The chilling, sophisticated new historical thriller from the acclaimed writer of THE CHILD THIEF.
‘A superbly shivery atmosphere’ THE TIMES
‘A gripping thriller’ SUNDAY TIMES
Russia, 1920. 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 community the folk tales mothers tell their children by candlelight take on powerful significance and the terrifying legend of 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 family. But there are very dark things in his past – and there’s someone, or something, on his trail…
‘A superbly shivery atmosphere’ THE TIMES
‘A gripping thriller’ SUNDAY TIMES
Russia, 1920. 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 community the folk tales mothers tell their children by candlelight take on powerful significance and the terrifying legend of 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 family. But there are very dark things in his past – and there’s someone, or something, on his trail…
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Reviews
a superbly shivery atmosphere
[a] gripping thriller with real depth of character
A superbly shivery atmosphere
Showing the same skills that he exercised in his previous novel, Smith has fashioned a story of page-turning intensity that simultaneously possesses real depth of characterisation
Once again Dan Smith has produced a first class historical thriller that will satisfy the most demanding of crime fans, while exploring the consequences of unchecked military might and the persistence of the human spirit. Smith's prose is crisp, his sense of pace flawless and his appreciation of the mundane terrors of warfare nothing short of masterly
A gripping thriller
Once again Dan Smith has produced a first class historical thriller that will satisfy the most demanding of crime fans, while exploring the consequences of unchecked military might and the persistence of the human spirit. Smith's prose is crisp, his sense of pace flawless and his appreciation of the mundane terrors of warfare nothing short of masterly
Showing the same skills that he exercised in his previous novel, Smith has fashioned a story of page-turning intensity that simultaneously possesses real depth of characterisation