Black Sun (Owen Matthews) - Put it on your TBR

Stars: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (out of 5)

I read this book by happenstance. I intended to read another book by the same name by another author,  but downloaded a sample of this one instead. I am glad that happened. Once I read the Kindle sample, I had to read the rest. Not as much for the story line (which is decent) or the pace (which is good), but for the characters and the snippets from their life. 

The story is about Major Alexander Vasin, a member of the elite Russian force KGB Special Cases Dept, that has the power to open doors and prise information out from the most uncooperative people. He is sent to a town that does not exist on the map - a secret town that is populated by a maverick bunch of people who can change the course of history of a nation and geography of the world. The government turns a blind eye to their piccadilloes and pampers them so that they may focus on their work - work that will make them the undisputed super power in the world, create a weapon so powerful that no one would dare to wage a war. A weapon that can bring peace to the war torn world - an oxymoron if there ever was one.

As he chases the truth behind the mysterious death of a promising young scientist, he uncovers the entwined past of each character, and finds his own present slipping away. Everything he has built so far can come undone if he fails to uncover the truth here. On the other hand, if he does stick to the truth, the world may come to an end. While we understand his past and present, we also get a glimpse of Russian society in the 1960s and the life in a communist country. Part based on true events, part fiction, it is this that made the book most interesting for me. 

Though the pace tends to get slow in places, and one would want the characters to "get to the point" sometimes, I would suggest you stick with it and read through to the end.