Beautiful Assassin
In 1942, Tat’yana Levchenko, codename “Assassin”, was one of the Red Army’s ace snipers, a Hero of the Soviet Union, who was invited to America by Eleanor Roosevelt herself in order to promote the war effort and then disappeared amidst rumours of espionage.
In 1996, a journalist finally tracks the elderly Tat’yana down and persuades her to tell her story. And what a story it is, taking us from the horrors of the Eastern Front and the siege of Sevastopol, her childhood in the Ukraine, marriage and motherhood and the devastating events that drove her to enlist, and then the visit to America, where, at first, she is all too ready to condemn the Americans for living up to her image of “pampered capitalists” in spite of the temptations of cream cakes, cocktails and Captain Jack Taylor.
Tat’yana discovers that a secret and deadly battle is being fought by countries that speak of being allies. Ordered to spy on the First Lady, she has to decide where her loyalties truly lie, but nothing is simple and no-one is who they seem.
Michael White has written an epic tale of the Second World War and the nascent Cold War. He does not shy away from the brutal, nor the brutalising effects of war, as Tat’yana calmly notches up her kills. She is a thoroughly believable, complex woman, marked by tragedy and torn by conflicting loyalties, between following orders and following her heart. It is through her eyes that we see the vast supporting cast of soldiers, refugees, secret-service men, diplomats and spies, and a diverse range of historical figures who cross her path.
This book certainly fell into the category of “couldn’t put it down.” Thoroughly recommended.
