To Kill a Tsar, by Andrew Williams, which I read in print, is a thriller set in 19th Century St Petersburg. The action begins immediately with the attempted assassination of Tsar Alexander II by a lone gunman. The attempt fails, but he is not as solitary as he at first appears. Observing from the sidelines is a young woman, who leaves speedily to report the events to her comrades in The People's Will - an organisation who are determined to improve the fate of the millions of poverty striken Russians in the only way that makes sense to them ... by killing the Tsar. They think they are acting on behalf of the silent majority and that if their mission is successful, it will trigger an uprising by "the people". By chance, Dr Frederick Hadfield, a favourite of the Anglo-Russian gentry, is drawn into this web of intrigue by falling for one of the conspirators. Whilst he opposes her chosen path of violence, he cannot bear to betray her, and so starts to lead a double life. This is a fictionalised account of actual events and features many real life characters. A fascinating time in history is brought to life, and we see both sides by following Dr Hadfield as he spends time both with the ruling classes and the impoverished people. The secret police are a scary bunch, and the conspirators are constantly under threat of discovery. It's a tough read at times, and there aren't many laughs! Even the romance is not very romantic - it feels grubby, tense and a bit forced ... this was the least successful part of the book for me. I didn't know anything about this period in Russia, and I found it really interesting. Not a gripping page-turner, but worth a punt.
My STAR rating: THREE
Length: print pages
Price I paid: £2.50 (second hand book sale)
Formats available: print, unabridged audio CD or download, multimedia CD MP3 audio, ebook.
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