The name is quite an enigmatic one don't you think ? The secret history of Moscow makes you think of mythology & strange creatures, the backdrop of the Onion shaped domes of the Kremlin providing an ambience that few can match and so forth. What I have described above is true in parts when applied to this story but as a whole it is unsatisfying a dish !

At one glance it is a good mix of Gaiman's American Gods & Neverwhere . There is a world beneath our dwellings and populated by the icons,gods and symbols that time has so beneficially forgotten. Unlike American Gods , the mythology here is almost completely comprised of Slavic roots. But to the author's credit, here is where the comparison ends for she has done a good world build up and the characters that populate this underground world are quite amusing to spend time with. Most of them except the well renowned ones have their individual tales woven into the fabric of the main plot and this in itself is the fun part. As much as I liked a majority of the minor characters, I must say that the main protagonists are not the kind I would think about after I moved on to other books. They are somehow....too plain to be given second thoughts ! I think I have been reading too many books this years based in Russia. Like the ones I have read before, this one too captures the dreary spirit of Russia in the 90's & in an extremely engaging way too.

Then there is also the part about the whole structure of the story line. After going through a good 85% of the story, it all whooshes by and suddenly the tale comes to an end. As a reader I had no clue as to the intentions of the antagonists and what the whole purpose of the story was. As far as a satisfying conclusion goes, this sucked !