Stray Dog Winter

A searing story of a young man's search for his own family truths set against the relentlessly cold, cruel and stark realities of early 80s Soviet Russia.

Enthralling, atmospheric and suspenseful, Stray Dog Winter is at once an unconventional Cold War thriller and an original, unforgettable love story set in 1980s Moscow.

Darcy, a restless young artist, travels to the Soviet Union to visit his elusive half-sister Fin. Together only briefly during their youth, Darcy and Fin are estranged by the distance between them, yet inextricably bound by the secrets and betrayals of their childhood.

Upon his arrival in the depths of a bleak Moscow winter, Darcy is immediately embroiled in Fin's mysterious life there and also drawn to Moscow's forbidden underground, finding himself swept up in political and sexual intrigues of a nature he could never have imagined.

As the past resurfaces and the present closes in, the intricacies of their bond as brother and sister are revealed, and Darcy uncovers Fin's involvement in a dangerous game of her own. Their worlds threaten to collide with profound and deadly consequences.

With Stray Dog Winter , David Francis has entered Graham Greene territory, placing a naive hero in the center of political intrigue and betrayal at the end of the Cold War. Written with a stark, haunting beauty, this novel is pure Soviet noir, a remarkable tale of love, passion, politics, identity, and espionage.