Interesting read about a London banker living in the recently "opened" economy of Moscow. But I struggled with the book's treatment of women. First, the concept that the protagonist, back home in London, is telling his fiancée about his time in Moscow, including his love for Masha.....including details of their sex life. The arrogance of that man to expect her to deal with such details about another woman. And the Russian women in the novel were lying con artists in mini-skirts, gullible old ladies or strippers. So there wasn't much here I could identify with. On the bright side, the protagonist Nick does seem to come to question what is really happening in Moscow even as he fails to act on his knowledge. So, this one character has some nuance and depth. ( )

I dreamed I was in Miller's savage Moscow after reading Snowdrops. The novel follows a London lawyer in Russia as he falls for a mysterious Russian girl, Masha, but Moscow is the main character in this novel. It's mysteries are disturbing and I cannot seem to get them out of my head. ( )

Snowdrop was an interesting glimpse at post Soviet Russia when Western banks were trying to gain position in the country recently converted to Capitalism. It is a well written tale and feels authentic. One of the ladies at our book club is a lawyer who spent a lot of time in Moscow in the period when the story was set. She said it ties in exactly with her experience of the corruption when she was there. Being a story about corruption in a place where we are led to believe a low price is put on human life, the story is not about nice things and people behaving well. It is a good read but be prepared for some people to do not nice things. ( )

Written as the memoir by a husband-to-be to his fiancée, Nick tries to explain his life in Russia in the early 2000s when he was employed in a firm of lawyers. In a tense atmosphere in Moscow, with the threat of menace seemingly never far away, Nick is always aware that some of the deals he is involved in approving, appear to have an element of illegality involved, but he lets them go through as his conscience tells him that all the parties are making money. But when he gets drawn into a smaller scheme, with personal involvement, he starts to have qualms about the victim. However, his infatuation with a young Russian woman, Masha, leads him to ignore these doubts. Miller’s spellbinding writing keeps you hooked as the story unfolds and leaves Nick wondering if his fiancée will be able to understand his attraction to Masha and Russia and whether their marriage will go ahead.

Written in the first person we are introduced to Nick, an international lawyer based in Moscow. The novel is written by way of explanation to the authors new fiance when she has asked him about his time in Russia and reasons for leaving. He details his time in the city and explains how he became involved with a girl called Masha and her cousin via a chance meeting at a transport link. Eventually the two begin 'dating' but it is always on her terms and little by little she allows glimpses into her world even inviting him to meet her 'aunt' who is looking to move. Nick soon becomes entangled in their lives and eventually an accomplice to their crimes. Nick is a complex character with almost a superiority complex over the other lawyers in the same situation, mostly I find he comes across as fairly dislikeable, but that doesn't really matter as you keep wanting to find out more about this world he has enveloped himself it.

As a glimpse into Russia this is really well written and the atmosphere builds into a page turner, it is easy to imagine you are walking those frozen streets. However it is more or less advertised as a thriller. I think this is pushing it more than a little, and any twists are really easy to see coming, but I think the prose and storyline more than make up. I'm not sure if it has made me want to seek out any more books by the author, but if one fell into my lap I would probably give it a go. ( )