Title: Vendetta
Author: Derek Lambert
Published on: 17 May 2018
Genre: Mystery and Thrillers
Germans are at war with the Russians – Battle of Stalingrad. The harsh Russian winter is taking a toll on the German soldiers and they have almost lost the war. But defeat is not something that they are willing to accept. Meanwhile, two snipers are at a war of their own. Karl Meister, a German sniper, and Yury Antonov, a Russian sniper are on a killing spree.
To boost the morale of their fellow soldiers, the two men must now compete in a duel – orders from the high command (Hitler and Stalin). Dead heroes or living legends? Only time will tell…
From WW2 to cold war, Derek Lambert has written a vast range of stories. There is something about each of his stories that captures a reader’s attention.
The plot of Vendetta is very interesting. It is more of a cat and mouse chase – Meister and Antonov are in a race – who will kill whom first? Vendetta is not a nail-biting adventure that pumps your adrenaline to a high but at the same time, it keeps you hooked on to the story till the end. After all, you do want to know who won, don’t you?
Misha, a 9-year-old boy is an Angel in disguise. What starts as an innocent-looking boy serving food to the hungry soldiers, Misha plays a much bigger role towards the end. The two snipers have mentors – Razin (Russian) and Lanz (German). They are appointed to motivate the snipers and make sure that they kill their target.
Antonov and Meister’s background is an interesting touch to the story. Meister is a rich German while Antonov is the son of a farmer. Their lives before the war and how they gained fame forms the story’s chassis (framework). The Russians would go to any extent to publicize their hero – Tasya, Antonov’s love interest features with him in all the photographs and newspaper headlines. Meanwhile, Elzbeth, Meister’s love interest plays a silent role – their relationship is not given as much publicity as Antonov’s.
The mentors – Lanz and Razin also play an important role. Not wanting to fight the war – many innocent people are dying and the war crimes are at a high, these two seem to be affected by it.
Vendetta is a slow but engaging read. The ending is unexpected and touching. Even the best (or, should I say worse?) killers can sometimes be kind-hearted… The book concentrates more on the publicity that the Soviets and Germans gave to the two snipers. The war turned into more of a publicity stunt at some point in time. I was expecting this book to be a fast-paced action series, something like a mixture of Day of the Jackal(Frederick Forsyth) or Never Go Back (Lee Child). Although it wasn’t, I loved it. The ending was the best part of this book – unique and touching. Of all the Derek Lambert books that I have read so far, the ending of this book was a 7 on the emotional scale.
I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.
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