Book
The Black Suit
- Hardcover
- ISBN 978-1-971325-60-6
- Paperback
- ISBN 979-8878698696
- Kindle
- B0CVN4GQNW
- Audiobook
- B0FML458ZF
About
About the Book
He didn’t inherit the criminal underworld. He engineered it.
Kiev, the late 1980s. The Soviet Union is falling apart, and its shadow economy belongs to whoever moves first.
Oleg Khanin moves first. The old bosses rely on muscle and connections; he relies on patience and analysis. He studies the city’s black market until he knows where the money flows, who can be bought, and who will break under pressure. By the time his rivals understand what he is building, the empire already answers to him.
Then a rival faction breaks the truce. Car bombs explode on crowded streets. Men are shot in broad daylight. Oleg answers violence with calculation, and his enemies soon discover that his silence is more dangerous than any threat he could make.
Viola knew him before any of this.
She fell in love with Oleg long before the empire, and she has watched that man recede with every order he gives and every body left behind. She has no illusions about his world. She wants him to leave it while there is still something of him left to save.
Oleg knows how to defeat his enemies. He knows how to hold power once he has taken it. What he does not know is whether he can abandon the world he built without destroying himself—or lose Viola by remaining inside it.
He built his empire by understanding exactly what other men were willing to sacrifice.
Now he must decide what he is willing to sacrifice himself.
Excerpt
Read an Excerpt
Late-Soviet Kiev is unraveling, and Oleg Khanin has already learned to read the wreckage: chaos has a grammar, and whoever can speak it owns the city. This excerpt catches him early—before the underworld is his, before power stops being something he builds and becomes something he owes.
Reviews & Endorsements
Reviews
— Elizabeth Sanguedolce — AuthorThe Black Suit is filled with interesting characters and it’s fascinating to see them grow and develop in actual events in history. The sheer power of control guides their decisions and the characters all despise each other. In the end the characters are either dead or transformed. The process is very interesting to watch!
— Eliza SvihraThe Black Suit, written by Andrew Kudin, is a thriller that explores the dark side of Soviet crime, all based on a true story. It is told in the eyes of multiple key characters, switching back and forth to give you the whole picture. Power is the goal, and they’ll do anything for it… and as the story continues, to keep it. Since this is a true story, Mr. Kudin wrote that he did his best to write things as truthfully as he could. Keep that in mind as you read! This is not a work of fiction, hence why it took awhile for the full story to be fully published! With most of the inspiration long gone, It’s finally time to know the truth.
This is the third work of art of his I have read, and naturally, I enjoyed it. Being that English is not the language this book was originally written in, it is astounding how well it works in English. A couple of words here and there may not have fit perfectly, but you have to remember… this story wasn’t originally for us. Its not about our history. Now, I went into this completely blind. I didn’t read the back of it, prior to diving in, and I have to say… it’s a lot of information at once for someone who knows nothing about the subject. But, stick with it! The more you read, the easier it is to understand and put pieces together. Especially with all the characters you meet and learn about. Whether that’s intentional or not, it works phenomenally! It will definitely do you good to learn more about the dark side of Soviet dealings, too! You never know how bad things are until someone brings them into the light, and that’s exactly what Mr. Kudin did here!
Truthfully, you’ll have your favorite character, and mine was Violetta. I always looked forward to seeing things from her side. It almost felt wrong liking a character while reminding myself that the events in this book happened. Especially with all the dark things that were mentioned. Violetta almost felt like an anchor. The smallest bit of light when there wasn’t any… and I believe that’s what our main character felt when seeing her. It was cute, and I cheered for them the entire way through. Although, I felt she deserved better when it comes to love, especially because of her age, but if I can find someone who loved me as deeply as our leader of the most brutal gangs in Ukraine loved Violetta.. I’d say I’m lucky.
Once again, I will always enjoy anything Andrew Kudin writes. He has a gift for writing, and I almost wish I could read it in its original language. No matter which version you read, it’s one you definitely won’t forget.
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