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Description
In Special Assignments, Erast Fandorin, nineteenth-century Russia’s suavest sleuth, faces two formidable new foes: One steals outrageous sums of money, the other takes lives. “The Jack of Spades” is a civilized swindler who has conned thousands of rubles from Moscow’s residents–including Fandorin’s own boss, Prince Dolgorukoi. To catch him, Fandorin and his new assistant, timid young policeman Anisii Tulipov, must don almost as many disguises as the grifter does himself. “The Decorator” is a different case altogether: A savage serial killer who believes he “cleans” the women he mutilates and takes his orders from on high, he must be given Fandorin’s most serious attentions. Peopled by a rich cast of eccentric characters, and with plots that are as surprising as they are inventive, Special Assignments will delight Akunin’s many fans, while challenging the gentleman sleuth’s brilliant powers of detection. Praise from England: “Boris Akunin’s wit and invention are a source of constant wonder.” –Evening Standard “[Fandorin is] a debonair combo of Sherlock Holmes, D’Artagnan and most of the soulful heroes of Russian literature. . . . This pair of perfectly balanced stories permit the character of Fandorin to grow.” –The Sunday Telegraph “Agatha Christie meets James Bond: [Akunin’s] plots are intricate and tantalizing. . . . [These stories] are unputdownable and great fun.” –Sunday Express “The beguiling, super-brainy, sexy, unpredictable Fandorin is a creation like no other in crime fiction.” –The Times… (more)
User reviews
Fandorin is likable – tough, smart, a ladies man and imminently self-assured, but at the same time, honest and kind. The stories are taut and move along well. His adversaries not only match wits with him but also turn on him and his loved ones, presenting an additional element of danger to the reader. The stories are shocking at times in the violence of the murders, and also in the plot twists – a couple of things in “The Decorator” (and its ending) were quite surprising to me. I can’t say that I see how it would be possible for a reader to figure out whodunit in that case, but then again this isn’t my usual genre and I’m a fairly simple reader.
My only real knock on the book is its occasional anti-semitic reference; these are of course true to the period as anyone who has read 19th century fiction (Russian or otherwise) can attest, but this would have been nice to leave in the 19th century, and not carry forward as Akunin sometimes does.
Overall, though – entertaining and fun reading.
Quotes; just a couple:
On getting used to pain:
“’Working in a graveyard, you need a callous heart,’ he said in his quiet voice, with a compassionate glance at the exhausted Tulipov. ‘Any folk will grow sick and weary if he’s shown his own end every day: Look there, servant of God, you’ll be rotting just like that. But the Lord is merciful. He gives the digger calluses on his hand so he won’t wear the flesh down to the bone, and them as is faced with human woes, he gives them calluses on their hearts, too. So as their hearts won’t get worn away. You’ll get used to it, too, mister.’”
On listening:
“Listening properly was a kind of art. You had to imagine that you were an empty bottle, a transparent vessel connected with the person you were talking to via an invisible tube, and let the contents of the other person flow into you a drop at a time, so that you were filled with liquid that was the same color and strength, the same composition. To stop being yourself for a while and become him. And then you would come to understand that person’s essential being, and you would know in advance what he was going to say and what he was going to do.”
In story #1, "The Jack of Spades," Fandorin is up against a clever con man whose calling card is the jack of spades. He leaves it behind when he has pulled off a very successful swindle, and things come to a head when
Story #2 is entitled "The Decorator," and Erast finds himself embroiled in a series of Jack the Ripper-type slayings in the world of prostitutes. This one is much more serious a read, but still a total delight to watch Fandorin at work.
Very, very good, and fans of Erast Fandorin will definitely not be disappointed. One could read this before the other books in the series, but my opinion is that starting with the first and moving on will only help you understand Fandorin's character better.
Very well written and I highly recommend it to those who like mysteries set in a historical time period or place, or to those who have been following the series all along. I had to send to the UK for mine some time back, because I couldn't wait to read it. I guess I'll do the same in January when #6 comes out!
The former is a light read and revolves around a con artist who had been doing some monetary trickeries around Moscow
The latter is set in Holy Week 1889 and the tone is so much darker, like a huge cloud of storm looming in the horizon. A serial killer, known as the Decorator, is out to "beautify" those cursed with ugliness. These brutal killings are similar to those by Jack the Ripper in London, where prostitutes were annhilated. It is up to Fandorin and Tulipov to stop this monstrous killer before it is too late.
The second story is much more gripping than the first as it is set in a much faster pace and one can feel the urgency to get to the bottom of the mystery. With descriptive words by the author combined with a pinch on my own imagination, the word brutal is taken to an entirely new level!
Overall, both stories are well plotted with an interesting Russia backdrop and characters. I look forward to reading more of Erast Fandorin's adventures.
As previous novels by Akunin, the suspense goes to the last two pages. It's worthwhile.
The book consisted of two loosely connected novellas: "The Jack of Spades" and "The Decorator". In both of these, Fandorin is joined by Anisii Tulipov - a