The Lesser Evil

The relatives of the murdered tycoon transfer the multi-million dollar business to a front man, a petty trader named Abbas. Part of this business is controlled by the secret services. Under their pressure, the unsuspecting Abbas buys several cars, one of which provokes an explosion in the Hammer Center and another in Novy Arbat... Thus begins a story that simultaneously resembles a criminal detective, a spy novel and an absurdist drama. Here and the little man in possession of information that could turn the life of an entire country. And the political game, similar to a game of chess, where the players are trying not so much to outplay, how much to "outplay" each other. And the confrontation of the elites, which brought to the surface "inconspicuous figure in gray, with water-blue eyes and tan of uncertain origin. In the new novel by Julius Dubov "The Lesser Evil" (continuation of the published in Freedom Letters "Big Ration") can be traced how calculated and created a track on which to the catastrophic finale, "the country rushed, sincerely believing that it moves away from the threat. And, as Dmitri Bykov writes in the afterword, "this book is so that while reading it ... you feel that you are living".