I really wanted to love this book. I loved the author’s first book and I always enjoy stories based in Russia, so I couldn’t wait for this audiobook to drop. This book is not what I expected. There was very little suspense in this story. It was slow and overly wordy. The descriptions of almost everything were tedious. Whole sections of the book (like Sia’s recollection of the vineyard in South Africa and the valet scene) should have been omitted. They added nothing to the characters or the story.
I liked Procter in the first book, but in this book she is portrayed so strangely that she is not believable as a character. None of the women in the book are likeable. The really only likeable character doesn’t fare well in the story.
Since I grew in horse farm country, I can add a half star for an overall rating of 3.5 stars. However, I rounded down instead of up because of the lack of action and suspense for such a long book. The narrator has a wonderful voice, but his cadence is choppy and mechanical. This did not help an already slow book. I had to speed the book considerably to get a decent pace for the story.