​"Devyatniy Spas" is another one of Akunin's Project "Authors" creation - by his pen name "Anatoliy Brusnikin" this time - and yet another example of Akunin's amazing​ diapason of talent. The title, being the name of an old Russian icon, defies translation into English, so I left it like it is, in Russian. This novel is historical fiction, of the times of Peter the Great. (It happened that I recently read a very detailed biography of Peter the Great by Robert Massie - which came in pretty handy in understanding various events alluded to in this book).

Akunin's switch to an altogether different style of writing and even language (old Russian dialect) is impressive. There is a moving story here, with elements of political intrigue, romance, honorable friendship, religious zeal, betrayal, as well as very subtle but oh-how-pointed hints to nothing less than KGB - as if getting its inception in those distant days. The effortless interweaving of real figures of the time and the fictional characters makes for a spell-binding read. ( )