Red Winter - Hardcover

Smith, Dan

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1409128180 ISBN 13: 9781409128182

Publisher: Orion, 2013

Synopsis

It is 1920, central Russia. The Red Terror tightens its hold. Kolya has deserted his Red Army unit and returns home to bury his brother and reunite with his wife and sons. But he finds the village silent and empty. The men have been massacred in the forest. The women and children have disappeared. In this remote, rural Russian community the folk tales mothers tell their children by candlelight take on powerful significance and the terrifying legend of Koschei, The Deathless One, begins to feel very real. Kolya sets out on a journey through dense, haunting forests and across vast plains as bitter winter sets in, in the desperate hope he will find his wife and two boys, and find them alive. But there are very dark things in Kolya's past. And, as he strives to find his family, there's someone or something on his trail...

About this title

About the Author:

Dan Smith grew up following his parents across the world. He has been writing short stories for as long as he can remember and has been published in the anthology MATTER 4, shortlisted for the Royal Literary Fund mentor scheme, the NORTHERN WRITERS AWARD, the 2010 BRIT WRITERS PUBLISHED AUTHOR OF THE YEAR AWARD and the BEST FIRST NOVEL AWARD. He lives in Newcastle with his family.

From Booklist:

It is December 1920, and the Bolsheviks have unleashed the Red Terror, a wave of intimidation, confiscation, torture, and murder designed to frighten every Russian into obedience. Kolya, a loyal Red Army soldier, has seen enough, and he deserts the army to return to his wife and children. But he is pursued by the dreaded Cheka secret police. When he finally gets home, he finds the hideously mutilated bodies of the men of his village. A single old woman, driven mad by the carnage, tells him the murderer was Koschei the Deathless One, a monster from Slavic folklore. His family has vanished, and Kolya clings to the hope that he can find them—and kill the Chekist who calls himself Koschei. Smith has chosen a period, the Russian Civil War, that was as confusing as it was brutal. The Reds have defeated the “counterrevolutionaries” (Whites), but the Greens, Blues, and Blacks have arisen, inspired by Red brutality. Red Winter is filled with suspense, bloodshed, and vividly drawn characters, and offers a strong sense of the tragic arc of modern Russian history. --Thomas Gaughan

About this edition

• Publisher: Orion
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 1409128180
• ISBN 13: 9781409128182
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 416