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During the last decade of the Soviet regime the Red Army and the KGB are engaged in a bitter struggle for dominance. The emblem of the KGB is a double-edged sword on a shield, signifying the two main functions of the agency: to strike down the enemies of the people and to shield the motherland and communist ideals.
The main character of the story is a KGB agent, Oleg Medvedev. The reader will follow Oleg from his idealistic beginnings with the most feared agency in the land, to his becoming a mature, resourceful and lethal agent, the edge of the sword.
A sub-plot provides a glimpse of the plight of Soviet soldiers and the Afghani population during the Soviet invasion, and introduces another key character, the career Red Army officer Roman Lomov.
A high-profile murder investigation takes Oleg from the halls of power in Moscow to the wild Carpathian Mountains. As he uncovers a complex plot inside the government, Oleg realizes the sword have a second, more sinister edge.
The paths of Medvedev, now a rogue agent on the run from his former KGB masters, and the disenchanted army officer cross at the culmination of the tale when they join forces to foil a coup attempt..
Relevant Information
1991 Hardliners Coup attempt
Collapse of the Soviet Union, sequence of events that led to the dissolution of the Soviet Union on December 31, 1991...
Film Festivals Awards for Screenplays based on the novel
December 2022
November 2022
October 2022
Sword of the Kremlin
screenplay
2022 Final Draft Big Break Competition
Quarter-Finalist
Testimonials
David Makovitz, Scientific writer
Talk about a "page turner", this novel by Rosenstein is exciting from start to finish. The historical detail about the USSR as it was undergoing a monumental transition is also a tremendously interesting.
Seldom has a Russian spy seemed so exciting to follow as is Oleg in this novel by Rosenstein. Oleg calls to mind Phillip on the television program the "The Americans". He is dashing and exciting and you root for him regardless of your political allegiances.
Arnold Hartstein, English Literature Professor
In this taut, gritty thriller, Oleg Medvedev, a rising Soviet agent, finds himself at the heart of intrigue that threatens to overthrow the government. It is the 1980s, and the Soviet Union is buffeted by the toll of a foreign war in Afghanistan, the factional paranoia of the KGB and the military, and the fears of dissidents and emergent democratization. Rosenstein paints a landscape of Soviet life reminiscent of Orwellian bleakness and Big Brother machinery. Driven by adventure as well as desire to protect the motherland, Oleg soon finds a world of physical and moral confusion, where even his own intentions might be a double-edged sword.
Martin S. Cohen, Novelist
Sword of the Kremlin is a terrific read set against the background of the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the conflicted role of the military during the Perestroika period as a force for change and a force committed to maintaining the status quo. The author, clearly fully at home in the Soviet milieu, clearly knows the Russian milieu from first-hand knowledge. But he's also fully at home describing a boar hunt or the aftereffects of a gunshot wound...and also the web of conflicting loyalties that accompany any nation's radical transformation into something new and different. Quick-paced, clever, fully engaging, and very exciting—This novel will appeal to a wide range of readers young and old.
About The Author
Alexander Rosenstein was born in the USSR in the Black Sea port of Odessa, a grandson
of a decorated Red Army officer and WWII hero, a son of a renowned Soviet inventor
and Jewish dissident. In the 1970's, he emigrated with his parents and brother to the U.S.
where he was able to realize his dream of higher education, at that time an unattainable
goal for Jewish young people in the USSR.
Alexander graduated from the University of Minnesota with a combined degree in
Engineering and Biology and earned an MD from the same institution. He obtained his
Orthopedic Surgery training at the University of California, San Diego, and completed
postdoctoral studies at Oxford University.
After 15 years of private practice in Southern California, Alexander returned to academe
and eventually advanced to the rank of full Professor of Orthopedic Surgery and
Professor of Biomedical Engineering. He has lectured and performed surgeries
worldwide, including Odessa, Ukraine, designed orthopedic implants and instruments
and been awarded U.S. and Canadian patents. Since migrating to the US Alexander
returned three times back to Ukraine and Russia. His second visit coincided with the
events immediately preceding the fall of the Soviet Empire. Dr. Rosenstein has authored
numerous scientific articles and a book for arthritic patients.
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