The Beast in the Red Forest

Inspector Pekkala, Book 5

By: Sam Eastland

Narrated by: Steven Pacey

A soldier returns from the front line of battle to report that Pekkala's charred body has been found at the site of an ambush. But Stalin refuses to believe that the indomitable Pekkala is dead.

On Stalin's orders, Pekkala's assistant, Kirov, travels deep into the forests of Western Russia, following a trail of clues to a wilderness where partisans wage a brutal campaign against the Nazi invaders. Unknown to Kirov, he is being led into a trap. A new enemy has emerged from the fog of war, more deadly than any Kirov or Pekkala have ever faced before.

Pursuing the legend of a half-human creature said to roam the landscape of this war within a war, each step brings Kirov closer to the truth about Pekkala's disappearance. Meanwhile, Pekkala's nemesis is also closing in for the kill.

Sam Eastland lives in the US and the UK. He is the grandson of a London police detective. Eye of the Red Tsar, the first in the Inspector Pekkala series, was followed by The Red Coffin and Siberian Red.

©2013 Sam Eastland (P)2015 Audible, Ltd

Another Good one from Easton

The entire Inspector Pekkala series has been a good one.

I would recommend starting from the first one, but it's not an absolute and I think the book stands on its own as a solid story.

The stories are loosely based on historical fact but I'm not sure about this one. I'll have to do a little research to verify or not.

I always say a book is good if it makes me want to either research or want a sequel, and this one does.

The narrator might be good if I had heard him narrate from the first, but he is not nearly as good at voice inflection as the narrator in previous books - Pekkala's voice is a particular disappointment and it's hard to distinguish who is talking in rapid dialogue scenes. He has a good voice and narrates well so it's not grating in the least.

Overall recommended and looking forward to the next one!

Bring back Paul Michael

This is a really good series and I was really enjoying it a lot. Why on earth did audible choose to change narrators in the middle of the series! And couldn't the new guy at least learn to pronounce the name of the main character consistent with the prior three books? Right or wrong, that is what the listeners expect and changing the pronunciation is just dumb and wrong.

Pekkala one of my favorite characters....

Along with Bernie Gunther, Harry Hole, Inspector Rebus, detectives I look forward to reading. Unfortunately, Pekkala doesn't show up in this book for quite a while, nontheless a worthwhile read and it really picks up when he gets involved. I finish these books way too quickly....:(

Good tale, poor naration

Where does The Beast in the Red Forest rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This is the 3rd book in the series that I've listened to. It's been a compelling story telling adventure. But this one has been let down by the new narrator. Whoever decided to change the narrator from the earlier books made a big mistake. Mr. Pacey isn’t bad, he just doesn’t have the same rhythm, range, or style. I had planned on listening to more of the Pekala mysteries, but with Pacey performing, I think not.