Night Train from Leningrad

Vladimir Petrov, as secret policeman, serves the state with unquestioning loyalty and with great brutality.
His philosophy is simple - everyone has something to hide and therefore is guilty of a crime. It is duty and his pleasure to punish wrongdoers.
For the four passengers in the last compartment of the last carriage of the night train, their ordeal will begin when they meet Vladimir Petrov.

ABOUT THE BOOK

The essential story line of the book is fictional but the background, the weather, the time of year and the landscape were as I saw and experienced during my own journey on the night train from Leningrad(as it was known then) to Moscow. I had taken the trouble to compose a sketchy diary of the main features of the journey, which stood me in good stead when I came to write the book shortly afterwards.
The character of Petrov was drawn from such a man who, with a comrade, stood behind us as we waited like good tourists to enter the great hall of the Kremlin. He was so obviously KBG.
Irina was indeed an attractive woman who I saw at the station in Leningrad. She stood out like a bright jewel amongst the drabness of the average Russian traveller that night.
The conductress of the train was I have described and the incident with the window is a true account of what I witnessed.
Olga could have been almost any Russian woman, approaching middle-age. They seemed to be everywhere.
Mikhail is loosely based on a young man who tried to sell me some roubles in Leningrad - Niet! was my answer.
Natalia is totally fictional.