The second Fiends Of the Eastern Front novel takes a lot at the effect Constanta and his Rumanian allies are having on the Russians, and is centred around the siege of Leningrad.
A young kommisar gets into trouble when he punches out a ballet teacher who is forcing starved and dying young dancers to perform for their amusement. This story is prefaced at the start as being part of his journals, long after this is finished.
This gets him into trouble when the husband is a high ranking official – but his own father is high ranking enough to stop him being executed. However, he is sent to join a prison soldier company – right on the front lines, as cannon fodder.
Not everything is as he expects, though, as the regular army gives this bunch a wide berth. The cannon fodder part is correct, but they also have a deal with the Russian generals – who are well aware of the vampire problem. They aren’t any better off, but if they try and take care of the vampire problem the command will reinstate them. They also leave them alone to get the job done as they see fit.
This is a motley crew – some indeed are nasty criminals, some unlucky, the occasional man volunteering to be with a friend. Those who take what Eisenstein, the de facto head of the group tells them to be true quickly enough have some chance of surviving. You can’t fight unkillable vampires and wolves – or at least unkillable by normal bullets and tactics, anyway.
They also learn that not everything has gone the undead way – and some of the German soldiers resist them, as well – leaving them stretched enough to have to create zombie cannon fodder of their own. They realise the bloodsuckers are only allying for convenience, and have their own plans for the world.
3.5 out of 5
