Akunin goes noir as Fandorin meets bandits!
Senka Skorikov, orphan and urchin, has been abandoned to the murky world of Moscow’s gangster district. While picking a pocket or two, he glimpses the most beautiful woman he has ever seen, and joins the gang of her overlord lover, The Prince, so desperate he is to meet her. Senka climbs the criminal ranks, uncovering a stash of precious metal, and gradually capturing the heart of his beloved Death – so named for the life expectancy of her lovers. But as the bandit community balks at his success on both fronts, threats on his life begin to pour in .
A dandy and his ‘Chinese’ sidekick seem to be taking an inordinate interest in Senka’s welfare, and it becomes clear that those threatening Senka are linked to a spate of murders, grizzly even by underworld standards. Fandorin must unweave a tangled web of narcotics, false identities and organised crime – but can he survive an encounter with the ever-alluring Death unscathed? Find out in the darkest Fandorin to date!
Senka Skorikov, orphan and urchin, has been abandoned to the murky world of Moscow’s gangster district. While picking a pocket or two, he glimpses the most beautiful woman he has ever seen, and joins the gang of her overlord lover, The Prince, so desperate he is to meet her. Senka climbs the criminal ranks, uncovering a stash of precious metal, and gradually capturing the heart of his beloved Death – so named for the life expectancy of her lovers. But as the bandit community balks at his success on both fronts, threats on his life begin to pour in .
A dandy and his ‘Chinese’ sidekick seem to be taking an inordinate interest in Senka’s welfare, and it becomes clear that those threatening Senka are linked to a spate of murders, grizzly even by underworld standards. Fandorin must unweave a tangled web of narcotics, false identities and organised crime – but can he survive an encounter with the ever-alluring Death unscathed? Find out in the darkest Fandorin to date!
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Reviews
Self-indulgently enjoyable ... [Akunin's] artfully constructed novel also nods in thr direction of Arthur Conan Doyle
Erast Fandorin is a delightful character like no other in crime fiction
A special treat for Akunin's fans
Boris Akunin shows how it should be done ... an absurdly imaginative story, surreal and comic ... irresistible
He writes a cracking good story, full of vivid and interesting characters, and the pace never flags for a moment.
Speedy is a marvellous creation, and Fandorin suitably opaque; the gangsters are variously grim and the aptly named femme fatale is a tidy piece of work.
A brilliant and witty discovery!
Akunin is an outstanding novelist ... Gloriously tongue-in-cheek but seriously edge-of-your-seat at the same time
