The rivetingly tense and timely conclusion to the Arkady Renko series - an iconic character
from a titan of the political crime thriller genre. When Arkady Renko is charged with
investigating the murder of Alexei Kazasky the Deputy Minister of Defence he knows he has to
tread carefully. Alexei Kazasky is a high-profile politician and has a complicated relationship
with Putin. This investigation clearly has Kremlin approval but as with everything in Russia
things are not always what they seem. Already preoccupied with his developing Parkinson's
Arkady finds he has more to worry about. The war in Ukraine is gaining momentum and his
adopted son Zhenya has become involved with the Black Army a Russo-Ukrainian group of
hacktivists. Moreover as Arkady digs deeper into Kazasky's murder he realizes that the man's
death may have been more politically motivated than he first assumed. Now it seems that the
people behind the killing have him firmly in their crosshairs - but this time Arkady's life is
not the only one on the line. PRAISE FOR MARTIN CRUZ SMITH: 'Does more on a page than most
writers manage in a chapter. He is unique and irreplaceable' MICK HERRON 'Among the first of a
new generation of writers who made thrillers literary' GUARDIAN 'One of those writers that
anyone who is serious about their craft views with respect bordering on awe' VAL McDERMID ¿
'The undisputed master of the political crime thriller' ABIR MUKHERJEE 'One of the finest
writers of our age' CHARLOTTE PHILBY
