The Secret City

Set at the time of the Russian revolution (for clarity, the second one, not the first). Anything, to grab me as either a plot, or a central thread, or even a connection really as to what this book was about. Divided into three sections, the book follows many lives intertwined by different arrivals in Petrograd, Russia, and a family already living there. There is vague mention of a 'monster sighting' beneath a frozen river. there is political intrigue. . . there is a love story. . . and there is the revolution. But sadly, none of these themes ever emerges victorious over the others in captivating a reader's interest.