Just Finished Reading: Archangel by Robert Harris

In the late 1990’s whilst attending a symposium in Moscow, British historian ‘Fluke’ Kelso learns of the existence of Stalin’s secret diary. Obsessed with anything Russian Kelso determines to recover the diary and crown his academic career. But other less friendly forces have discovered the diaries existence and will stop at nothing to recover or destroy Stalin’s deepest thoughts and eliminate anyone who knows about it. So begins a mad dash across the length of Russia from Moscow to Archangel in search of gold, fame and maybe a little truth.

Harris’s earlier works Fatherland and Enigma where good solid reads. This, his third book, was much more than that. This was excellent. Almost from the first page I felt like I was really there, looking over Kelso’s shoulder as he stumbled his way across a decaying Russia still half in love with its Communist past. This was a very ‘visual’ book with wonderful descriptions of a dilapidated ex-super power struggling to come to terms with its place in the modern world. You could almost taste the vodka and smell the cabbage! The characters who sprinkled the novel where exceedingly well drawn and highly believable from the Russian tourist guide, the hard-line Communist politician, the over ambitious newsman and the ex-KGB officer longing for retirement. This was certainly a thriller to savour. Highly recommended.