Review of The Romanov Cross by Robert Masello

The Romanov Cross by Robert Masello is an interesting read that kept my attention the whole way through. A recently disgraced epidemiologist Dr. Frank Slater is tasked with leading his crew on a job that no one wants.  This job leads him to the Alaska where an extremely severe health risk has surfaced with the discovery of a grave from a colony that was wiped out by Spanish flu. For those of you who are history buffs, the Spanish flu of 1918 killed millions of people and was one of the deadliest disasters in history. Increased travel during this time helped to spread this deadly virus to many parts of the world including America.

Dr. Slater's team is comprised of people at the height of their professions and are able to decipher if the flu is still a risk to the people of Alaska. The suspense and thrills come in once there is evidence that treasure hunters have been exposed. If rogue treasure hunters aren't enough to entice someone to read this novel I add that there are wolves. Big, scarey, tough, mean, killer wolves. Yes! 

This novel had interesting characters such as Dr. Slater and Nika who are given enough depth for the reader to root for them. I even found the greedy, insanely stupid treasure hunters to be interesting. There weren't too many characters in this story which I highly appreciate. It often times gets to be too much going on with the introduction of secondary characters who do nothing to move the story forward. Luckily Masello spared us of that gear-grinder in this novel.

In conclusion, The Romanov Cross was really fun to read. It's smooth transitions between history and the present will be fun for readers who enjoy their fiction with a serving of history. The supernatural occurances add to the suspense in the book in a realistic way since there aren't many quinessential gun battles.  Oh! And did I mention there are wolves? Just had to throw that back out there. Overall, I really enjoyed this novel and I look forward to reading others I missed by this author. Fans of Steve Berry will find this book worthy of the space on their to-read lists. ****