One of the things that I generally look for in a story is a good mystery. Mystery as a genre is a personal favorite and on top of that, if it is a short length novel, then nothing like it. Short length novels generally have a fast paced story that keeps the reader guessing and on edge till the last page. Secrets of Matrosov Island by A. Drachenstein and J. Panek is one such novel.
A top-secret island off the coast of Russia unexplainably goes dark. Two governments, American (capitalist) and Russian (communist), are on high alert, both condemning the other. Two agents, Sara and Dima, are assigned to investigate. What they discover are the barbarities of war come to life. Who will reign supreme?
Secrets of Matrosov island kept me on my toes the entire time. The twists and turns in this story keeps the reader engaged till the end and leaves them wanting for more. It’s a true nail biting mystery. This experience is very beautifully enhanced by all the unusual things happening on that island, like killer robots and blobs of water that a person can drown in, human hallucinations that turn into slime, etc.
The writing is simple and elegant. The characters are well written and relatable. I loved the banter between Dima and Sara. Their banter is sarcastic and funny at the same time. So is the prank that Dima played on Sara.
Another commendable thing was the fact that Sara, a strong female protagonist, is able to memorize a map within a few minutes and then use her memory to navigate the island. That’s a life skill even I want to develop. It’s so damn cool.
However, there were some things that didn’t work for me. The first thing was the fact that the characters formed a bond way too quickly. By bond I mean friendship. Given the fact that both of these characters are on there own missions and are from governments that have very different principles from each other, developing a bond would have required something very drastic to happen. But this wasn’t the case.
