Runtime: Iggy's Final Cut by Keith Jefferds follows the story of a royal family forced to flee Russia during the Bolshevik Revolution. In the year 1918, Yuri Smertyov, his wife, and their two sons left Petrograd and eventually made their way to America, crossing the Atlantic. As the years pass, Yuri's younger son, Igor (Iggy), develops a competitive rivalry with his older brother, Sascha. At the age of nineteen, Iggy finds his way to Hollywood. Meanwhile, Sascha hones his natural artistic abilities and pursues his own passion for filmmaking. He continues to make a name for himself in the movie industry. Iggy finally gets his big break when WAKK Pictures greenlights his dream project, The Beast, a monster movie. However, Iggy also needs radiation therapy, but he chooses unconventional treatment.

Runtime: Iggy's Final Cut is a captivating tale that raises the curtains on the Golden Age of Hollywood. Through the perspective of a flawed yet immensely relatable protagonist, author Keith Jefferds crafts a narrative full of humor, heart, and drama. At its core, this is a story about an immigrant family trying to begin their lives anew in America. The plot is paced very well and covers three separate timelines throughout the book. Each of the four main characters has their own storyline. Jefferds provides readers with backstories about these characters, which adds depth and complexity to their personalities. It's easy to understand each of their motivations. Iggy is a driven man, but sometimes, he tends to self-sabotage and get in his own way. The relationship dynamics are also very interesting in this book. Historical fiction readers are going to love this novel.

It’s 1919, and the Bolshevik Revolution has gripped Russia. Prince Yuri Nicolaevich Smertyov and his family—his wife Rubina Porfirovna, and two kids, Alexander ‘Sascha’ and young Igor ‘Iggy’ Yurievich Smertyov—flee Petrograd for Crimea by train. After a stint in Saint-Tropez, France, the family sails to the Americas in search of new opportunities and perhaps a better life. With the help of a Cuban smuggler, they arrive in Florida and later settle in California. Amidst their long voyage, young Igor had developed a fascination with cinema, science fiction, and animation. Better known as Ignatius Smarts, Igor gradually establishes himself as an A-list film director of monster and science fiction movies in Hollywood, with several successful projects to his name. However, as he works on his last and biggest project in 1959, The Beast—a big monster movie meant to rival Japanese Kaiju films and classics of his youth, King Kong and The Lost World—he battles chronic OCD, a secret killer disease, and professional pressure. What is going to become of his project? Find out in Runtime: Iggy’s Final Cut by Keith Jefferds.

If you are looking for a historical novel flavored with humor, drama, and psychological thrills, Runtime by Keith Jefferds is a must-read. With reflective and deliberate prose, Jefferds weaves a compelling tale in this page-turner. I was transported back in time to early-twentieth-century Europe and Russia, and watched the chaos of the Bolshevik Revolution unfold before my eyes. Jefferds has a knack for capturing the settings with vivid clarity. The story paints a clear picture of Eurasia’s sociopolitical and economic landscape during the civil war and the Americas from the 1920s to the 1950s. I also got insight into their distinct cultures and the dynamics of movie production in Hollywood at that time. Following the Smertyovs' journey was both adventurous and enlightening. I found Rubina an enthralling character. She effortlessly and brilliantly displays the class and standards of European nobility, or more precisely, Russian nobility. Jefferds demonstrates the impact of trauma through Igor, whose world exists on a thin line between reality and imagination. To anyone yet to read this incredible work, you are missing out. I loved it.

In Run Time by Keith Jefferds, Igor and his family are on the run after the Bolshevik Revolution. They have some of their possessions and family jewelry, but being aristocrats, their journey is perilous. They are also not very good at behaving like commoners, but with the help of their friend, they successfully escape to Crimea, which still has friendly forces. Their stay in Crimea doesn’t last; the chaos of the revolution reaches Crimea, and the family is forced to flee to the French Riviera. It is during the family’s stay on the French Riviera that Igor is introduced to filmmaking, which plays a significant role in his life. As things unfold, the family moves to Cuba and is later smuggled into the USA. How will things unfold as the family tries to rebuild life in a new country?

Run Time by Keith Jefferds is one of a one-of-a-kind story, and once you start reading it, there is no putting it down. I loved the flashbacks and the well-utilized suspense, which kept me looking forward to the events of subsequent chapters. I loved the themes covered, such as the importance of seeking care for mental health issues and how childhood trauma can affect future personality. This thought-provoking work piqued my curiosity about the Bolshevik Revolution, figures like Tolstoy, and what the revolution meant for different groups like peasants and nobles. The characters were well-developed, and Keith also ensured the narration was amazing, which added to the overall beauty of the work. This was a good read, and I look forward to reading something else by this talented author.

Runtime: Iggy's Final Cut by Keith Jefferds is a story about Ignatius "Iggy" Smart. Iggy is a Russian-born film director in the late 1950s, trying to make a monster movie. His story unfolds through different timelines that alternate with each chapter. Iggy was born as Igor Yurievitch Smertyov to a Russian aristocratic family, but carries the burden of exile and obsessive-compulsive habits while trying to hold a difficult production together. His struggles in the film industry are covered, as well as his family's journey and a 1999 retrospective of his film at UCLA. Runtime’s plot is built around a man caught between two lives. The first is the one he left behind, and the second is the one he made for himself.

I was very impressed by the storyline and structure of Runtime: Iggy's Final Cut. All the sequences of events were properly connected and flowed coherently. And because the structure was done well, the pace never felt out of place. Iggy was a complex and well-developed character. He had unique characteristics that set him apart from other characters. Some of the characteristics include his compulsions, stubbornness on set, and the grief he kept buried beneath his ambition. The settings for the historical sections were also amazing. The story discussed the Smertyov family's past, but what made it realistic was the details that actually made the past feel alive. Jefferds wrote a truly mind-blowing novel. I recommend Runtime to readers who enjoy gritty historical fiction.