Endearing fool in Moscow

Press, 27 November 1982, Page 16

Endearing fool in Moscow

Murder at the Red October. By Anthony Olcott. Hodder and Stoughton, 1981. 224 pp. $16.95.

(Reviewed by

John Goodliffe)

The hero of this lively and fast-moving thriller is Vanya Duvakin, night security officer at the Red October Hotel in Moscow. An American guest is found murdered in his room and Duvakin accidentally finds, under the bed, a hollow wooden doll containing heroin. He reports this to the K.G.B. and is “invited” to act as their amateur agent and to infiltrate a gang of smugglers and black marketeers. Reluctantly he is drawn deeper into a web of intrigue, feeling rather like a helpless animal in “a cone-shaped trap.” The situation clearly calls for a James Bond, but Duvakin is no 007. He finds it hard to stay awake at critical moments, chainsmokes, and drinks incautiously, with unfortunate results for his bladder. He has a girlfriend, but is a somewhat diffident and ineffectual’ lover. He makes a complete mess of using the signalling

device disguised as a fountain pen given him by the K.G.B- A bumbling, yet endearing fool. Indeed his name recalls Ivan Durak, Ivan the Fool, the traditional Russian folk hero. The reader easily identifies with Duvakin and is entertained and amused by his predicament. His adventures become increasingly fantastic, Kafkaesque even, yet he remains convincingly normal and human. The Moscow setting and New Year holiday atmosphere are cleverly and economically evoked. Anthony Olcott lived in Moscow for two years as a student and he brilliantly transmutes the feel of the place into words. In this ■ respect the story is more authentic than “Gorky Park,” with which it inevitably invites comparison. I found it more gripping, tauter and more compact and, as a bonus, there is a delightfully cynical twist in its tail. If you want a good read for a three-hour journey. 1 recommend “Murder at the Red October” as hard to put down.