• Booklist Reviews : Booklist Reviews 2023 March #1
  *Starred Review* This concluding volume in Matthews' trilogy (following Black Sun, 2019, and Red Traitor, 2021) continues the saga of KGB officer Alexander Vasin, whose willingness to buck the orders of his superiors, especially the Machiavellian General Orlov, has landed him in the ultimate career burial ground—commander of a Siberian prison. Vasin knows just enough about the underside of some history-making events to keep him out of an actual graveyard, but only just. This time could change that. Andrei Fyodorow is a special status prisoner, and Orlov has charged Vasin with making sure he is kept safe. But why? Vasin eventually determines that Fyodorow, a former KGB officer, was assigned to recruit Lee Harvey Oswald to kill JFK. Now, in the wake of the assassination, everyone who knew of the scheme wants to distance themselves from it, but Fyodorow claims to have incriminating papers. With Fyodorow's help, Vasin attempts to play a long game designed to topple Orlov and make possible his own return to power, but there are many obstacles in the way, including a prison riot and a long march across the frozen tundra. The purely fictional premise is more of a MacGuffin than a galvanizing centerpiece, but the adventure elements of the story, especially the riot and the Siberia trek, are riveting, sort of Brute Force meets The Perfect Storm. A surprising but oddly fitting finale to the saga of a reluctant rebel. Copyright 2023 Booklist Reviews.
• Booklist Reviews : Booklist Reviews 2023 March #1
  *Starred Review* This concluding volume in Matthews' trilogy (following Black Sun, 2019, and Red Traitor, 2021) continues the saga of KGB officer Alexander Vasin, whose willingness to buck the orders of his superiors, especially the Machiavellian General Orlov, has landed him in the ultimate career burial ground—commander of a Siberian prison. Vasin knows just enough about the underside of some history-making events to keep him out of an actual graveyard, but only just. This time could change that. Andrei Fyodorow is a special status prisoner, and Orlov has charged Vasin with making sure he is kept safe. But why? Vasin eventually determines that Fyodorow, a former KGB officer, was assigned to recruit Lee Harvey Oswald to kill JFK. Now, in the wake of the assassination, everyone who knew of the scheme wants to distance themselves from it, but Fyodorow claims to have incriminating papers. With Fyodorow's help, Vasin attempts to play a long game designed to topple Orlov and make possible his own return to power, but there are many obstacles in the way, including a prison riot and a long march across the frozen tundra. The purely fictional premise is more of a MacGuffin than a galvanizing centerpiece, but the adventure elements of the story, especially the riot and the Siberia trek, are riveting, sort of Brute Force meets The Perfect Storm. A surprising but oddly fitting finale to the saga of a reluctant rebel. Copyright 2023 Booklist Reviews.

OWEN MATTHEWS reported on conflicts in Bosnia, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Chechnya, Iraq, and Ukraine, and was Newsweek's bureau chief in Moscow. He is the author of the Black Sun Trilogy, including Black Sun, Red Traitor, and White Fox, and is also the author of several nonfiction books, including Stalin's Children, Glorious Misadventures, and An Impeccable Spy.