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St. Catherine's Crown Kindle Edition

4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 138 ratings

On the 16th of July 1918, near midnight, a squad of Bolsheviks secret police slaughtered the Royal Romanov family: the Czar, his wife, and their five children. S. Martin Shelton’s roman á clef “St. Catherine’s Crown” advances a dramatic narrative of the Romanov’s and the fiction that one Grand Duchess, though badly wounded, survived the massacre, was rescued by the Czech Legion, and evaded the dreaded Cheka who had vowed to capture and bring her to Soviet justice.


1917- Empress Alexandria understands that the Bolsheviks will soon topple the Czar. She charges her godson, Kirik Pirogov, to carry the imperial crown of Catherine the Great and a cache of Romanov jewelry to a secret czarist refuge in western China. Alexandra informs her youngest daughter, Grand Duchess Anastasia, of the escape route necessary to carry on the Romanov Dynasty.


Kirik and Anastasia make perilous journeys across Siberia via the Trans-Siberian Railroad. Their story is told against a background of revolution, their hardscrabble life in the Russian village, constant fear of the Soviet secret police, and unscrupulous treasure-hunters.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"I was drawn in immediately from page one by the character of Kirik Pirogov, his love for Anastasia and respect for the Royal Family. His adventures throughout eastern Russia and China were spellbinding - [Shelton has] an excellent way of weaving historical fact with fiction." ~ Self-Published Book Awards

About the Author

Captain S. Martin Shelton retired from active and reserve naval service. He served in the Korean and Vietnamese Wars. He has an extensive background in Far Eastern studies. Shelton earned his Master of Arts Degree (Cinema) from the University of Southern California. He spent thirty years producing a host of information and documentary motion-media shows, winning over forty awards in national and international film competitions and festivals. Shelton is a Fellow of the Society for Technical Communications and of the Information Film Producers of America. Shelton has published extensively in trade magazines, peer-reviewed journals, and commercial publications. His professional book, Communicating Ideas with Film, Video, and Multimedia, garnered the Best of Show award in the Society for Technical Communication's Spotlight Publication Competition. He published the action-adventure novel St. Catherine's Crown in 2013. The narrative is set during the Russian Revolution, the regicide of the royal family, and the post-Revolution harrowing adventures of Grand Duchess Anastasia and her cousin Lieutenant Kirik Pirogoff along the Trans-Siberian Railroad and in northwestern China. Following, he published the anthology titled Aviators, Adventures, and Assassins. Included are two novellas. Amelia is the investigative journal of a naval intelligence officer unraveling the labyrinthine skullduggery of Amelia Earhart's last leg of her around the world flight in July 1937. Prester John details a Christian Knight two-decade-long search for the chimerical king. Also included are several dozen short stories. His novella titled Khartoum earned a Finalist award in the Writer's League of Texas annual publication competition in 2013. Currently, Shelton is working on the novel titled Shanghai Express. His web site address is www.sheltoncomm.com

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00EP1N5R0
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Lamplight Press (August 20, 2013)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ August 20, 2013
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 3922 KB
  • Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 534 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 138 ratings

About the author

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S. Martin Shelton
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Captain S. Martin Shelton retired from active and reserve naval service. He served in the Korean and Vietnamese Wars. He has an extensive background in Far Eastern studies.

Shelton earned his Master of Arts Degree (Cinema) from the University of Southern California. He spent thirty years producing a host of information and documentary motion-media shows, winning over forty awards in national and international film competitions and festivals. Shelton is a Fellow of the Society for Technical Communications and of the Information Film Producers of America.

Shelton has published extensively in trade magazines, peer-reviewed journals, and commercial publications. His professional book, Communicating Ideas with Film, Video, and Multimedia, garnered the Best of Show award in the Society for Technical Communication’s Spotlight Publication Competition.

He published the action-adventure novel St. Catherine’s Crown in 2013. The narrative is set during the Russian Revolution, the regicide of the royal family, and the post-Revolution harrowing adventures of Grand Duchess Anastasia and her cousin Lieutenant Kirik Pirogoff along the Trans-Siberian Railroad and in northwestern China.

Following, he published the anthology titled Aviators, Adventures, and Assassins. Included are two novellas. Amelia is the investigative journal of a naval intelligence officer unraveling the labyrinthine skullduggery of Amelia Earhart’s last leg of her around the world flight in July 1937. Prester John details a Christian Knight two-decade long search for the chimerical king. Also included are several dozen short stories.

His novella titled Khartoum earned a Finalist award in the Writer’s League of Texas annual publication competition in 2013.

Currently, Shelton is working on the novel titled Shanghai Express. His web site address is www.sheltoncomm.com

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
138 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the story engaging and interesting. They describe the book as an enjoyable and informative read that keeps them hooked until the end. Readers appreciate the author's skill in bringing them into the story and learning about Russian history.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

14 customers mention "Story quality"14 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the engaging story. They find it an interesting historical fiction novel with many twists and turns. The book is a good blend of facts and what-if scenarios, providing a rich historical account.

"ST CATHERINE'S CROWN BY S. MARTIN SHELTON is a historical fiction in which Princess Anastasia Romanov survived the murder of her family back in 1918...." Read more

"...It has some action "scenes." Although a work of fiction, it's chock full of valid historical references, which the author mentions...." Read more

"This was a good story and well crafted." Read more

"This is a great historical account rich with detail. Highly recommend this book! Thank you to the writer for skill and insightful story." Read more

13 customers mention "Readability"13 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the book's readability. They find it interesting, with a good storyline that keeps them hooked. The author does a great job of immersing the reader in the story.

"...book,not many where it got to be a little slow but all in all well worth the read if you love historical fiction." Read more

"...So from my reader's point of view, this is well worth the read. Note to author: Write some more about other historical figures." Read more

"An excellent read about what if Anastasia the youngest daughter of the last Tsar of Russia survived their execution in July 1918 and was able to..." Read more

"This is a great historical account rich with detail. Highly recommend this book! Thank you to the writer for skill and insightful story." Read more

3 customers mention "Knowledge of russia"3 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy this book and find it informative about Russia during this period of history. They say it's a good read for anyone interested in Russian history.

"I thoroughly enjoyed this book and learned a lot about Russia in this period of history while reading it. I highly recommend it!" Read more

"...A good read for anyone fascinated by Russian history." Read more

"Great read ! Good story, informative...." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on March 4, 2019
    ST CATHERINE'S CROWN BY S. MARTIN SHELTON is a historical fiction in which Princess Anastasia Romanov survived the murder of her family back in 1918. In the novel Anastasia is gravely wounded and is cared for and nursed back to health by the Czechs aboard a traveling hospital train. During her stay she changes not only her name but her looks to become another person as she knows she is still being hunted down.

    I love historical fiction and ST CATHERINE'S CROWN is no different. The author plunges the reader back into old Russia. You can feel and "see" what the conditions and the lives were for the people trying to survive Lenin's nightmare. I had to keep reminding myself that this is a work of fiction not real. Real or not,the author did a great job at putting the reader into the story. In all fairness , there are a few spots in the book,not many where it got to be a little slow but all in all well worth the read if you love historical fiction.
    2 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on January 11, 2014
    I'm not an editor. I'm not a historian. What I am is a reader. I read for enjoyment and entertainment. If I learn something in the reading, that's even better. That's this book. It has a good story line. It has some action "scenes." Although a work of fiction, it's chock full of valid historical references, which the author mentions. I enjoyed it, and I learned a few things. So from my reader's point of view, this is well worth the read.

    Note to author: Write some more about other historical figures.
    10 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on January 30, 2023
    An excellent read about what if Anastasia the youngest daughter of the last Tsar of Russia survived their execution in July 1918 and was able to escape Russia with help from the White Russians.And what if some of the Royal jewelry was able to be saved. If only these events had occurred how different things could have been.
  • Reviewed in the United States on October 27, 2013
    An author might consider it a significant gamble to insert his ideas and characters into an historical era that has been
    reviewed and re-reviewed by historians, who, with a penchant for absolute accuracy, came up with many different
    endings to their versions.

    Russian history, a bloody, tragic period of unrelenting political humiliation and change, has given birth to
    many stories, some regarding the family of deposed Czar Nicholas 11. He and his family, including his beautiful
    Wife, the Czarina Alexandra and their five children, who were assassinated by invading communists.

    This book, St.. Catherine's Crown, deals with the political turmoil, the unrelenting and barbaric acts of the Bolsheviks
    And the debasement of the Russian people in a historical way, true to its real story.

    The author brings out the beautiful character of beautiful Anastasia, the youngest daughter of the Czar and Czarina,
    Who escaped the bullet of the assassins, according to some accounts.

    Yet, he skillfully reveals the hate, greed and cruel intentions of those characters he has identified as enemies to
    the former Russian kingdom and those who perished trying to save it.

    The lust of those who would profit by finding the royal jewels including the glittering St. Catherine's Crown, leads
    the reader through many heart-stopping pages.

    My take on the question of whether or not it can be successful to inject fiction into a historical novel,
    Is "Absolutely." The author created a fictional character, who lived among the patriots of her time in a remote
    village in China, just across the country border from the USSR. Their fear of being discovered forced them into
    their reclusive lives. Then their secret was exposed by a group of people who were trying to cash in on the Royal
    jewels they heard were there. Their meeting with the Duchess, in disguise in the remote village, brought
    many lives to their close. However, the charlatans among the group were dealt with as they deserved to be.

    I will be reading this book with the rich tapestry of Russian history as its background over again.
    9 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on August 11, 2016
    This was a good story and well crafted.
  • Reviewed in the United States on August 31, 2021
    This is a great historical account rich with detail. Highly recommend this book! Thank you to the writer for skill and insightful story.
    One person found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on August 12, 2016
    Remembering it is fiction, it was well-written and plausible. I enjoyed this book and appreciated the author's research. Would have liked a better description of the rail journeys, to give the distances covered a bit more credibility.
    One person found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on November 2, 2021
    Those familiar or fascinated with the last days of the Romanovs will find this a most interesting read . I enjoyed being taken a very different, unromanticized story line regarding the survival of Anastasia.

Top reviews from other countries

  • Patricia Lynn smith
    1.0 out of 5 stars Wildly improbable. the author seems unaware of some of ...
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 15, 2014
    Wildly improbable.the author seems unaware of some of the correct facts about the Romanovs which even in a work of fiction are important.

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