The Romanov Prophecy by Steve Berry a stand alone novel by Ballentine Books published in 2004. Its one of those historical fiction novels, a suspense thriller melding fact with fiction with flat-out action and political intrigue. And I’m a sucker for these kinds onf novels when they are done right, and this one is very well done.
Seems our hero, an African-American attorney Miles Lord working for a law firm vetting a candidate for Czar. Yes, after the fall on communism and a series of week democratic governments, a paralyzed political apparatus and a popular referendum has brought about a Czarist Commission to restore the Romanov Monarchy. There are certain criteria a candidate needs to meet, and a cabal of powerbrokers has coalesced around Stefan Baklanov as the future Czar. Unbeknownst to Miles, his boss Taylor Hayes is a member of the cabal. So, when Miles uncovers documents in the Soviet Archives that there may be a current direct descendant of Czar Nicholas, a survivor of the Romanov massacre, a globetrotting race to find the truth begins.
With Miles’s boss keeping tabs, a nasty group of Russians follow Miles and a young Russian woman helping him. They are highly motivated to stop the them in their tracks and make sure that a prophecy of Rasputin never comes to fruition.
“Recalling again Lenin’s note Alexandria’s message, he decided to see what Pashenko knew.
“Have you given any more thought to what I showed you yesterday in the archives?”
The older man grinned. “I understand your worry. What if there is a direct descendant from Nicholas II still alive? Tat would negate every claim from every Romanov, save that one. Surely, Mr. Lord, you cannot believe anyone survived the massacre at Yekaterinburg?”
“I don’t know what to believe. But, no, if the accounts of the massacre are accurate, no one survived. Still, Lenin seemed to doubt the reports. I mean, there’s no way Yurovsky was going to tell Moscow he was two bodies short.”
“I agree. Though there is now indisputable evidence that was precisely the case. The bones of Alexie and Anastasia are gone.”