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The Silent Sisters

Review

The Silent Sisters

Robert Dugoni brings his Charles Jenkins trilogy to a shocking and heart-pounding end with THE SILENT SISTERS, a final test of his protagonist’s courage, intelligence and sheer luck.

When we parted ways with Charles Jenkins at the end of THE LAST AGENT, he was ready to leave the spy game for good. This, of course, is easier said than done, especially for Jenkins, an agent with a strong moral code who, as much as he tries to deny it, really loves what he does. As a refresher, for the duration of the trilogy, Jenkins has been tasked with helping the seven sisters --- Russian-born women raised from birth as American spies --- evade capture by the Kremlin and, in some cases, escape from Russia.

After Jenkins’ last two missions, three sisters have met terrible fates, and two have recently cut off all communication with their handlers at the CIA. As high-ranking officials with access to top-secret information, they’re both at the top of the Kremlin’s list. It is crucial that Jenkins tracks them down to determine whether they’ve been captured, killed or turned by Russian agents. A six-foot-tall African American man, Jenkins stands out everywhere he goes, and his previous missions in Russia were miraculous but narrow escapes, so being asked to make a third (and allegedly final) mission is no short order. To add to that, Russia’s use of high-tech surveillance equipment and facial recognition technology means that Jenkins is almost sure to be noticed. To combat their tech-savvy approach to spycraft, the CIA has gone old school, making Jenkins the perfect man for the job.

"As always, Dugoni juggles multiple storylines effortlessly, never once losing track of a single thread or distracting from the main plot.... Even Jenkins’ overall arc is given satisfying and clear-eyed attention."

Longtime readers know that what makes Jenkins an excellent agent is also his heroic flaw: his desire to be needed, to rescue those in danger. On his first night in Moscow, he visits a bar and witnesses a young man abusing and preparing to sexually assault a woman. Unable to stand by, he intervenes, inadvertently causing the man’s death. Little does he know, the man he has essentially killed is none other than Eldar Velikaya, the grandson of Alexei Velikaya, the head of a vicious crime family. The murder also puts him in the crosshairs of a Russian police investigation led by Senior Investigator Arkhip Mishkin, a dogged Hercule Poirot-esque character. Now Jenkins is wanted not only by the Kremlin, but by the mafiya and Mishkin, who is dead-set on retiring with his excellent record intact. Each group has entirely separate motivations, but as the saying goes, “the enemy of my enemy is my friend,” and their interactions with Jenkins lead to some surprising alliances.

In the previous two books, we met a few of the seven sisters, each carefully installed in their Russian lives but with knowledge of highly confidential information that could change the fates of both America and Russia. In THE SILENT SISTERS, as Jenkins draws closer to the final two sisters, Dugoni reminds readers that they are in their 60s, not only trained as spies but also living full lives as Russian women. While the first sister, Zenaida Petrekova, proves relatively easy to track down, it is the second, Maria Kulikova, who provides a real challenge for Jenkins and drives the plot forward.

Maria is the lover of Dmitry Sokalov, director of the FSB’s Counterintelligence Department, who has shared not only sex, but dangerous government secrets with her. It is clear that she has a lot to lose if she is discovered, and Jenkins’ arrival --- not to mention the attention he attracts --- puts her in grave danger. Fans of the Tracy Crosswhite series already know that Dugoni writes incredible, strong and gritty female characters, but in Maria he has crafted a truly original character, one whose courageous sacrifices make up a large part of the story.

As in the last two books, the action and threat of espionage, spycraft and capture drive the narrative forward. But as always, Dugoni is careful not to weigh his plot down with too much “showing, not telling” and is always generous in his descriptions of the emotions at the heart of every scene. In THE SILENT SISTERS, more than any other installment, he really blurs the line between good and evil. For a character with as strict a moral code as Jenkins, this makes for some truly incredible character development.

The situations the sisters were born into were totally out of their control. But through Maria, we are able to see much more of their daily lives and just how much America has asked of them, all while gaining a new appreciation for their Russian compatriots, many of whom are decent people living in an impossibly corrupt world. Given the current political climate, these scenes are particularly poignant without crossing the line into preachiness or overindulgence. Dugoni does careful research into Russia’s history and background, as well as its surveillance state technology, but his understanding of the psychology of its people is equally strong.

As always, Dugoni juggles multiple storylines effortlessly, never once losing track of a single thread or distracting from the main plot. Whether we’re seeing the sisters in action, watching as Mishkin goes on the hunt for Jenkins, venturing into the Russian gulags and mafiya strongholds, or even unpacking internal politics with the FSB, he chooses every word, revelation and twist carefully. Even Jenkins’ overall arc is given satisfying and clear-eyed attention.

Although Dugoni is an expert at setting the scene, I don’t recommend reading THE SILENT SISTERS if you haven’t read THE EIGHTH SISTER or THE LAST AGENT. The groundwork he has laid for all seven of the sisters is unmissable, and it is impossible to fully appreciate the character of Maria Kulikova, or even the climate of Kremlin-controlled Russia, without learning about the fates of the sisters who came before her. With all seven identified, it certainly seems as if Jenkins’ time as an agent has come to an end. But I’m sure I’m not alone in hoping that this is not our last time watching him put his skills to the test. (Just don’t tell his wife I said so.)

Reviewed by Rebecca Munro on February 25, 2022

The Silent Sisters
by Robert Dugoni

  • Publication Date: February 22, 2022
  • Genres: Fiction, Suspense, Thriller
  • Hardcover: 400 pages
  • Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
  • ISBN-10: 1542029910
  • ISBN-13: 9781542029919