Petrograd

As World War I rages across Europe, a combat veteran-turned British Intelligence officer named Cleary splits his time between parties with members of Petrograd’s aristocracy and infiltrating revolutionary groups determined to end the Russian empire. After his superiors discover that Russia may declare peace with Germany, thus dooming hopes of a British victory, they charge Cleary with carrying out a plot to destabilize the monarchy by encouraging his friend Prince Yussopov to assassinate the Tsar’s most trusted advisor, Grigori Rasputin. Cleary’s horrified but follows orders nonetheless, only to find the prince both enthusiastic and fantastically ill-equipped for the bloody task. Soon, Cleary finds himself caught between the machinations of his own government and the opportunistic leader of the Tsar’s Secret Police force. Cleary is a fascinatingly conflicted protagonist, haunted by memories of combat and increasingly aware of how those in power too willingly shed blood to preserve the status quo.