Chilled Tonic and all other authors - I applaud you. The spy part is written stylishly, 007-esque. Lucille is pretty as hell. And, wow, as a russian reader I do like a little nation stereotype every now and then, you baseball-loving hamburger eaters, and Alexander is a good russian!
Can cofirm: we love pancakes and bears, and our fathers love telling army stories. Younger generation rarely drinks any vodka, however. Just like mr. Foxx.
His granny, however, isn't that typical.
Бабушка reminds me too much of Баба Яга, just less creepy.
Oh, about names. Alek is actually a completely different name from Alexander. Homophonic names. Just like Gene and Jean, Steven and Stephen. Comepletely different, but sounding alike. Alek is a full name, and not a shortened version of Alexander. That's why we, ru-translators, had to go with Smart Sasha, otherwise the ru-speakers won't get it.
Had a great fun translating!
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