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Author name: Brent Ghelfi

: Volk's Shadow: A Novel
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Type of bind: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.6
EAN num: 9780805082555
ISBN number: 0805082557
Label: Henry Holt and Co.
Manufacturer: Henry Holt and Co.
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 320
Printing Date: July 08, 2008
Publishing house: Henry Holt and Co.
Release Date: July 08, 2008
Sale Popularity Level: 385313
Studio: Henry Holt and Co.



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An international cabal drives Volk back to blood-soaked Chechnya, where he confronts an old nemesis and reunites with his lost love in this gripping sequel to the acclaimed series debut



The headquarters of an American oil company hemorrhages chemical-pink smoke into the Moscow night, the aftermath of an apparent terrorist attack. A Russian army captain carrying a priceless Fabergé egg and digital evidence of horrific wartime atrocities is murdered and relieved of both these prizes. And in the snowy mountains of southern Russia, a terrorist named Abreg—who once held Volk captive in a Chechen mud pit—hatches a plan to lure him back into his grasp.



Volk’s Shadow finds Colonel Alexei Volkovoy—covert agent of the Russian army and major player in the Moscow underworld—once again struggling to stay afloat in the swirling currents of Russian political and economic intrigue. This time, however, he is without his sidekick and lover, the ethereal Valya Novaskaya. Aching for the soul mate he pushed away, Volk begins to doubt himself, becoming even more detached from the brutality of his actions. When he takes out his inner pain on the wrong man, he gains a powerful enemy in the highest reaches of the Kremlin, and only after he travels back to Chechnya to eliminate his old nemesis, Abreg, is Volk’s debt finally repaid.





Customer Reviews
User popularity level: out of 5 stars

Rated by buyers 5 out of 5 stars - Even better than the very first novel!
Volk's Shadow by Brent Ghelfi continues where the very first novel in the series, Volk's Game, left off. Colonel Alexei Volkovoy (a.k.a. Volk) is still recovering emotionally from the betrayal of General Nemstov, the man he sees as a father figure, and the departure of the woman he loves, Vayla. Volk, however, has other worries as he attempts to prevent the destruction a building owned by an American oil company and the death of the company's stop employees by Chechen terrorists. This quickly leads our Russian anti-hero on a search for the man (Abreg) who once held him prisoner in a Chechen camp for six months and tortured him, and who's now killing Russian soldiers who participated in the massacre of civilians at Starye Atag. Also, in the middle of this is the search for the priceless Faberge eggs, a missing twelve-year-old girl who's been taken by a sick predator, the creation of a new oil broker (Maxim) and his quest to control Russia's precious oil reserves, the search for a missing American Senator's daughter, and the death of the Chechen terrorist leaders. Volk is definitely going to have his hands full with juggling several important objectives, but never fear, Valya returns to help him and to watch his back.

The author, Brent Ghelfi, does an excellent job of juggling (like Volk) several sub-plots and then successfully tying everything together by the end of the novel. He manages to keep the tension ratcheted up to a fever pitch with the action coming at the appropriate intervals so that the reader never has time to be bored. The bad guys are every bit as colorful and wicked as the ones in the last novel--Filip Lachek, the man who seeks revenge against Volk for killing his son and plans to slowly torture him to death, Abreg, the Chechen terrorist, who's the only man alive that Volk has ever been scared of, and Constantine, the mysterious person of power behind the Russian leaders, who has the power to destroy Volk with a simple snap of his fingers.

Fast paced and utterly suspenseful, Volk's Shadow carries us to the subsequent level with a closer look at Alexei Volkovoy and his dark, violent past, the Russian Mafia, the politicians who will stop at nothing to gain power over a struggling country and its vital resources, and the terrorists who seek revenge against those who tortured and killed their wives and children so many years ago. Volk's Shadow isn't for everyone. It's filled with violence and torture and betrayal, yet the story also shows the kindness and hope that can prevail in even the worst of us. With just two books to his name, Brent Ghelfi is quickly establishing himself as the author to go to, if you're a reader who desires something different from the normal brand of fiction and that's more in your face with its gritty realism. Highly recommended!


Rated by buyers 4 out of 5 stars - "Try to Keep Your Dinner Down"
While "noir" in film or literature is usually associated with crime fiction, were there a "noir" thriller category, what better place than Russia, with her grim and vainglorious history, to set the story? And with the exception of Martin Cruz Smith, who better to tell the noir thriller tale than Brent Ghelfi and his viciously intimidating anti-hero, Russian war veteran Colonel Alexei Volkovoy, the leanest, meanest, most hardboiled, hard-bitten action hero to jump from the pages since the days before Jack Reacher started condoning deserters.

"Volk's Shadow" is Ghelfi's second novel, and Volk's second adventure. This time around, when an America oil company's Moscow office is allegedly blown up by Chechen terrorists, Volk finds himself in the center of the inferno, emerging from the fracas lightly charred and heavily annoyed. Marginally estranged girlfriend Valya, the gun-toting Valkyrie demon of a woman - and possibly the only person on the planet more deadly than Volk - is back in her native Chechnya mopping up some loose ends from the very first novel. Meanwhile, the surreal and mystical General who pulls Volk's strings from his tomb-like office in the bowels of the Kremlin like a scene out of a Kafka novel is sending Volk on a quest for one of the priceless Faberge eggs. The egg, which turned up after years of unknown whereabouts, disappears in transit leaving only the couriers' savagely butchered bodies behind. And if all that is not enough, a twelve-year old girl has gone missing, feared to be in the clutches of a sadistic child murderer, a DVD of Russian war atrocities is rumored to be on the loose, and Volk's old nemesis, the shadowy Chechen rebel Abreg, is making more mischief. Volk moves jumps more cliffhangers than Indiana Jones and totes more hardware than the average infantry platoon - but it's just another day in the trenches for this deeply unconventional Russian undercover agent-of-sorts.

Sound convoluted? You bet it is, but entertainingly so - as long as you don't mind some blood - lots of blood - depravity, and unthinkable violence with your, um, "entertainment." But Ghelfi, an undisputed master of action, is a talented and intelligent author. Ghelfi's Russia is one of nightmarish cityscapes of broken bottles and bloody syringes and wet fast food wrappers. He colors his mayhem and ambiguous issues with a rich atmosphere of "stale cigarettes, mold, and men too long between showers". In other words, this isn't "Mamma Mia". But if you're looking for some escapist pop fiction, want some cynical insight to modern Russia and the Chechnya conflict, and tire of the bland and predictable boredom of most best selling "thrillers", give Ghelfi a try. But fair warning: you may want to start on an empty stomach.



Rated by buyers 4 out of 5 stars - Good thriller, only a few slips
A nice, fast-paced thriller that rides the wave of paranoia brought to us courtesy of Putin Ltd. Just the right length and depth to fill a transcontinental plane ride, and some good twists. The premise - crime syndicates wrapped around international alliances, corrupt businessmen and only slightly less corrupt cops - holds water and the hero, Volkovoy, is fairly believable and sympathetic (this is all in stark contrast to the abysmal Tsar: A Thriller). That said, Ghelf does have a few slip-ups. To name two: there are no straps on Moscow metro cars, and it's Nemtsov, not Nemstov. And Ghelfi, like all authors in the genre, slips in a graph here and there in The Voice of Experience, offering knowing summations on The Russian Conundrum. But these are minor quibbles; in toto, Ghelfi should be given high marks for respecting readers' intelligence, for expressing almost le Carre-ian moral ambivalence about the Chechnya conflict, and about things Russian in general. Bottom line: this is an enjoyable four-star spy thriller. I'll definitely go back and pick up the very first book in the series. (Reviewed by Russian Life)


Rated by buyers 4 out of 5 stars - International Intrigue
It is no easy task being Col. Alexei Volkovoy. And in this second appearance (the covert agent of the Russian army made his debut in "Volk's Game") he runs more than the usual gamut of danger and intrigue. The novel begins with a blast on the sixth floor of an office building occupied by an American oil company. Volk is sent to save hostages held by presumed Chechnyan rebels.

Then he is sent by his general to recover a long-lost Faberge egg and at the same time save a young girl from her kidnapper who has already brutally murdered another young woman, following which he becomes embroiled in various side plots involving oil, Russian power intrigue and politics.

As in the introductory novel, the author demonstrates a profound knowledge of present-day Russia, its people, government and history. It is non-stop action from the very first to last page. The third installment is already in the works, and is something to be anticipated. Recommended.




Rated by buyers 4 out of 5 stars - Good fun.
I read this while I was in Switzerland, and I have to admit that when I very first started to read I thought that there couldn't be a book worse targeted to appeal to me. I do rather like noir, but this ultra-violent military thriller set in Putin's Russia seemed to me to go way way past hard-boiled. Harder boiled? Something like that.

Anyhow, I really enjoyed reading it. I even surprised myself with the fact that I really enjoyed reading it. It is not my cup of tea at all, but it was kind of great all the same. Ghelfi is energetic (if a little bit hectic) as a writer. The plot is a happy mish-mash of current Russian issues: Fabergé Easter eggs, Chechen War atrocities, agents who are officially nothing of the kind, accidental murders and dwarf commanding officers. It took me a little bit to suspend my disbelief, but once I got it up there-- it stayed up.

Good fun. I'll keep an eye out for Ghelfi in the future.

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