The Romanov Conspiracy

I’m going to be honest – I was hoping this book would have a lot more to do with the history and the archaeology aspects. The beginning was promising. By 10% into the book, which is where I quit it, it became excruciatingly clear this is a thriller.

Rasputin was mentioned, and I paused, for a moment. I thought perhaps, for a second, things were going to be interesting. Unfortunately, this book appeals to a different audience. I imagine it to be the sort of book you find in airport bookshops. The thrills so feel shallow, just like all the characters. I’m sure someone else will be drawn into this book and wrapped up. Just not me.

Meade’s writing is at some moments beautiful, and in others rambling. Eventually the beautiful is show more squashed out by the rambling. He uses every possible detail in each sentence. Brand names, a minimum of two adjectives for every noun. This is a pet peeve, but there are a few different times when he uses multiple adverbs in the sentence. Every time we meet someone, we get to learn where they came from, and precisely what they are wearing. I know this style works for a lot of people. I know a lot of people LOVE this type of intricate detail. Frankly, I got bored.

I also have issues in thrillers where the author writes a smart, talented, sharp female character and instead of letting her stand on her own feet, she falls to bits. Instead of letting her be strong, she regresses and requires a man to explain things to her and give her advice. I am not impressed.

I have some criticisms of this narrator. While she does alright in dialogue, the protagonist’s voice frustrates me. As read by Kate Reading, every sentence ends in something between a question and a sigh. It makes it a bit dreary to listen for too long. show less

The writing wasn't a 4-star but the story certainly kept me reading furiously. Always fascinated with the Romanovs and their story. Fast read, but I wouldn't necessarily read another of glen Meade. I'd rather read Daniel Silva for this style of novel, suspense and thriller.

It’s a historical novel, a thriller, detailing an attempt to rescue the Russian royal family after the 1917 revolution. And it was a lot of fun to read! The characters were interesting and the action was quite steady and nonstop. I’ve long had an interest in the period leading up to World War I, and the Russian Revolution also, so this fiction was tailor-made for me. Revolution, spies, royalty, deceit and intrigue. I was thoroughly entertained.

Very nice historical novel! The action was steady and realistic, the characters were fully drawn, and the ending was very satisfying.

While the book seemed character-heavy in the beginning, it was necessary to introduce them in short order for the story to properly take off. Meade weaves the story in such a way that each character is separate and distinct and as the story propels, it is easy to keep track of them and their part in the story.

Interestingly, my book club read The Kitchen Boy by Robert D. Zimmerman several months ago, which was painstakingly researched by the author. Many of the people, events, and situations in that book were the same in this book. That period of history is intriguing, and I would highly recommend this book.

"Ekaterinburg, Russia.

I believe that the greatest secrets lie buried and only the dead speak the truth.

And in a way that was how I came to be in the woods that morning when we found the bodies. It was raining in the City of Dead Souls, a heavy downpour that drenched the summer streets. I reviewed the thick clutch of pages, the results of my work for the last three months. This was my first visit to Ekaterinburg and our team came from all over: forensic archaeologists, scientists, and students from America, Britain, Germany and Italy; and of course, our host, Russia. The brief our our cooperative venture was simple - to dig in the forests for evidence of mass executions during the Russian Revolution's Red Terror.

Many thousands perished, show more not least the Romanovs, the Russian royal family - the tsar and tsarina, and their four pretty daughters and their youngest son, fourteen-year-old Alexei - shot and bayoneted to death, their skulls smashed by rifle butts and their corpses doused in sulfuric acid.

Something else I had counted on that summer's morning as we pulled up beside one of the tents. I came to these resin-scented woods to exhume the ghosts of the past. Yet absolutely nothing could have prepared me for the bizarre secret that I was to stumble upon when the frozen Siberian earth offered up it's dead.

For with the dead came the truth.

And with the truth came the first whispers of the most incredible story I have ever heard." (excerpt pg 1-4)

In the latest novel from Glenn Meade, The Romanov Conspiracy, he once again takes his readers on an explosive investigation and historical fiction into the background of one of the most unsolved cases still haunting the history books today. Based on partial truth mixed with fiction to complete this novel, the answers using long-lost clues may yet reveal an intricate conspiracy, one that may well answer the twentieth century's most enduring mystery. But as to which part is truth and which part is fiction, the author leaves that up to the reader to decide.

I received The Romanov Conspiracy by Glenn Meade compliments of Howard Books, a division of Simon and Schuster for my own personal honest review. This being my second novel from Glenn Meade, the first being The Second Messiah, I knew I would really enjoy this one as well. Glenn is articulate in his fact findings so as to keep his readers as close to the actual events as much as possible. The writing is sound, engaging and guaranteed to keep you turning pages as fast as you can read. I once again rate this one a 4.5 out of 5 stars. Not knowing much about the Russian history surrounding the disappearances of the Romanov's I found this one an exceptional novel. show less

Het Romanov mysterie is op de eerste plaats een (historische) avonturenroman. Spanning is de belangrijkste troef van deze roman. Dat in combinatie met de achtergrond van het bloedige conflict tussen Rood en Wit na de Oktoberrevolutie van 1917 in Rusland kon mij wel boeien. Ik denk dat hier ook materiaal voor een film inzit.
Echte psychologische diepgang moet je echter niet verwachten. Van de meeste personages zijn de politieke gedragingen vrij goed gemotiveerd, maar hun romantische demarches nogal voorspelbaar. Ook de link tussen heden en verleden vond ik minder geslaagd. Het ik-personage uit het heden kan niet op tegen de kleurrijke personages uit het verleden.
Slotsom: goeie lectuur voor wie houdt van een spannende roman in een show more historisch decor. show less

I've always been interested in the Romanov family and what may or may not have been the truth surrounding Anna Anderson.....this book hinted at a new angle on that (fictional, of course), but didn't deliver much at all. Disappointing.