Cold Blood: A Novel [Paperback]

James Fleming (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 13, 2009

THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION is breaking out all around him, but Charlie Doig has a private war to fight. Even if he dies in the attempt, he's going to track down and kill Prokhor Glebov, the Bolshevik who murdered Doig's beautiful wife, Elizaveta. Certain that Glebov will sooner or later turn up at Lenin's side, Doig makes his way to St. Petersburg. There, amidst the chaos of the Revolution, Charlie discovers that Glebov has been put in charge of the political re-education of the Tsar and his family in Ekaterinburg. The chase begins.

Having captured an armored train, Charlie and the ragtag private army he has recruited fight their way toward Siberia. Near Kazan, he hears rumors that the Tsar's gold reserves are in the city and that Glebov is also after them. He determines that he'll avenge Elizaveta and grab the gold in one swoop.

James Fleming is one of modern fiction's great stylists. His prose is marvelously robust and vivid, his plot breathtaking in its pace and excitement, and his protagonist, as the Independent said of the previous Doig novel, White Blood, is "the right kind of hero: virile, ruthless, adventurous."

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Some readers may find the jaunty, jokey voice of 28-year-old naturalist Charlie Doig, the narrator of Fleming's turgid sequel to White Blood (2008), at odds with his graphic accounts of atrocities in 1917 Russia. Others, perhaps fans of the James Bond books of the author's uncle, Ian Fleming, will overlook the mismatch between tone and content. Early on, Doig comments, I'd had a beetle named after me, catalogued the passerines of Central Asia, survived typhus, had my only family members slain by the Bolsheviks—and been compelled to shoot my wife. If that isn't learning the hard way, I don't know what is. Forced to put his wife out of her misery after a Bolshevik fiend raped and tortured her, Doig sets out on a quest for vengeance. A scheme to steal 690 tons of gold thickens the plot. The late George Macdonald Fraser did a far better job of combining a realistic historical backdrop with sex and violence (and humor) in his Flashman series. (Oct.)
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About the Author

James Fleming was born in London in 1944, the fourth in a family of nine children. He read history at Oxford and has been variously an accountant, farmer, forester and bookseller. The author of two previous novels, The Temple of Optimism and Thomas Gage, he lives in Scotland. Visit him online at jamesfleming.co.uk.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Washington Square Press; Original edition (October 13, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416596518
• ISBN-13: 978-1416596516
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,307,778 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not My Cup of Tea - Not Even if Served from a Silver Samovar, November 11, 2009

By 

Erika Borsos "pepper flower" (Gulf Coast of FL, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Cold Blood: A Novel (Paperback)

(What's this?)

This is a most unusual novel with a highly original theme and plot which takes place during the Russian Revolution. The reader is introduced to Charles Doig whose father was a Scottish immigrant and whose mother was a Russian aristocrat. Charles claim to fame was being a naturalist who discovered a colorful beetle which they of course named after him. The specimen was sent to the Field Museum in the United States. This is one example of the author's use of humor to keep the reader entertained and interested. James Fleming occasionally uses humor which is presumed to make the serious material in the book more palatable because overall this book is rather deep and intense even though it is written in a light-hearted manner as if it were a mystery. First of all, there is a revolution happening. The Bolsheviks are murdering people whom they view as the enemy which would be the higher classes, i.e, those who do not engage in physical labor for a living. Obviously, it is class warfare. The working class is being manipulated to rise up against the the upper class ...

Much of the novel deals with a search by Charles Doig for the Russian Bolshevik named Glebov who tortured Charles' wife in unspeakable ways and then left her to die from her injuries. This occurred in March 1917. When Charles found his wife, she begged him to shoot her. Charles vowed vengeance and sought to even the score with Glebov. Charles and his wife Elizabeta had only been married a short time and this atrocity happened right after their honeymoon. At some point, Charles actually had captured Prokhor Fedorovich Glebov but instead of killing him, he gave him up to White Russian soldiers from whom Glebov escaped. Doig could not rest until he exacted revenge on his enemy. The remainder of the novel deals with Doig's travels on board a captured armored train with a motley crew of Russians and even a few Americans in search of Glebov and the Tsar's gold reserves. The author does manage to create some unusual adventures and harrowing escapes along with a highly unexpected twist to the ending. While I admire the writing style of James Fleming and appreciate his creative flair and fantastic imagination, I found this book way too too out in left field for my tastes. I will give the author 5 stars for originality, 4 stars for unique characters and odd twists and turns of the plot but it is only a 3 star book in my opinion. This is not one I would tell my friends about, not at all. "Strange" is the one word summary. Erika Borsos [pepper flower]

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great piece of historical fiction!, February 10, 2010

By 

K. Sozaeva "Obsessive bibliophile" (Athens, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cold Blood: A Novel (Paperback)

(What's this?)

This was a fantastic bit of historical fiction. Set around the Russian Revolution, it shows what the Russian people went through while the demagogues and idealists waged their war of words and the soldiers waged their actual war - while the people just tried to stay out of the way and not starve. Or, alternatively, try to get out of the cities.

I was able to read this book and more-or-less know what was going on, even though it is actually a sequel (which I didn't find out until after I'd read it) to White Blood: A Novel. However, the essence of White Blood: A Novel is outlined at the beginning of "Cold Blood," so you can pretty much be up to speed when you start reading.

There is a good description of the plot above, so I won't waste your time outlining all of that and risk the chance of a spoiler. What I will say is that this is a great book, lots of good characters and well-developed ones at that. There is a mention in an editorial review above that people might be put off by the "jokey" voice of the main character, Charlie Doig. What you need to understand about Russians is that they are like that - they make light of things that we here would find absolutely appalling - it is a coping mechanism; at least, that's my theory. When I bring it up to my Russian husband, he just shrugs and says "that's just the way it is." So, relax and find the funny. Enjoy the wonderful descriptions and the great characters - I think just about anyone should enjoy this book.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars One man against Trotsky, February 25, 2010

By 

Jeffrey L. Armbruster (Rancho Santa Margarita, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Cold Blood: A Novel (Paperback)

(What's this?)

One man, a formerly wealthy nobelman under the Tsar, but now just like anyone else, less even, because he was rich, before the Bolshevik coup'detat (revolution? bull). His wife is bruttaly murdered by one of Trotsky's henchman, and the nobleman wants to get even. Ok, could be exciting! But. The nobleman has to go against Trostky's Red Army to get to the bad guy (of course, all of the Bolsheviks were treacherous bad guys, but that's for another story). Well, the army that defeated the generals of the Tsars, the Germans, Civil War, etc, is too easy for the nobleman. So the believableness of the story collapsed for me half way through the book. James Bond he is not.