Customer Reviews

Cold Blood: A Novel

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

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]

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.

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.

I first met the writings of James Fleming's uncle Ian when I was the sole passenger on a tramp steamer sailing from Manchester, England to Halifax, Nova Scotia. It was February 1953, and the winter Atlantic storms were with us constantly. I spent most of my time in the ship's library, and there I discovered Ian Fleming's third novel, Moonraker: James Bond Series #3.

I mention this, because James Fleming has a writing style that is every bit as engaging as that of his better known uncle. He has elected to write extremeny short chapters, up to four pages each. His writing style has the flash and devil-may-care dash that has the ring of James Bond about it -- and yet, Charlie Doig is entirely James Fleming's creation.

One of the things about "Bond, James Bond" that has endeared him to readers is the elan with which he enters any challenge. The word "impossible" does not appear to be in his vocabulary, and the same may be said of Charlie Doig.

The most remarkable achievement in this novel is the feeling created of being present during the fractious moments of the earliest part of the Russian Revolution in 1917. Reminiscent of the volume by R.H. Bruce Lockhart, Memoirs Of A British Agent, Fleming captures the day to day personalities of the big name players, Lenin and Trotsky along with a phalanx of extraordinary ordinary folks. He moves the drama along with unerring focus on his goal. He introduces flesh and blood characters to whom as a reader it is easy to relate.

Perhaps the best recommendation I can offer is the fact that about half way through this book I found myself thinking "I really want to read more by this author".

"... you had to count Death as a person. He was always there, behind the screen or not, whichever he chose. Watch in hand, tapping out the seconds left. Striking through names on the register - address, occupation, collar size, the lot: mopping his brow and thinking about humping his girlfriend, Time. The two of them, deadly conspirators." - from COLD BLOOD

In the tradition of Dr. Henry Walton "Indiana" Jones, Jr., an academic turned action hero, we have here in COLD BLOOD Charlie Doig, a 28-year old half-Russian half-Scottish naturalist and minor nobleman caught up in the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution and the Russian Civil War, the Reds versus the Whites. After his beautiful new wife is raped, tortured and left for her husband to shoot to put out of her misery, Doig vows vengeance on the rapist, Prokhor Glebov, the number three man in the Revolution behind Lenin and Trotsky. Charlie gathers around himself a motley group of survivors, adventurers, American spies, and misfits, hijacks an armored train, and sets off to run down Glebov. Along the way, he's recruited into a plot to capture a chunk of the deposed tsar's gold reserves, which are on the loose and the object of opposing armies.

With a plot like this, what could go wrong?

I finished COLD BLOOD with a keen sense of unfullfillment. First off, author James Fleming fails to explain conceptually or describe in any detail the execution of the scheme to heist that specific portion of the gold horde that Doig eventually targets but which is under close guard by the Whites. What could've provided some riveting moments for the reader doesn't.

For me, the book's greatest failing lies in the nature of the hero, Charlie Doig, who's apparently driven solely by his desire for vengeance on Glebov. Mind you, I have nothing against revenge as a great motivator. But, in a literary action hero, I expect some structural underpinning to the character - some standard of conduct - that causes me to at least like, if not admire, the protagonist. Indeed, in COLD BLOOD the intensity of my dislike for Glebov far outweighed the passion of my positive feelings for Doig. While most of the killing that Charlie considers necessary he has done by his faithful Mongolian sidekick, Kobi, Doig isn't above personally murdering innocents. I mean, Lee Child's hero, Jack Reacher, or that of Stephen Leather, Dan "Spider" Shepherd - two of my favorites - would never stoop so low.

Despite a nifty plot twist near the end which I didn't see coming, I can't, because of the reasons given, award more than three stars. Too bad, because COLD BLOOD had the potential to be a first-rate thriller.

I'll just cut to the chase and say that if you can get through the first 30 pages of Cold Blood you'll find a mildly entertaining historical thriller on the other side. Not a perfect thriller, mind you, because (as others here have noted) the characters aren't fleshed out enough to make the story truly compelling that the plot doesn't make up for that deficiency. Read it for what it is: transportation reading - aka, book best read on a train or airplane where the competing entertainment options are limited.

Fleming will need to do something with Charles Doig if he plans to further this series. Doig's jokes and ironic remarks were teeth-grindingly out of place during most of the book. The rape and death of one's wife generally puts a halt of most witticisms and any remaining pluck, if that's the word, should have been removed by the fact that it was the Russian Revolution for the love of God. Whatever the opposite of "lighten up" is that's exactly what Doig needed to do for half of this book.

Warning: To me the book which I'd describe as `Apocalypse Now on a Train' starts off slowly. If you persevere you will be rewarded.

Charlie Doig is a half Scots half Russian Scientist and Aristocrat driven by revenge during the Russian Revolution and Civil War. A Bolshevik named Prokhor Glabov raped and tortured his wife and indirectly was the cause of her death. Rather than leave Russia for the safety of Scotland, Charlie sets out to find Glabov in the anarchy of St. Petersburg and kill him.

Charlie arrives in the midst of Lenin's arrival and the beginnings of the October Revolution. With his faithful servant Joseph and his Mongol bodyguard Kobi, he pursues Glabov to a rally but is unable to kill him.

He finds a few days later Glabov has moved East to Yekaterinburg to `reeducate the Czar and his family. Charlie buys a train with some of the last of his family's wealth and pursues his nemesis.

On the way East Charlie gathers quit a cast around him. Xenia is a highly religious corset maker who is also an insatiable nymphomaniac who harbors a secret past. There is the Fat Russian Aristocrat Rylov who is constantly scheming to grab loot along the way and escape to Istanbul and finally two American Army Signal corps Soldiers who are supposed to be helping an Army of Czech POW's escape to Vladivostok but who have discovered a Cache of the Czar's gold is being held in Kazan.

It is when the plot veers off a bit to become a search for the gold which conveniently happens to be near where Glabov is working for the Reds that things get interesting. His plot to steal the gold goes into motion at the same time he confronts Glabov and there are a couple of surprise twists before the climax that I did not see coming.

The book was an enjoyable read. Charlie is no 007 and James is not Ian but overall it was a nice way to pass the time.

Warning: To me the book which I'd describe as `Apocalypse Now on a Train' starts off slowly. If you persevere you will be rewarded.

Charlie Doig is a half Scots half Russian Scientist and Aristocrat driven by revenge during the Russian Revolution and Civil War. A Bolshevik named Prokhor Glabov raped and tortured his wife and indirectly was the cause of her death. Rather than leave Russia for the safety of Scotland, Charlie sets out to find Glabov in the anarchy of St. Petersburg and kill him.

Charlie arrives in the midst of Lenin's arrival and the beginnings of the October Revolution. With his faithful servant Joseph and his Mongol bodyguard Kobi, he pursues Glabov to a rally but is unable to kill him.

He finds a few days later Glabov has moved East to Yekaterinburg to `reeducate the Czar and his family. Charlie buys a train with some of the last of his family's wealth and pursues his nemesis.

On the way East Charlie gathers quit a cast around him. Xenia is a highly religious corset maker who is also an insatiable nymphomaniac who harbors a secret past. There is the Fat Russian Aristocrat who is constantly scheming to grab loot along the way and escape to Istanbul and finally two American Army Signal corps Soldiers who are supposed to be helping an Army of Czech POW's escape to Vladivostok but who have discovered a Cache of the Czar's gold is being held in Kazan.

It is when the plot veers off a bit to become a search for the gold which conveniently happens to be near where Glabov is working for the Reds that things get interesting. His plot to steal the gold goes into motion at the same time he confronts Glabov and there are a couple of surprise twists before the climax that I did not see coming.

The book was an enjoyable read. Charlie is no 007 and James is not Ian but overall it was a nice way to pass the time.

At first glance, James Fleming's tale is woven in a tapestry of thick cords and fibers, almost impenetrable, but giving way after some careful inspection and gentle poking. In short, he probably could have used far fewer obscurities to tell the story. Still, given the time frame of the setting, and my recent deluge of young adult novels that I've been reviewing, this was probably just an initial gut reaction to having to shift my gears so quickly, and so vastly from one book to the next. Sorry, I'm not one of those reviewers who can easily switch from book to book in midstream. I stick to one until I finish it off. With "Cold Blood," I'm glad I did.

I do need to start this off by warning you, though, there are some rather harsh scenes depicted in the novel. Sexual assault, murder, mass execution, decomposition; these and more are described in grisly detail throughout the book. If you allow, it will also hit you on an emotional level, and also rather abruptly at times, too. Between the many pitfalls and trials of the protagonist, Charlie Doig, there is the backdrop of the Red Revolution, which was not known as a bloodless coup, of course. Acts and specific stories are painted with such clarity as to think the author grew up during this time and place. Well, at least one could say he definitely did his research.

Because of the no-holds-barred and gritty story-telling, the compelling nature of Doig and his story, plus the fictionalized elements that stand side-by-side with the real historical figures of the time, "Cold Blood" was a welcome addition to the genre. History changed for the entire world in 1917, but Russia still remains, and so do the Russian people. True tribute is paid to them and their stories through a revolution that literally changed the world. It was fascinating to walk alongside the bourgeois during this tumultuous period in history, though perhaps it does paint a slightly spoiled picture of one Charlie Doig.

I did feel the language was overly rich, and at times, required a topographical lesson in Russian landscape, as well as an historical dictionary for World War I terms. The only other reason for the lack of the fifth star was the strange climax and how it felt... well... without giving anything away, it left one hoping for an epilogue. True, this was not a huge crime for the book, but as it was my last impression, it does make an impact on the star rating.

Still, if you can get around the coarse language, the brutal violence, and the endless journey through the revolutionary scene, I think you will find this novel most enjoyable, as I did. At first, I felt only compelled to keep reading, as I'd already started on it. About halfway through, I had a hard time putting it down. Charlie Doig is a strange kind of anti-hero, and I feel the need now to go back and read his first appearance in "White Blood," also by Fleming.

I found Cold Blood to be a very well written novel. The story starts out at a decent pace, and keeps going at a steady cadence from start to finish. As you follow Charles Doig along his journey, you can't help be drawn into the story emotionally, feeling his bitterness and hatred for the man who caused him so much anguish. I found myself staying up late into the night reading this profound story, not wanting to put it down until I got to the end. I have to say that the characters portrayed in this novel are well thought out, with depth of character and personality. This is what mostly gives the story such enjoyment in reading is the lack of shallow, paper-cutout characters.