A short note on The Burning Lake by Brent Ghelfi (the 4th Volk novel)

The Burning Lake by Brent Ghelfi is the fourth novel in the "Volk" series (Volk's Game, Volk's Shadow, and The Venona Cable). Volk is Alexei Volkovoy, a Russian agent, who works behind the scenes for the General. Volk has done it all. He's been a member of the Russian Special Forces, a sniper, an assassin, and a mover of valuable goods under the radar of government institutions. He has one love in his life, Valya, who has saved his life more than once over the years. Volk also has only one foot, having lost the other during several months of torture.

In the newest "Volk" novel, our Russian agent is out for revenge against the killers who murdered a former lover of his, journalist Katarina Mironoua, who was also known as Kato. She reported the truth of Russia as she saw it, detailing a multitude of tragedies and making a ton of important enemies in the political arena. Someone finally decided to have her killed when she did a piece on the radioactive village of Metlino. Her body was eventually discovered in a shallow grave alongside the Techa River.

With the blessing of the General, Volk begins his investigation and soon discovers that there's a connection to America, France, and other countries in search of places to dump their radioactive waste. This also leads to the C.I.A. and a sadistic French assassin who enjoys his work too much. Before it's over, Volk will be paying a visit to Las Vegas and Mexico, hunting down the murderers one by one and doing what he's best at--killing them.

Like the "John Rain" series by Barry Eisler, the "Volk" novels offer the reader an exciting story that's told from a different perspective with the lead character as kind of an anti-hero. Yes, Volk is a killer, but he also has conscious that eats away at the things he's done in the past, forcing him to do good every so often. This series is excellently written and gives you an inside look at the way Russia and its assassins work in carrying out missions and surviving in the world theater. Highly recommended to those looking for a new thriller to read that's fresh, exciting, and offers something different.