An incident on Simonka

A mind blower of depth and perception.

Normally stories this large have several more pages, indeed, more volumes. I don't know how Auslander packed so much story in this little book. Like real classic literature there is a depth in the seemingly mundane that belies its inherent genius. This book is a work of genius with its novelty, originality, and plot twists at many different levels simultaneously that it constantly finds you smiling. I've bought his other books on the hunch Auslander produces genius work consistently.

April 29,2016
A Tantalizing Introduction to Auslander’s Second Book
An Incident at Simonka

What a pleasure to be back with these characters we first met in “Never the Last One”. That being a full length book, the characters had plenty of space to develop and many of them were indelibly drawn: very unique, unfailingly interesting, and some seemingly bigger than life. Readers who have not read the first book will still enjoy a good read, but will not have the back story on the characters. The characters who are new with this book are very real. The ones who are arrayed against the Russians are not depicted as evil or nasty, but rather as people who are on the opposing side. They are treated with a soldier’s respect for his opponents, who are simply following their orders, too. But they are each distinct personalities. I felt glad to meet them and hear what they had to say.

Well, for readers of the first book, our old friends are back, all summoned to respond to a crisis in their shared and beloved city of Sevastopol. This being a very short book, they each get less exposure, but all my favorites take part in the action.

And action we get into right away. With only a day’s notice they must plan, practice, and execute a very dangerous mission to save their home city, and maybe a big chunk of Russia, from falling into enemy hands.

The author is a skilled story teller with a sure hand in directing action scenes, and plotting a very plausible story. Very plausible and quite relevant. This reviewer believes that something along the lines of this story actually happened – or maybe almost happened.

The story line is well structured, with roughly a chapter each presenting (1) the assault and capture operation itself, (2) the careful business of returning captured soldiers to a US Navy ship standing offshore, (3) the after the event analysis on-board the Navy ship – which reveals to the reader many interesting things, and (4) various personal impacts, mainly centering on a young, pretty, and foolish Russian girl who was living with one of the coup plotters, and also managed to fall in love with a handsome young Russian naval officer. Action, romance, individual people participating in large scale historical events. You are not missing anything, except the rest of the book.

December 8, 2017
A page turner. Highly recommended.

September 28, 2016
Short, good suspense story.

Babushka in Oz
Skillful waeving of facts into fiction
April 30, 2016
Auslander has skilfully woven the facts of recent events in Crimea and Sevastopol (following the coup in Kiev) into a fast paced fiction. In Soviet times listeners of the news became very adept at reading between the lines and sifting out the hidden nuggets of truth. The same craft is required in reading Auslander’s short story. I was engaged and enthralled and with family living in Sevastopol, the story was particularly relevant. I look forward to more revealing ‘incidents’. I love the characters – they are ‘so Russian’.