A murderer is forging a sinister path in Leningrad with a mounting body count. Major Oleg Nikitin, the man who tortured Rossel and cut off his fingers, ending any ambition of a career as a violinist, wants to strike a deal with Rossel. He has witnessed pure horror and has been through his own personal hell but he refuses to be downtrodden and has an incredible will to survive.Īn unexpected visitor to the labour camp requesting his presence throws Rossel in a spin. Revol Rossel has been through some extraordinary and treacherous experiences, with the memories of the Siege of Leningrad, the city he dearly loves, always a shadow in his life. Survival is a constant challenge as, both mentally and physically, all prisoners are suffering from starvation leaving them weakened and their endurance levels close to non-existent.
There is a hierarchy within the camp with vicious threats and cold-blooded murder a daily experience. The barbaric living conditions combined with the merciless actions of the soldiers on duty drive some inmates to extreme behaviour. Life in the camp is truly abysmal, each day bringing death a step closer. Set in 1952, A Traitor’s Heart sees Revol Rossel imprisoned in ‘a Corrective Labour Camp, under the jurisdiction of the GULAG, or Main Camps Directorate’, put there by his nemesis Major Nikitin.
Described as ‘ an intelligent, atmospheric historical thriller‘ it follows on from the very exciting and gripping City of Ghosts It is the second book in a trilogy featuring conservatoire-trained violinist turned state militia lieutenant Revol Rossel. Three thousand kilometres away in a labour colony above the Arctic Circle, threatened by the Thieves who rule the camp, former militia lieutenant Revol Rossel is close to death, until he is saved by a man he hates: Major Nikitin, the man who once cut off the former virtuoso violinist’s fingers.Īs the two men hunt Koshchei down they uncover more riddles, including one centred on the ruins of Hitler’s bunker, the Fuhrer’s own copy of a Renaissance manual for tyrants, and a secret code that leads them to a weapon of unimaginable power coveted by the scheming plotters of Stalin’s Kremlin.ĭiscovering that the mystery and the murderer are inextricably linked, Rossel and Nikitin must catch Koshchei and uncover the identity of another ghost – a ghost hiding among the remnants of Hitler’s once all-powerful Third Reich – in order to save themselves.Ī Traitor’s Heart by Ben Creed was published April 28th with Welbeck Publishing. Koshchei, named after a sinister figure from Slavic folklore, is an invisible killer who cuts out the tongue of his victims and replaces it with a scroll of paper containing a few lines of what seems to be Italian verse.
Leningrad’s icy streets are haunted by a murderer.
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