Red Chains

Truly a stunning thriller. The dull and prim spirit of the old city remains the same: the spirit of a dead man, looking down haughtily on the bustle of the living world. It seems that even the inhabitants of the... houses are the same as they were a hundred years ago: people resembling ghosts, and ghosts resembling people. A gigantic swamp, buried under the heavy gravestone of the city, exhales fog that seeps through the damp stones to the misty sky, and its putrid vapors permeate the minds, souls, and bodies of the living… Petersburg, our days. The city is experiencing brutal murders, clearly committed by adepts of some bloody cult. Two characters — a funeral agent, hiding his own grim secrets, and a female forensic expert — by chance begin their investigation. Official services are inactive, and unknown killers are protected by someone’s powerful patronage. This is the setup of this eerie and convoluted story, in which the crimson-red links of medieval mysteries, criminal passions, madness, and loneliness intertwine into a single chain. ------------------------------ "Konstantin Obraztsov is currently the only Russian writer — a full member of the International Thriller Writers Association ITW. Primarily, because Obraztsov manages to combine in a mystical intellectual thriller a gripping plot and a rich literary language…" — Natalia Lomikina, RBC http://www.bookposter.ru/booksearch/119023.htm "Konstantin Obraztsov has managed to create a rare example of 'smart' fiction, where mysticism intertwines with noir, and an intriguing plot coexists with complex philosophical questions and numerous allusions from Dostoevsky to Grebenshchikov." — Alexander Moskvin, Revizor.ru http://www.rewizor.ru/literature/reviews/ne-stivenom-kingom-edinym-znakovye-knigi-rossiyskogo-horrora/ "Few manage to burst onto the literary scene as brightly and noticeably as Konstantin Obraztsov — instantly capturing attention. Every line of his dark, dangerous, and inexplicably captivating novels attests to