Meet Vlad Kozlov: A two-year-old child left in a Russian orphanage by the babysitter at the end of the Cold War. He lived there until the age of five when his maternal aunt discovered him and took him to live with her in Tel Aviv and later back to Russia. Vlad Kozlov grows up to be a Russian man destined to live the life of a lonely spy.
Meet Logan MacDonald: A recent graduate from St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia. Logan wins a large grant from the LGBTQ organization, Born Free, to choose any project and make the world a better place.
Logan is a distant cousin of the younger Triston MacDonald, a teenager struggling with his identity as being genderqueer. Triston is lost at the age of fifteen in the struggle to establish his sexual identity. By age seventeen, he goes missing from Morocco while cutting ties with the family who loves him. John MacDonald, the Canadian ambassador to Russia and Tristan’s father, asks for Logan’s help to find his son.
Follow Vlad and Logan as the search for the young Tristan takes them around the globe, navigating the
challenges of Covid, facing dangerous terrorist and finding each other along the way.
Reviews for Finding Vlad Kozlov
5.0 out of 5 stars
How Does One Go About Discovering a Russian
I am a big fan of Jon Swank's books and this newest installment didn't disappoint. There is no one setting for this book as the MCs move around the north of Africa, into the middle east and onto Asia as they search for Logan's cousin, Tristan. Tristan is a genderqueer man who enjoys dressing as a woman but is very clear he is not transgender. Tristan's father believes he is in trouble where ever in the world he may be because, you see, Tristan is only 21 and has disappeared and cut contact with all family and friends. Logan, the responsible older cousin, is sent in search of Tristan with a companion-Vlad. Vlad is a Russian Army veteran with "no job" as he keeps telling Logan, yet he has a skill set that would rival that of James Bond and no money problems. As the story unfolds, Logan is focusing on Tristan but finding himself falling in love with Vlad who has made strict rules for no "hanky panky" on a mission. The books grows the tension slowly between the two but then explodes in a fast paced final act with an entitled older brother of Tristan, a handsome and buffed friend, and a Vlad who disappeared with no word to Logan about where he is going or why. Logan thinks he is searching for his cousin, but really Logan is trying to understand, accept and define for himself who Vlad really is and what they mean to each other. As I read the book, I expected a completely different ending to the story. Jon Swank usually surprises me and he did again. It's not the type of surprise that Agatha Christie does with her withheld information. It all makes sense when you get to the end. I found myself saying "How the heck did I miss that?" once or twice. I obviously need to reread the book again. No hardship there. I truly adore this story and our two main characters. Great reading.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Finding Jon Swank's "Finding Vlad Kozlov"
FINDING VLAD KOZLOV – A GOOD READ
In some ways, the external setting is current, involving Russia, the Middle East, Pakistan, and terrorists, but the internal story is a dramatic unfolding of love and courage, between two unlikely characters, and the young gay man who disappears mysteriously. The two main characters, a Russian and a Canadian, are so well portrayed that early on they become endeared to the reader, and memorable long after the book is finished and the cover closed. As always, the author Jon Swank, had done his homework, born out by the meticulous and realistic settings he provides, so that the story, although fictional, takes on a convincing reality. Throughout the story there are some twists and turns, but the ending is surprising and superb. It is well written and truly well worth reading.