One-Way Ticket to Moscow

Rating:
Summary: One-way ticket to a great "read"
Review: Sylvia Christmas' One Way Ticket to Moscow accomplishes two goals: it lifts us off on a rocket-ship-paced, action-filled thriller and it gives us a strikingly realistic portrait of the "new Russia." When an art-buying agent with her own psychological baggage alites at the Moscow airport, she is greeted by presumed friends. Soon she is swept off her feet by another presumed friend. But in this new Moscow, she soon learns that she can trust no one. Whatever standards of morality and trustworthiness that existed before the breakup of the Soviet Union were destroyed along with the political structure of the country. Deception, dissimulation, fakery, disguises, lies, cheating, treachery are all rampant, and all become the vehicles for a desperate self-interest that, for many citizens of that city, is all that separates them from social and economic despair. The climate described by Christmas seems to be the final degradation product of a Russian mentality with roots traceable to Czar Peter's creation of a Russian nobility in the 18th Century. In that era, the distinction between theater and "real life" was completely blurred by a class of aristocrats who were ordered to "act" as if they were French nobility--speaking French, building chateaux, dressing in the latest Parisian fasions--all the while "being" Russian. Most were only partly successful in maintaining the distinction. Christmas' book shows how, three hundred years later, this same quandry faces the contemporary Muscovite: how to "act" like a wealthy American--whether by hook or by crook--while still "being" Russian. This tale of deception and deceit becomes in Christmas' strong story-telling hands a modern parable of identities lost and the symbolic journey of rediscovery of who those "actors" really are. This is a "fun read" with a message.

Rating:
Summary: One-way ticket to a great "read"
Review: Sylvia Christmas' One Way Ticket to Moscow accomplishes two goals: it lifts us off on a rocket-ship-paced, action-filled thriller and it gives us a strikingly realistic portrait of the "new Russia." When an art-buying agent with her own psychological baggage alites at the Moscow airport, she is greeted by presumed friends. Soon she is swept off her feet by another presumed friend. But in this new Moscow, she soon learns that she can trust no one. Whatever standards of morality and trustworthiness that existed before the breakup of the Soviet Union were destroyed along with the political structure of the country. Deception, dissimulation, fakery, disguises, lies, cheating, treachery are all rampant, and all become the vehicles for a desperate self-interest that, for many citizens of that city, is all that separates them from social and economic despair. The climate described by Christmas seems to be the final degradation product of a Russian mentality with roots traceable to Czar Peter's creation of a Russian nobility in the 18th Century. In that era, the distinction between theater and "real life" was completely blurred by a class of aristocrats who were ordered to "act" as if they were French nobility--speaking French, building chateaux, dressing in the latest Parisian fasions--all the while "being" Russian. Most were only partly successful in maintaining the distinction. Christmas' book shows how, three hundred years later, this same quandry faces the contemporary Muscovite: how to "act" like a wealthy American--whether by hook or by crook--while still "being" Russian. This tale of deception and deceit becomes in Christmas' strong story-telling hands a modern parable of identities lost and the symbolic journey of rediscovery of who those "actors" really are. This is a "fun read" with a message.

Rating:
Summary: One Way Ticket to Moscow
Review: The book was an exciting page-turner and gave an updated and new view of the current situation in Moscow. It is a far cry from the Soviet stereotype of years past. Life in Moscow seems like the wild, wild west and the adventures of the characters demonstrate the new rules of the game, or lack of. One Way Ticket to Moscow is a fun and fast read.

Rating:
Summary: One Way Ticket to Moscow
Review: The book was an exciting page-turner and gave an updated and new view of the current situation in Moscow. It is a far cry from the Soviet stereotype of years past. Life in Moscow seems like the wild, wild west and the adventures of the characters demonstrate the new rules of the game, or lack of. One Way Ticket to Moscow is a fun and fast read.

Rating:
Summary: A fun trip
Review: This book was fast-paced and easy to read, and as soon as i started reading it, i was hooked, and barely put it down until i was finished.

Although i have never been to Russia, i think Christmas does a good job of describing Moscow and the struggle that is going on there right now between the rich and the poor and the people who are trying to get by honestly and those who are making a killing doing things illegally. Her descriptions of Chicago, i know are pretty good, so if that is an indication of what Russia is like, i would expect those to be good as well.

Luckily, this isn't a romance novel, because i think that would have ruined a splendid adventure. However, there's quite a few threads of love and lust that weave themselves around and one is never sure of where they are going to lead until the very end, though there's at least one which doesn't seem to add much to the plot, so i am still not sure what Christmas' purpose was with that.

However, the people were never quite what they seemed, and everybody had a few surprises along the way, which kept the book flowing and entertaining.

Rating:
Summary: One way ticket to a good read....
Review: What a pleasure to read a thriller, that succeeds in keeping me turning each page. And speaking of pages, what a terrific idea of breaking the book into short chapters. Don't we all find ourselves leafing ahead to the next "break" that the author has provided, so we can return to reality, like get off the train, or someone thinks you fell in the toilet, or get to sleep before its time to get up?

The story and plot is very plausible and descriptions of Moscow seem chillingly real. I haven't visited there but Christmas portrats the city almost on the brink of disaster. Poverty has led to crime and the government appears to have failed to provide protection. It's a city that could mirror many of ours if our leaders fail to inpire us and despair replaces our dreams.

For a first-time book, Sylvia Christmas develops the characters deeply enough to make this mystery move quickly. Many situations occur and they are incorporated into the story flow without much unnecessary verbage. That is what I enjoyed about reading One Way Ticket To Moscow...you get to know the principals, she tells you enough details of the location[s], the plot is challenging and reveals some twists that you expect from a thriller and when finished you have had a nice journey. It is told by a story-teller who cuts to the chase and doesn't try to dazzle the reader with unnecessary deviations or frivolous character background, yet it is not written as a cheap paperback. Thank God she didn't follow Dosteovsky's style. For this story to be enjoyable it doesn't require that kind of depth and I don't believe the author was trying to compete with any of the Great Writers. Not a bad idea for many writers. Tell us a story, do it well, make it real, don't waste OUR time and you will have rewarded us for our time spent with your book. I think you too will be pleased reading this first novel and hopefully like me, waiting for the next one!

Rating:
Summary: One way ticket to a good read....
Review: What a pleasure to read a thriller, that succeeds in keeping me turning each page. And speaking of pages, what a terrific idea of breaking the book into short chapters. Don't we all find ourselves leafing ahead to the next "break" that the author has provided, so we can return to reality, like get off the train, or someone thinks you fell in the toilet, or get to sleep before its time to get up?

The story and plot is very plausible and descriptions of Moscow seem chillingly real. I haven't visited there but Christmas portrats the city almost on the brink of disaster. Poverty has led to crime and the government appears to have failed to provide protection. It's a city that could mirror many of ours if our leaders fail to inpire us and despair replaces our dreams.

For a first-time book, Sylvia Christmas develops the characters deeply enough to make this mystery move quickly. Many situations occur and they are incorporated into the story flow without much unnecessary verbage. That is what I enjoyed about reading One Way Ticket To Moscow...you get to know the principals, she tells you enough details of the location[s], the plot is challenging and reveals some twists that you expect from a thriller and when finished you have had a nice journey. It is told by a story-teller who cuts to the chase and doesn't try to dazzle the reader with unnecessary deviations or frivolous character background, yet it is not written as a cheap paperback. Thank God she didn't follow Dosteovsky's style. For this story to be enjoyable it doesn't require that kind of depth and I don't believe the author was trying to compete with any of the Great Writers. Not a bad idea for many writers. Tell us a story, do it well, make it real, don't waste OUR time and you will have rewarded us for our time spent with your book. I think you too will be pleased reading this first novel and hopefully like me, waiting for the next one!