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Beautiful Assassin: A Novel Paperback – March 22, 2011
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A breathtaking tale of love, loyalty, and intrigue set in the early days of World War II from the acclaimed author of Soul Catcher
World War II seems lost for the beleaguered Soviets as they struggle to hold back the rising German tide at Sevastopol. But a fearless female sniper inspires hope during her nation's darkest hour. Word of the extraordinary Soviet heroine, Tat'yana Levchenko, reaches American First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, who invites the beautiful assassin to tour the United States with her. For the Russians, Tat'yana's visit is an opportunity to gain support and valuable U.S. intelligence. But Tat'yana knows she is a pawn in a deadly game of treachery and deceit, forced to question the motivations of everyone around her . . . even the dashing and sympathetic American captain assigned as her translator. And then, as suddenly as she rose to international fame, Tat'yana vanishes without a trace.
Her strange disappearance will remain a mystery for decades—until a determined journalist stumbles across Tat'yana's story . . . and uncovers the astonishing truth.
- Print length480 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- Publication dateMarch 22, 2011
- Dimensions5.31 x 1.08 x 8 inches
- ISBN-100061691224
- ISBN-13978-0061691225
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Colleen Hoover comes a novel that explores life after tragedy and the enduring spirit of love. | Learn more
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Editorial Reviews
From the Back Cover
A breathtaking tale of love, loyalty, and intrigue set in the early days of World War II from the acclaimed author of Soul Catcher
World War II seems lost for the beleaguered Soviets as they struggle to hold back the rising German tide at Sevastopol. But a fearless female sniper inspires hope during her nation's darkest hour. Word of the extraordinary Soviet heroine, Tat'yana Levchenko, reaches American First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, who invites the beautiful assassin to tour the United States with her. For the Russians, Tat'yana's visit is an opportunity to gain support and valuable U.S. intelligence. But Tat'yana knows she is a pawn in a deadly game of treachery and deceit, forced to question the motivations of everyone around her . . . even the dashing and sympathetic American captain assigned as her translator. And then, as suddenly as she rose to international fame, Tat'yana vanishes without a trace.
Her strange disappearance will remain a mystery for decades—until a determined journalist stumbles across Tat'yana's story . . . and uncovers the astonishing truth.
About the Author
Michael White's previous novels include the New York Times Notable Book A Brother's Blood as well as The Garden of Martyrs and Soul Catcher, both Connecticut Book of the Year finalists. He is the director of Fairfield University's MFA program in creative writing, and lives in Connecticut.
Product details
- Publisher : Harper Perennial; Reprint edition (March 22, 2011)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 480 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0061691224
- ISBN-13 : 978-0061691225
- Item Weight : 12.5 ounces
- Dimensions : 5.31 x 1.08 x 8 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #1,566,379 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #3,374 in Historical World War II Fiction (Books)
- #3,802 in Political Fiction (Books)
- #4,439 in World War II Historical Fiction (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the authors
Michael C. White is the author of six previous novels: Beautiful Assassin, which won the 2011 Connecticut Book Award for Fiction; Soul Catcher, which was a Booksense and Historical Novels Review selection, as well as a finalist for the Connecticut Book Award; A Brother’s Blood, a New York Times Book Review Notable Book and a Barnes and Noble Discover Great New Writers nominee; The Blind Side of the Heart, an Alternate Book-of-the-Month Club selection; A Dream of Wolves, which received starred reviews from Booklist and Publisher’s Weekly; and The Garden of Martyrs, also a Connecticut Book Award finalist. A collection of his short stories, Marked Men, was published by the University of Missouri Press. He has also published over 50 short stories in national magazines and journals, and has won the Advocate Newspapers Fiction Award and been nominated for both a National Magazine Award and a Pushcart. He was the founding editor of the yearly fiction anthology American Fiction as well as Dogwood. He is the founder and director of Fairfield University’s low-residency MFA Creative Writing Program.
Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read book recommendations and more.
Customer reviews
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Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonTop reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on May 5, 2010M.C. White presents more of an interior life to reveal his characters than most action-romance-drame novelists these days--and that futher fleshed out with a real-world background of both hot and cold war, Swatzsticker, hammer/sickle and beyond. Women should find it a fascinating take on their gender. C. Britch.
- Reviewed in the United States on February 4, 2010Amazon CustomerIn 1996, reporter Elizabeth Meade muses over her obsession started a decade ago as the Soviet evil empire imploded when she first heard of the Russian sniper Tat'yana Levchencko. Elizabeth searched for clues about the Communist with Hollywood looks and a friend of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt during WWII. Now in Eastern Colorado she will confront an elderly widow begging to learn the true story of Tat'yana Levchenko.
At first hesitant as she does not want to be another Trotsky, the old woman tells how a poetess, mother, and wife became an empty nest widow avenging sniper Soviet-American heroine before being labeled a Communist spy. In 1942 the Germans without regard to civilians bombed and fired from the air at villagers in the Ukraine. A pilot saw her beloved three year old Masha and killed her. The sniper was born on that day as she joined the army. She became the top sniper and soon was invited to the White House by Eleanor Roosevelt. They became friends as they toured the country together. While Stalin demanded she spy on the Americans, Tat'yana realized these were not soft fat cats as described by Soviet propaganda. The American media began a blitzkrieg accusing her of being Stalin's pawn. She disappeared until now when a persistent reporter interviews an elderly widow.
This is a superb 1940s drama seen through the eyes of a woman five decades later after she vanished. Her story is one of sadness as she loathed the murdering Nazis killing them, but also detested the Cold War participants who "killed" Tat'yana in their abusive disregard for her whch was worse in many ways than the Germans who overtly tried to kill her. Yet she also brings rays of hope that the human spirit can overcome almost anything as she did with her late second husband Walter and someone else even while telling her heartbreaking tale. This is a winner that condemns nations for their expendable deployment of individuals.
Harriet Klausner
- Reviewed in the United States on December 31, 2013I was unaware of female snipers during the war, and enjoyed following the heroine's journey through the war and her "political"
visit to the United States.
- Reviewed in the United States on May 15, 2010Wonderfully precise descriptions of rifle handling and marksmanship will let you daydream for a few minutes about what it would be like to be a sniper. There's a highly dramatic scene of dueling between the heroine and the champion SS sniper, which beats any duel from a western, including Wyatt Erp & Co. And moreover, there's a sense of humor and playfulness making the novel a delightful read, full of excellently researched and imagined World War II situations. A fantastic book, highly recommended.
- Reviewed in the United States on July 9, 2011This is one of those books that starts out well, and then sort of wanders off a bit towards the end. I enjoyed parts of it a great deal, and though it ends well enough, I didn't quite think it lived up to the great promise that it carried from the start.
We start out with an American journalist travelling through the remote backcountry in the high plains in Eastern Colorado. She's looking to meet an old woman who lives alone, and when she does she has concocted a story to convince her to talk about her past. The old woman begins talking, and of course she has a story to tell. Once upon a time, she was a great soldier, a sniper who killed 300 enemy soldiers during World War II, while fighting for the Soviet Union...and the narrative takes off from there and we're off, back in 1942.
The author does a great job with his recreation of the Eastern Front in what the Soviets called the Great Patriotic War. The anger at the German invasion, the hatred of the "bosses" and fear of their retribution, the dirt, the hunger, the uncertainty, and the optimism for a possible victory, all are there, well-recreated. Tatyanna and her comrades fight the Germans with a determination that's at times astonishing, and at the same time they talk of surrendering when it's hopeless, asking themselves how bad the Germans could be. The Germans, of course, actually were very bad (only a small fraction of the 3.5 million Soviet soldiers captured during the war returned to their country afterwards, and of course most of them went straight to Soviet reeducation camps to make sure they hadn't been contaminated by Western ideals), but the book even does a decent job of humanising them in one scene.
Then the plot goes a bit sideways. Tatyanna is declared a heroine, and she's whisked away from her comrades to Moscow, where she meets Stalin. From there she travels to America, meets President Roosevelt, and becomes friends with the First Lady. Of course it can't be this simple, so her handler, it turns out, wants her to spy on Eleanor Roosevelt, and see if she can blackmail the First Lady into helping the Soviet Union. When Tatyanna balks at doing this, things get out of hand.
I enjoyed the Eastern Front portion of the novel a great deal. I think if the author had stuck with that, he'd probably have been safer. Once the book gets to America it begins to bog down a bit, and the "spy on Eleanor" bit gets a bit repetitive after 200 pages. The World War II part of the book is quite good: interestingly, the author references a novel in his background information, David L. Robbins' "War of the Rats", which is the other popular book about Soviet snipers in World War II, being a fictionalisation of Vassily Zaitsev's famous exploits during the Battle of Stalingrad. The espionage part is a bit wearing, and not that suspenseful. The overall effect, though, is still quite good, and I enjoyed the book.
Top reviews from other countries
- Page TurnerReviewed in the United Kingdom on January 5, 2013
4.0 out of 5 stars Good read
Recommended read for anyone who wants a story about the 2nd world war with a bit of intrigue. Well written and keeps your attention to the end. Good insight into American attitudes during the war, especially women's role in combat.
- nixstarnzReviewed in the United Kingdom on September 4, 2012
5.0 out of 5 stars Beastiful Assasin Top Read
I couldnt put this book down!
The characters flow in the story and you become to understand them as it goes on.
Although I new the story line was about an assassin the way it is told is beautiful not just the main character.
Although fictional you could imagine the goings on at that time.
Never a lull in the story line and I was pleased that it finished well.5 starts for sure.
(dont want to give the story away just read it!)
- Dallas Van RenselarReviewed in the United Kingdom on May 14, 2016
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Excellent
- barbara_wilmslowReviewed in the United Kingdom on June 9, 2012
2.0 out of 5 stars Not the most exciting read
The Beautiful Assassin had a good write up but I found it a bit dull. I prefer my plot to be a bit more exciting!