The Romanov Prophecy

It all started around a week ago, when Allan, Nikka and I spent another afternoon in Fully Booked High Street and I decided I didn't want to go home without books with me.

And so I bought Steve Berry's The Romanov Prophecy. It sounded intriguing enough; it was about Russia, and the Romanovs. I loved historical fiction, so I thought this one was no different.

I forgot to take into consideration the "Berry pulls a Dan Brown, throwing the reader right into the action." review that was conveniently placed on the cover itself. I should've realized that it was gonna be one of those historical fiction stories with interjections from the present, with matching gunfights and car chases everwhere.

The plot's simple enough. I mean, just by the title you'd get that it was about how two Romanovs could have escaped from death. The book is set during the present, when Russia decided to bring back its Tsar and look for the closest descendant of Nicholas II. Miles Lord is an American, working for a law firm whose clients are prominent businessmen who have expressed interest in investing in the new Russia. The whole adventure starts there, when he starts to research more about how the Romanovs were murdered, and the possibility that two children of Nicholas II and Alexandra could have escaped and survived.

The protagonist Miles Lord didn't really grow on me and the mention of his family and background, and even him showing emotions seemed forced. At the same time, I couldn't help but wonder how someone as stupid as him could even be a lawyer. (If you read the book, you'll know why.) I was cringing the whole time at how he again and again fails to use his common sense.

Perhaps the only thing I liked were the flashbacks to Nicholas II's family, their capture, and murder. The present day scenes were too much for me. Filled with too much action, maybe.

But, what I hated the most was the fact that apparently, I didn't know enough about Russia. There were paragraphs that I totally did not understand because of the continuous mention of the Bolsheviks, Lenin, Red and White armies, the Ural Soviet, World War 1, and other things that I only had vague ideas of. I had to constantly check Wikipedia just to understand the little details that were mentioned.

Steve Berry's writing style also felt dry. I couldn't feel anything, not even sympathy for the characters that he made.

Good thing I opted not to buy two of his books at the same time. But, at least now, I know more about Russia. I still don't understand much of it, but at least I have basic knowledge. (Or, at least I'd like to think so.)