Review: KGB in High Heels

Book Title: KGB in High Heels

Author: Valentina Maltseva

Niche: Mystery / Spy Drama

Price: $4.50

Size: 65,000 words (250 pages paperback equivalent)

This book was a best seller in Russia and Israel under the title: KGB v smokinge (you can see why the English version has a new title). It was made into a 16-part miniseries.

Written in Russian, it’s been excellently translated into colloquial English. It reads just like it was originally written in English.

Valentina works on an artsy Newspaper in the old Soviet Union. She’s not political and is happy puttering around in the art world, writing stories and reviews.

Unfortunately for her, her boyfriend gets her involved with non other than Yuri Andropov (head of the KGB) and she finds herself shipped off to Argentina and plunged into the world of espionage.

Nothing goes as planned and the body count rises as her chances for survival plummet. Three spy agencies are after her and two of them would rather see her dead.

Valentina is no James Bond. She’s not suave or sure of herself. She’s just terrified and wants to go back to her safe life in the art world.

Like many people, I love the Bond movies.  I also read all of the Ian Fleming Bond books. This isn’t Bond by any stretch of the imagination. This is much more realistic than Fleming’s books ever were. A refreshing look into the spy world from another perspective, where spies are highly fallible and plans rarely go well.

I enjoyed every paragraph. My only complaint is that it wasn’t a longer book. However, sources tell me there may be a “part 2″. Oh goody!

So, grab your knife and gun, and sit down for a great roller-coaster ride into danger.

Formats: Adobe Reader (pdf), ePub, Kindle (prc), Microsoft Reader (lit), Mobi (prc)

No DRM

Reviewed by Allan Kalar, Washington state

By it now at AKW Books