Zmyeevich had remained standing and now began to speak in very precise,
but very formal and strangely accented French. His voice had a darkness
to it that seemed to emit not from his throat but from deep in his
torso. Somewhere inside him it was as if giant millstones were turning
against one another, or as though the lid were being slowly dragged
aside to open a stone sarcophagus...
On 12th June 1812, Napoleon's
massive grande armee forded the River Niemen and so crossed the Rubicon – its invasion of Russia had begun. In the face of superior numbers and
tactics, the imperial Russian army began its retreat. But a handful of
Russian officers – veterans of Borodino – are charged with trying to
slow the enemy's inexorable march on Moscow. Indeed, one of their
number has already set the wheels of resistance in motion, having
summoned the help of a band of mercenaries from the outermost fringes
of Christian Europe.
Comparing them to the once-feared Russian secret
police – the Oprichniki – the name sticks. As rumours of plague
travelling west from the Black Sea reach the Russians, the Oprichniki –
but twelve in number – arrive.
Preferring to work alone, and at night,
the twelve prove brutally, shockingly effective against the French. But
one amongst the Russians, Aleksei Ivanovich Danilov, is unnerved by the
Oprichniki's ruthlessness... as he comes to understand the true,
horrific nature of these strangers, he wonders at the nightmare they've
unleashed in their midst...
Full of authentic historical detail and
heart-stopping supernatural moments, and boasting a page-turning
narrative, Twelve is storytelling at its most original and exciting.
