The Communist’s Secret (Leningrad Trilogy, 2)
The Communist’s Secret is book two of Suzanne Parry’s Leningrad Trilogy. In the summer of 1941, the German army has begun its invasion of the Soviet Union. Their foot soldiers, tanks and bombers are making rapid progress toward Leningrad. Chaos reigns.
Katya Karavayeva’s life is already in shambles. She has unintentionally betrayed her beloved husband, Shura, a Russian military officer, arrested for lack of devotion to the Communist revolution. Katya is, or has been, a loyal member of the Party. Her entire outlook on life in Soviet Russia and her loyalty to the Party come crashing down as the whirlwind of war and treachery lead her to an awakening that the world she lives in is far from what she imagined.
Katya is thrust into the battle for survival against the Nazis, escapes the massacre of her fellow volunteers, and, with a 16-year-old accomplice, flees the German Wehrmacht in hope of reuniting with her daughter in Leningrad and resurrecting her relationship with her imprisoned husband.
Her flight is an arduous and deadly journey through Nazi-occupied territory. Author Parry is as unrelenting as Katya in fighting for her survival, and that of the people she meets along the way. Much blood is spilled, against Katya and by her. This is war, after all, and her country has been invaded by an evil that is only matched by Stalin and the cold-hearted, remorseless treatment of her fellow Russians by the Party she has sworn loyalty to.
While The Communist’s Secret is the second part of a trilogy, it could stand alone for its entertainment value. I did not read the first volume but found myself caring for Katya and dreading to find out what might happen to her despite her bravery in a land where no one is truly your friend.
