Commissar

Set in 1918, shortly after the murders of Tsar Nicholas Romanov and his family, Commissar by D.V. Chernov is a taut mystery and espionage story. The action occurs against the backdrop of the Western intervention in the Russian Civil War, when a variety of White, Red, and Anarchist armies, along with Allied forces, fought a bitter struggle for dominance in post-Imperial Russia. Anna, a Russian agent with philosophical misgivings, races against time in a perilous search for the famous spy Reilly, who has set in motion a plan that will change the course of Russian history and propel the country back into World War I against Germany.

At times an enthralling mystery novel, at other times a spy versus spy thriller, Commissar sends the reader on a wild ride from Petrograd to Moscow to Southern Russia as Anna attempts to foil Reilly’s deadly plot. Chernov exhibits wide-ranging knowledge of the chaotic years of the Russian Civil War. He explores the personal motivations of a cast of characters involved in ever-changing alliances designed to eliminate or maintain Bolshevik rule. Not only is Commissar an exciting read, it’s also an excellent introduction to the struggles of the nascent Soviet Union.