnotise him for surgery, Evdokimoff willingly agrees and the patient known only as Jaak, is tricked into allowing it. As Evdokimoff watches Jaak fall into a heavy trance and allow himself to be manipulated to Gurin's every whim he realises that he has a perfect scapegoat to use and formulates a plan to use Jaak in London as bait to draw out the dissidents. But Jaak has left a trail of bodies behind him in South Africa and Mikael, the brother of one of the victims is on his way to London to kill him.
It began with a casual conversation between two bored passengers during a long sea voyage from South Africa to England. Dr. Grant, a British surgeon returning from India explains to Count Peter Evdokimoff, a Russian Nobleman the advantages of using hypnosis in place of an Anesthetic during surgery. A few days later a fight breaks out below decks leaving one man dead and his killer seriously injured. Dr. Grant requests the assistance of the Count as he believes the injured man is speaking Russian. The Count agrees to assist and he visits the patient. But Evdokimoff is no ordinary Count, he is a high ranking officer of the Russian Secret Service, the Okhrana, on his way to London to find the man who is funding Anti-Russian Jewish dissidents. And he discovers that the injured man is not an ordinary Russian passenger, he is a Circassian with a Russian mark on his shoulder. The mark of a high-security Russian Island prison where convicted prisoners only go to be executed and none have ever escaped. Evdokimoff believes he is "the butcher of Kokand, a ruthless killer, who is number one on the Russian Army most wanted list. He needs to be certain who this man is and what he is doing on the ship with a false boarding card. When Grant jokingly offers to teach the Count's assistant Gurin to hypnotise him for surgery, Evdokimoff willingly agrees and the patient known only as Jaak, is tricked into allowing it. As Evdokimoff watches Jaak fall into a heavy trance and allow himself to be manipulated to Gurin's every whim he realises that he has a perfect scapegoat to use and formulates a plan to use Jaak in London as bait to draw out the dissidents. But Jaak has left a trail of bodies behind him in South Africa and Mikael, the brother of one of the victims is on his way to London to kill him.
53 pages, ebook
First published June 7, 2015
3 people want to read
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January 20, 2020
The action takes place in South Africa, England and on board a ship travellig between the two. It involves villainous Tzarist-Russians out to assisnate anti-Tzarist Jews and in England we have a group of brave soldiers, survivors of the war with the Zulus.
I picked up this book due to my interest in the Circassians but in fact the character from the subtitle appears mainly as a background character but my dissapointment was compensated by the fact that the understated writing style allows the story and the characters to shine through leading to an absorbing and enjoyable narrative.
Unfortunately the novella end halfway through the action and I am left in suspense as to what will happen next.
I picked up this book due to my interest in the Circassians but in fact the character from the subtitle appears mainly as a background character but my dissapointment was compensated by the fact that the understated writing style allows the story and the characters to shine through leading to an absorbing and enjoyable narrative.
Unfortunately the novella end halfway through the action and I am left in suspense as to what will happen next.
Displaying 1 of 1 review