Adrian Churchward

I am very grateful to Netgalley for providing a kindle copy of this book to read and honestly review, particularly in view of the fact that this a quite brilliant read.
Ekaterina Romanova the estranged wife of Russia's wealthiest oligarch, employs Scott Mitchell English civil rights lawyer based in Moscow, and considered public enemy number one following his success defending Chechen's in European court of human rights. She wants him to find the father she has never met and believes is languishing in the Gulag system for over thirty years without trial.
General Pravda of military intelligence will hinder their search at every opportunity as he struggles to protect the covert operation he inherited, and been running for years. Throw in a mysterious murderer professionally killing ageing Russians, linked to our heroes investigation which turns out to be a fifty year old cold war secret.
This is the first book in the "Puppet Meisters Trilogy", and is such a quality read that i thoroughly enjoyed i have already bought the second book.
Brilliant from first to last page, a very well plotted complete thriller in every sense of the word, John Le Carre's cerebral style meets Frederick Forsyth intense in depth description.
Great credible characterisations, a real sense of time and place, constant plot twists, fast paced, absorbing, intriguing a complete page turner in ever sense of the words.
Heartily recommended.… (més)

Book #2, in The Puppet Meisters trilogy

“Dancing With Shadows” is the second book dealing with state abuse of power featuring Scott Mitchell, a human rights lawyer. This sequel to “Moscow Bound” is a gripping and exciting read from start to finish. This time we have Scott on suspicion of laundering $250 million for the Chechen mafia and we follow him through a sea of untrustworthy characters from London, to different Russian cities, to Budapest and Malta in a cat and mouse game while he tries to prove his innocence.

Scott is the lead in this story but many characters we came to know in the first book are re-introduced and play important roles: Ekaterina, Gravchenko and Pravda. Ms. Churchward doesn’t shy away from introducing multiple new characters also. The plot has multiple threads to follow that need our attention and can be overwhelming but the author set the stage expertly by including a group of well-developed players, beautiful surroundings and a touch of gastronomy delights. No doubt, this gripping tale filled with unexpected twists and turns is well worth reading. If you enjoy a thriller rifles with conspiracy and danger and have a soft spot for some Anglo-Russian shenanigans, give this one a try.

My thanks to NetGalley and to Silverwood Books for the opportunity to read this book… (més)

I really struggled to get into this book. There just seemed to be too much going on right from the beginning and I couldn't work out what the connection was between the "missing father" plot and whatever General Pravda was up to. And then about half way through, there was a glimmer of light and I thought I knew where the story was going and what the possible connection was between the two main strands. That's quite a lot to ask of a reader. Perhaps other readers won't be as obtuse as me.

However, after my glimpse of where we were headed, the reading experience did not really improve much. There were just too many characters to keep track of, too many sub-plots, and in the long run, for me, it strained the bounds of credibility.

This book was not for me, but I am willing to believe that others might find it a fascinating read.… (més)

I enjoy modern-day political thrillers as much as the next guy, but it’s always chancy when you’re dealing with a first-time novelist. I’m happy to say that Adrian Churchward delivers in spades in his new thriller, MOSCOW BOUND.

Some mild plot spoilers follow.

Scott Mitchell is an idealistic British human rights attorney who has already made an enemy of the Russian government through his past defenses of some of Moscow’s Chechen opponents in the European Court of Human Rights. He has a rocky return to Moscow after his latest legal victory – the Russians are happy to put the fear of God (or Putin) into the guy – and is soon contacted by Ekaterina Romanova, a mysterious and beautiful (is there any other kind?) woman who asks for Mitchell’s help in locating her father, a man she’s never met. He was said to have been dragged off to a gulag and murdered decades before, but Ekaterina has new evidence suggesting he’s been alive, somewhere, all these years. Mitchell reluctantly agrees to help, but all of the people who might be able to shed light on the matter have a way of ending up dead before they offer much help. The pair soon run afoul of a general in Russian military intelligence who seems determined to prevent them from locating Ekaterina’s father because their investigation seems to tread dangerously close to a Vietnam War-era operation that has been ongoing for the last four decades. That seems like it should be ancient history, so why are people so willing to kill to prevent the truth from coming out?

I hesitate to reveal the exact nature of the mystery and why people are coming out of the woodwork to prevent the secret from getting at (it really is the core of the book’s plot). Suffice it to say that while MOSCOW BOUND’s plot hangs together just fine as a stand-alone novel, it is labeled as the first volume in the forthcoming “Puppet Meisters” trilogy (will the Germans inexplicably become involved at some point?). I hope to see the central mystery that is revealed at the end of MOSCOW BOUND (I won’t spoil that ending here) expanded, as it came in a bit of a rush. Some elaboration on the implications of the mystery at the core of this novel would help.

Churchward understands what it’s like to live and work in contemporary Russia, and necessarily navigate the complexities of Russian law, bureaucracy, and abuses of state power. While we have all the archetypal characters of this kind of “Ludlum” style political thriller – idealistic crusader; woman with a mysterious past; clever, tough, implacable foe, etc. – Churchward does a good job of bringing his characters to life. At times the pace dragged a bit, and I found myself wanting a dramatis personae to help keep all the names straight at times, but it’s an engaging story.

Recommended for those interested in thrillers set in contemporary Russia. I will be curious to see where Churchward and his characters take the story in the rest of the Puppet Meisters trilogy.

Review copyright © 2014 J. Andrew Byers… (més)