I am Eva

 I Am Eva, Elena Zhuravleva, 2024

Eva is your average resident of Kyiv, Ukraine before the Russian invasion. Several days of constant shelling convinces her to flee. Her ex-husband is no help; he has already paid a fortune to leave Ukraine, dressed as a woman. His attitude is "get out on your own."

There is a harrowing train ride to Poland, along with other refugees. The train is forced to stop, and shut off all lights, every time a plane goes overhead. After time in a Polish refugee camp, Eva takes a bus to an, unnamed, town on the Mediterranean. It is quiet, and peaceful, and she lives with an older couple who treat her like family. She can't stay forever, so she moves to the nearby city to live her own life. There she meets John, an American volunteer. Their time together is quite passionate. Do they stay together, away from the Russian invasion, and live "happily ever after"? Do either, or both, of them get on a train heading east, back to Ukraine?

The author of this story packs a lot into 20 pages. It has current events, it has romance, and it has lots of good writing. This story is very much worth reading.

The Temptation of the Midnight Bird: Last Turn, Elena Zhuravleva, 2022

 The Temptation of the Midnight Bird: Last Turn, Elena Zhuravleva, 2022

Set in present-day Europe, this story is about a pair of sisters, and a horrible event that happened several years previously.

Lisa is a journalist for a local news website. She is haunted by less-than-clear memories of the night her sister, Laura, was sexually assaulted by a man named Alexander. Lisa really doesn't remember whether or not she killed Alexander by whacking him on the head with a bottle. Laura vanished that night, and has not been seen since.

Lisa encounters people who seem to know what really happened that night. They include a nosy, older woman named Martha, and a robotic voice on her phone telling her to go here or go there. Do Lisa and Laura ever find each other? Does Lisa ever get answers about what happened that night?

Included is a separate story story about a hacker who develops a program that allows the authorities to track criminals while they are still in the planning stages. He offers the program to the police, who are not interested. They suddenly get interested, for the wrong reasons, when the program shows that the police are frequently the bad guys.

Both of these stories are really good suspense thrillers. There is some violence, along with first-rate writing throughout. These tales are very much worth reading.

The Girl With the Transparent Skin

 The Girl With the Transparent Skin, Elena Zhuravleva, Independently Published, 2019

Maria is a young woman who has found a disgusting, almost pornographic, video with her face online. Is she about to be blackmailed? Are other such videos coming in the future?

The IP address is traced to a monastery in (pre-invasion) Kiev, her hometown. She became an orphan when her parents died in an auto accident. She spent some time in an orphanage, and has lived abroad for the past several years.

She finds very questionable financial dealings between the monastery and a local Foundation. Video confessions of girls who have been raped are recorded and put on DVD. Those disks are sent to women all over Europe to "shock" them into giving birth (Really?) The intention is to start to reverse Europe's population decline.

There is a scandal-plagued construction project (the monastery is involved). A multi-story building is to be built over an underground lake (that no one knows about) right on the Dnieper river. Maria is caught in a landslide. Before she is rescued, she starts hallucinating. Was it a random event, or something more sinister. There is also a bit of witchcraft, and pre-Christian gods.

Here is a really good piece of storytelling. The fact that it is set in present-day Kiev (or Kyiv) makes it that much better. It is not a very easy novel to read; it will require some effort on the part of the reader. Here is a first-rate story. 

The Last Turn

 The Last Turn, Elena Zhuravleva, Independently Published, 2021

This novel is about a young computer hacker. He has created an app that allows the authorities to track down criminals and terrorists while their crimes are still in the planning stages. A person would assume that the police and military would be very interested. Their response is "No thanks." However, other people are very interested. Crime is very profitable, so they start hunting him. A local newspaper reporter gets involved. She learns, to her dismay, that her own newspaper is involved in a secret online auction, sponsored by a terrorist group. The "grand prize" is exclusive media access to the next terrorist attack.

A couple of short stories are included in this book. In one, a giant blue jellyfish, that can turn into a human, is looking for love. In the other, man's destruction of the environment has gone too far. Therefore, the insects of this world stage a counter-attack.

These are some very interesting stories. The novel has a very intricate plot. It is only a matter of time until someone creates such an app. This will certainly keep the reader interested.