The St Petersburg Declaration

By John Piper

Following his well-received first novel, Mother Killers, this work of fiction transports the readers back to 1868 and to a virtual travelogue of exotic venues starting with New York City but rapidly moving across Europe and Russia. In the absence of air travel, the characters spend a good deal of time traversing the continent by train, adding to the allure.

Heroes are peppered about, acting quietly and waiting to shine, but it is the villains who make the running, all plotting to win, furiously scheming in the cause of personal greed against the welfare of humanity. Some are flamboyant and exuberant, others dark and shadowy with secrets to obscure, while a few are simply led on by those more forceful.

While their goal is objectionable, the tale is told in a punchy way making their dirty deeds appear like spicy derring-do. But is there honour amongst the antagonists keen to exploit arms deals to meet their own ends?

This is a novel of high intrigue across Europe, with action on every page as the plot unfurls. But it is not only a book of fictionalised dark exploits. There is a poignancy stirred when the reader realises that the St Petersburg Declaration has been and is being violated at the cost of human suffering, a compelling message both historical and contemporary.