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Side-lights on Siberia;: Some account of the great Siberian railroad, the prisons and exile system;

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Side-lights on Siberia;: Some account of the great Siberian railroad, the prisons and exile system;
James Young Simpson
Manufacturer: W. Blackwood and Sons
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

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siberian Light
Robin White
Manufacturer: Delacorte Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000OCTIQG

3 Titles By Robin A. White : The Flight from Winter's Shadow The Sword of Orion Siberian Light

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3 Titles By Robin A. White : The Flight from Winter's Shadow The Sword of Orion Siberian Light
Robin A. White
Manufacturer: various
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000PBZN42

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3 Titles By Robin A. White : The Flight from Winter's Shadow The Sword of Orion Siberian Light. three mmpb books.

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Siberian Light
Robin White
Manufacturer: Penguin Books Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0140267573

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Siberian Light
A Guilty Pleasure
Uneven, but worthy
Dr. Zhivago meets Gorky Park
poetic and gritty, witty and wise

Siberian Light
Robin White
Manufacturer: Random House Audio
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Cassette

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ASIN: 0553478575
Release Date: 1997-08-11

Book Description

Siberian Light is a thriller set in Siberia as corrupt capitalism replaces corrupt communism. The protagonist is a former geologist who is now the mayor of a Siberian city. When he is called upon to investigate the death of a shady "bizness man," he must use all the resources he can muster, including his expertise in the exotic geology of the remote Siberian landscape. Played out on a broad and unfamiliar territory, the novel moves back and forth from a small Siberian city to the great Tungunska oil fields and to the Taiga forest where the endangered Siberian tiger is slowly disappearing.

As the novel opens, a shady Russian businessman has been killed in the Siberian oil town of Markovo. Gregori Nowek, the mayor of the city, begins an investigation at the behest of a Moscow bigwig, only to learn that a KGB retread, Kaznin, has taken charge of the open-and-shut case--to protect the real killers who work for his "Nomenklatura" bosses. They frame a beautiful Russian-American woman, a tiger researcher, for the murders, though Nowek has discovered evidence that points to foreign involvement, leading to the Russo-American venture. Only Nowek, a man who has given up hope in law and in the future, can save her, and by doing so find a way to restore faith and hope again.

Customer Reviews:

Siberian Light .......2005-09-24

The book lacks the luster of Robyn White's Typhoon -- so much so that you wonder of this author is another Robin White. The read begins with a slow start -- the introduction of numerous Russian characters, place locations, and Russian politics that it is easy to get lost in the names and have trouble following the plot. However, after a slow start, the books picks up and becomes more fascinating. The Russian political corruption and general lifestyle described makes you think he is describing some backwards third-world country. It makes one wonder why we ever thought the Russians were a threat to our Western life-style.

A Guilty Pleasure.......2003-09-18

Sometimes it is nice to read for pure entertainment and I feel that this is a good book to do that with.

The premise is so far fetched that in my mind this book is like some of Robert Harris' "what if" thrillers ("Fatherland", "Archangel"). However I really liked the dialogue (which with the help of Chuchin the driver was sometimes funny and "snappy") and I liked the characters and wanted to see how their lifes were going to unfold and what the end of the book will bring for them. In fact I got so much into the book that I read all 400 odd pages in 3 days.

One thing that I did feel was very genuine was the description of life in a small Siberian town. Reading about an out of the way town in a country that used to be a super power and now is almost Third World, lost in a a landscape of huge mountains and snow, struggling to stay civilized...made me think about all the things I take for granted.

Is it predictable? Sort of. Is it about deep human feelings? Not really. Is it fun to read? Yes. Does it make someone living in USA feel fortunate about our high standard of living? YES!

Uneven, but worthy.......2002-03-25

This should have been great. It had a new conspiracy - the theft and enslavement of US prisoners shipped to Siberia to work on a pipeline. The slaughter of Siberian tigers by poachers and the tremendously exotic setting of Siberia. Instead, it was okay. The detective was complex and a well developed character, but the author tried too hard to hammer home her point about the endangered Siberian tiger, even falsifying her facts as reported by the zoologist. I agree with her position and believe that the truth is bad enough and exaggeration merely undercuts her position.

Three years ago, Gregori Nowek--a geologist whose criticisms of Soviet oil-drilling got him banished to frozen Irkutsk--was elected mayor of his new town with the slogan ``Can I Do Any Worse?'' How can you resist this sort of hero?

His wife is dead, his daughter a typical teenage and he's making do in the incredibly corrupt new Russia when he's assigned to solve a murder, probably because it's assumed he will fail. His inquiries lead to an American-Russian business venture that no one wants disturbed -- so his continued search for truth is discouraged. But he's in love!!! So of course, he becomes SuperDetective and saves the day for his daughter, the Siberian tigers and his one true love!!!

At times it's quite funny and reasonably enjoyable, but the heavyhanded political message coupled with the improbable success of our hero put this high on the top of the As If! list.

Dr. Zhivago meets Gorky Park.......2002-02-28

Have you ever studied, visited or wondered about Russia, the Soviet Union, or what has risen from their ashes? If so, Siberian Light is for you. Robin White blends the other-worldly conditions of daily life in Siberia with murder, greed, loyalty and a hero who is searching for meaning in his life.

Nowek, the hero, finds himself wanting to be heroic, yet doesn't know if the system has beaten the heroism out of him. A surprising blend of unlikely accomplices and intriguing sub-plots give the book great pace. This murder mystery respects its reader's intelligence, letting out enough rope to piece some things together while painting a painfully honest picture of the harshness of life on the other side of the world. By setting the story in Siberia, which quickly proves to be a land that tests one's limits, White's characters are believable in their wide range of good and evil, since the place itself can and does bring out the best and worst in every one of them.

Regardless of this review's trite "Hollywood pitch" title, Siberian Light is a book worth reading for its well-developed characters, poetic moments, ironic truisms and amazing attention to detail (from the upside-down nature of things in Siberia to a deft use of Russian sayings and their meanings without being heavy-handed). Robin White lets us flex imaginative muscles through fabulous descriptions and accurate assessments of the attitude and character of post-Soviet society. Even though the book is a murder mystery, the more intriguing mystery turns out to be how the characters will fare in the end. Will justice prevail? Will the "good guy" win? And how do you tell the good guys from the bad guys in Siberia?!

Buy the hard cover; this one deserves a permanent place on the shelf.

poetic and gritty, witty and wise.......2001-03-22

I read "Siberian Light" a year or two ago, and I am currently reading it again because, from time to time, I recall its poetic and gritty lines. This is an excellent read, masterfully done. White has a fine talent for charcterization. I hope that if the author hasn't written more about Siberia, he will--and soon.

4 Titles By Robin A. White - Typhoon - Siberian Light - Last High Ground - Flight From Winter's Shadow

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4 Titles By Robin A. White - Typhoon - Siberian Light - Last High Ground - Flight From Winter's Shadow
Robin A. White
Manufacturer: various
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000MPQXD6

Product Description

4 massmarket paperback Titles By Robin A. White - Typhoon - Siberian Light - Last High Ground - Flight from Winter's Shadow

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Glimpses of Siberia
Siberian Lights Magazine
Manufacturer: University Press of the Pacific
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Travel | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0898756383

Book Description

In the early eighteenth century it took the expedition of Vitus Bering nearly two years to cross Siberia.

At the end of the nineteenth century Anton Chekhov spent three months reaching Sakhalin Island, by rail, boat and sleigh.

Today Vladivostok is within several hours' flight of Moscow. Siberia has moved nearer to Europe.

This book, specially prepared for the foreign reader by the staff of the Sibirskiye Ogni (Siberian Lights) magazine will take you, as it was, across the vast territory from the Urals to the Pacific with stops in many points of interest.

The book provides glimpses of various aspects of Siberian life. Some are historical and deal with the famous Siberian pioneers, the pervoprokhodtsi, others concern the development of Siberia's vast mineral wealth, oil, gas, coal and diamonds. Those interested in social problems will learn quite a bit about the transformation of the land under Soviet power and about the famous "Siberian character." There are also glimpses of Siberia's virgin forests, encounters in the taiga, views of the unique Lake Baikal.

Siberian Light
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Siberian Light
Robin White
Manufacturer: Michael Joseph
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000HNRLKM

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Siberian Light
Robin White
Manufacturer: Michael Joseph Limited
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 071814287X

The cruise of the Northern light;: Explorations and hunting in the Alaskan and Siberian Arctic,
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The cruise of the Northern light;: Explorations and hunting in the Alaskan and Siberian Arctic,
Courtney Louise Letts Borden
Manufacturer: The Macmillan Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Hunting | Hunting & Fishing | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: B00085PHHS

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