The Secret Speech

I enjoyed The Secret Speech by Tom Rob Smith which was set in USSR in 1956 at a time when the country's leader, Khrushchev, had made an "unpublished" speech condemning the Stalinist regime.  Leo Demidov, is a former officer in that regime and his work saw many "innocent" people condemned to the gulags.  He seeks to redeem himself as he and his wife Raisa adopt two sisters, Zoya and Elena, whose parents were murdered.  Zoya is kidnapped by a woman, Fraera,  leading a "terrorist" gang and demands that her husband is returned to her from the gulag.  Leo sets out on this hazardous mission.  There are many violent twists and turns along the way and things are not always what they seem.  The story then goes on to involve the uprising in Hungary.  It was a good thriller with many unexpected twists. 4/5