"[A] deliciously dark and complex tale concerning mistaken identities, moral ambiguities and deep-set yearnings. . . fresh and exciting . . . the protagonist’s metaphysical pondering and recurring mental fogs are curiously gripping, and his wistful reminiscences of old flame Catherine turn the novel into a sensual as well as a cerebral affair." — The Minneapolis Star Tribune
"This is an excellent novel by any standard, and especially remarkable for joining the philosophical underpinnings of the Russians with the intrigue of a French thriller." — Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)
"Eccentric... exciting... an offbeat appeal and flashes of black humour." — Eileen Battersby, Irish Times
"The Gazdanov revival… is nothing short of a literary event… comparisons to Lermontov, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Proust, Celine and Camus… are entirely apt: few authors are able so seamlessly to wed the styles and thematic concerns of the great Russian psychological novelists with those of the French modernists and existentialists… Gazdanov’s thrillers offer a truly original vision, distinguished by profound existential and metaphysical concerns, a peculiar sense of humour, and enchanting prose, which Bryan Karetnyk has once again reproduced with impeccable grace." — Boris Dralyuk, The Times Literary Supplement (UK)
"While Gazdanov seems in thrall to these vastly different novelists, he has his own utterly distinctive voice... vivid sensory detail... transcends the mid-20th-century émigré tradition, and poses prescient questions about the fracturing of identity... deftly translated... Pushkin Press is to be congratulated on reviving an author who is as relevant now as ever. Both these fine novels [The Spectre of Alexander Wolf and The Buddha's Return] offer gripping detective drama, while also engaging with questions of consciousness and self that cannot be resolved by simply foiling a killer." — The Spectator (UK)
"[A] deliciously dark and complex tale concerning mistaken identities, moral ambiguities and deep-set yearnings. . . fresh and exciting . . . the protagonist’s metaphysical pondering and recurring mental fogs are curiously gripping, and his wistful reminiscences of old flame Catherine turn the novel into a sensual as well as a cerebral affair." — The Minneapolis Star Tribune
"This is an excellent novel by any standard, and especially remarkable for joining the philosophical underpinnings of the Russians with the intrigue of a French thriller." — Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)
"Eccentric... exciting... an offbeat appeal and flashes of black humour." — Eileen Battersby, Irish Times
"The Gazdanov revival… is nothing short of a literary event… comparisons to Lermontov, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Proust, Celine and Camus… are entirely apt: few authors are able so seamlessly to wed the styles and thematic concerns of the great Russian psychological novelists with those of the French modernists and existentialists… Gazdanov’s thrillers offer a truly original vision, distinguished by profound existential and metaphysical concerns, a peculiar sense of humour, and enchanting prose, which Bryan Karetnyk has once again reproduced with impeccable grace." — Boris Dralyuk, The Times Literary Supplement (UK)
"While Gazdanov seems in thrall to these vastly different novelists, he has his own utterly distinctive voice... vivid sensory detail... transcends the mid-20th-century émigré tradition, and poses prescient questions about the fracturing of identity... deftly translated... Pushkin Press is to be congratulated on reviving an author who is as relevant now as ever. Both these fine novels [The Spectre of Alexander Wolf and The Buddha's Return] offer gripping detective drama, while also engaging with questions of consciousness and self that cannot be resolved by simply foiling a killer." — The Spectator (UK)
