Monstrum

The year is 2015. It is the aftermath of a bloody civil war that ravaged the entire nation. The place is Red Presnya, a run-down suburb of Moscow, one of the areas worst affected by the fighting. Vadim, a police officer from Murmansk, is selected to act as a double for Deputy Prime Minister Leonid Koba. A senior officer of the Cheka posts him to Moscow, as a disciplinary incident threatens his career. With no homicide experience, he is appointed Homicide Inspector of 13 Precinct Red Presnya. His superiors demand the immediate apprehension of a serial killer, the Monstrum, who may be the devil himself born out of war, a surgeon turned psychotic murderer, who dissects his female prey and removes selected organs. One of the leaders of the Anarchists, who eventually lost the war, was Vadim's former wife. His seniors want to know her whereabouts, but he is too fond of her to allow her to be used as a symbol of the Anarchists' defeat. A very well-written novel with classic Russian characters full of contemporary Russian idiosyncrasies. (Kirkus UK)