Apart from being fresh and inventive as a writer, I was one lucky sonofabitch of a former Soviet subject too. I had my freedom, I did not have to kill anyone for it, and both of my early novels profited greatly from the jubliant mood of a populace that witnessed the crumbling of the Berlin Wall and saw our homeland regain her independence within a 10 month period. Pretty much anything seemed plausible in those days, and Silver Crescent Blues was published just in time to ride the winds of change.
