When Viktor and Romulus, two peasant boys, dig too deep into their town’s strange past, they awaken the wrath of a mysterious overlord. As the blood brothers struggle to survive, their search for answers takes them through gambling parlors, bare-knuckle boxing matches, and dark forests full of wild animals and men alike. But even with the help of their friends, can they escape the deathly experiments their foe is creating in Staryi Castle?
Enter the bold lands of the Russian Empire where the colorful characters of The Card Game dwell, from the fortune-tellers and fire-jugglers of the Romani Gypsies, to the dangerous criminals that make up the Thieves World, the predecessor of the Russian Mafia.
The Silent Deal has such an original premise that I was completely intrigued by the synopsis, it's for this reason that I accepted it for review, but I am so glad that I did. This book took me around four hours to read and I am so excited to read the sequel now! This book has intrigue, action and friendship and will be a definite win for people wanting to revisit their Harry Potter days as well as read something original and fun. This book has the historical thing down, but it's a historical dystopian, which was something totally new fr me, but it worked.
This book runs on the relationship between Viktor and Romulus and it is so well written. From Romulus' distrust and Viktor's curiosity to such a tight-knit bond between the two, despite some lies and some betrayal between the two they come out of it as close as brothers. It's this relationship that is center to this whole book and it was done so well.
Stack also manages to write an engaging mystery and adventure in this book. The boys start out armed with only one card and their curiosity to find out the secret behind their town and in their mission they come across secrets and scandals as well as meet many new people, good and bad. The Crossbones Clan were the highlight of this book for me, any part of the book where these people turned up was so fun and exciting. The bad guys are pure evil, and there are twists and turns in this book which will shock you, but also clear things up. It's obvious that Stack planned out this book because everything fits together perfectly.
Overall, The Silent Deal was an engaging adventure that I absolutely adored. Reading this reminded me of why I loved Harry Potter so much, and whilst I won't say it was as good as those books, it was a fantastic read and does have the right doses of adventure, friendship and action to keep any reader gripped.
Book released 2nd May 2013
Book received from the author in exchange for an honest review
Great review. Never heard of this one before and that cover is so weird.
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