Ryan has done a fairly good job in recreating the realities of Moscow in 1936, and the plotting is ok, though nothing extraordinary. But the way how people talk is just awful. As if the slogans would actually have dominated everyone's consciousness. Watching a few Soviet films (the ones from 1950s would do) might have given the author a few glimpses into the mentality, even though these, too, were based on a grossly oversimplified psychology and used carefully censored language. And when it comes to interior monologues - where the stuffy officialese often dominates over personal feelings and fears just as well - the human credibility of the characters suffers even more. The most interesting people in the novel, as a result, are those we are told less about, and who do not matter as much to the story itself. Thus in this first volume at least captain Korolev is no match for Arkady Renko of Martin Cruz Smith. Which is not to say he has no potential.