The Romanov Cross

By: Robert Masello

Narrated by: Paul Boehmer

Army epidemiologist Frank Slater is facing a court-martial, but after his punishment is mysteriously lifted, he is offered a job no one else wants - to travel to a small island off the coast of Alaska and investigate a potentially lethal phenomenon. The permafrost has begun to melt, exposing bodies from a colony that was wiped out by the dreaded Spanish flu of 1918. Frank must determine if the thawed remains still carry the deadly virus in their frozen flesh and, if so, ensure that it doesn't come back to life.

Frank and his handpicked team arrive by helicopter, prepared to exhume history. The colony, it transpires, was once settled by a sect devoted to the mad Russian monk Rasputin, but there is even more hiding in the past than Frank's team is aware of. Any hope of success hinges on their willingness to accept the fact that even their cutting-edge science has its limits and that the ancient wisdom of the Inuit people who once inhabited this eerie land is as essential as any serum. Frank soon finds himself in a brutal race against time. With a young, strong-willed Inuit woman by his side, he must put a deadly genie back in the bottle before all of humanity pays the price.

©2013 Robert Masello (P)2016 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Tense, taut and impossible to put down." ( Kirkus Reviews)

Meh

The plot is intriguing and interesting and how I wish It had been better handled by the publisher!

PROS:
The basic plot idea is excellent. Expert epidemiologist is recruited to go to Alaska to see what is happening to the graves on a remote island where everyone died from the Spanish Flu in 1918. The Romanovs of Russia are involved and the Inuit Indians. And the US Military. And lots of mystical, magical events. And why all this good stuff was necessary is an intriguing part of the story so - no spoilers. The principal characters start out with engaging and/or interesting and/or compelling stories.

Then it derails, ever so slowly. Various side plots were potentially SO interesting and engaging and they could have added SO much to the narrative. But they were all unfortunately read by a bad narrator and buried in detail and more detail and still more detail … until I began to wonder if the author had been paid by the word. So, while this is a “pro”, it’s also a “con.”

Cons:
1. The narration is mostly overdone … and, while not always terrible, it was just mostly terrible. For starters, Paul Boehmer is a scenery chewer. Everything that happens is delivered in florid tones so that no one ever speaks like normal humans speak. I can’t convey it with the written word, but try to imagine if you were ordering a burger and fries in the same tone and with the same “passion” you would use if you were defending yourself against a charge of murder. Nobody in this story just “talks.” They all gush and declaim and ooze passion. I blame this on the narrator AND on the director.

1.a. Also about the narration – he has about 3 voices - all male - and 2 accents (American and Russian). And that’s pretty much it.

2. Too, too, too, too, too, too, too, too much detail. Way too much detail. An ocean of irrelevant unnecessary detail. Details that s . l . o . w . the pace of the story… to… an … absolute … crawl… in… some… places … or... more… precisely… in… many… places.

Overall:
It’s a pretty OK book that could have been a really good book with the help of a good editor. There were also some plot devises that strain credulity quite a bit (if you’ve read “The DaVinci Code” you’ll understand what I mean.)

It might, however, be better if you actually read it. The narrator is bad enough to affect the experience negatively.

Meh

Interesting story line but author uses too many bad analogies... "Like a yellow rubber duckie". Narration was very bad ... I nearly bailed out a couple of times, but it does improve towards the end of the book.

Surprising right up to the end

A great fiction writer, the story moved along well and the ending was a total surprise

Very good story

It went back and forth between time periods and the story held my interest all the way through.

Plot what I expected - TERRIBLE narration

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

I survived this book simply because I wanted to get to the end. I really like this author, so I knew the issue was not the plot or the characters.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Paul Boehmer?

Anyone. A nice voice does not a narrator make. His terrible timing almost made me curse.

so good.

this man can write. i loved this story. loved it. you will not be disappointed in this purchase.

Surpassed Expectations

Storyline captivating.
Narration excellent.
Difficult to stop listening.
Easy to visualize characters, places and events.
Would definitely recommend this book, author and narrator.

Very disappointed

1)TERRIBLE NARRATION. Overdone and painful to listen to. Sometimes mixing accents with the wrong characters.
2)details slow the story to a glacial pace. After reading The Jekyll Revelation, this was poor in comparison. Such amazing potential and some parts were fascinating but not enough focus on the awesome content and too much focus/repetition of unimportant details.

Truly Great

Wow!! This author never ceases to amaze and thrill me! Great story that scoops you up and adds a little creepiness in there to give you a sense of eeriness and intrigue! Author was great and brought it to life!!

Excellent Story!

The Romanov Cross by Robert Masello is excellent!

Frank Slater is an Army epidemiologist deployed to the Middle East. When he calls in a medical evacuation for a civilian he is finds himself in trouble. When he K.O.s a superior officer (who deserves it) he finds himself facing court marshal. As his trial reaches the sentencing phase he is shocked that his punishment has been commuted. This mystery quickly clears when he is given a new assignment nobody else would want & few would be capable of achieving.

Frank and his team are send to a remote uninhabited island off the coast of Alaska where the thinning permafrost has uncovered the graves of victims of the 1918 Spanish Flu.

Mysterious activity abounds on the island and before all is done Frank & his team will have to reconsider their definition of "possible".