Red Terror (Spain) on 25 July, feast day of St James, patron saint of Spain. August saw a further 2,077 clerical victims. After just two months of civil war, 3400 priests, monks and nuns had been murdered. According to recent research, some of the Republican death squads were heavily staffed by members of the Soviet Union's secret police, the NKVD. According to author Donald Rayfield, "Stalin, Yezhov, and Beria distrusted Soviet participants in the Spanish war. Military advisors like Vladimir Antonov-Ovseenko, journalists like Koltsov were open to infection by the heresies, especially Trotsky's, prevalent among the Republic's supporters. NKVD agents sent to Spain
The Patron Saint of Liars (novel) heart, nothing will keep Sissy from rekindling the friendship and love she had for her mother. Many reviews have praised Patchett for her first novel. Annabel Davis-Goff, for "Entertainment Weekly", wrote, "...this is a wonderful novel. Patchett writes with a simplicity of style and clarity of voice that make one eager for her next book." Gerald Costello, for U.S. Catholic, wrote, "One often hears of talented new writers that they show great promise... For Ann Patchett, the promise has already been fulfilled; with "The Patron Saint of Liars", she has arrived." Alice McDermott, of the "New York Times Book Review,"