Meeting online seems like a harmless game—until the rules are written by others. Writer Olesya meets a charming stranger. Intellectual riddles, light conversation, promises of support and understanding—it all seems like a rare stroke of luck. But the illusion soon crumbles: behind the attractive appearance and beautiful words lies something far darker. Locked in an unfamiliar house, Olesya...

She no longer has a name. No life. She's a nameless captive in the basement of a country house, kept chained. She's cared for, taken out for walks, but punished for her misdeeds, drugged, and left alone. Her captor sees her as his mother and fosters the image of an ideal family. But the situation suddenly begins to change when a fiancée arrives...

One rainy night, a young woman carrying a baby enters the forest—and vanishes. Anna Smolina, a volunteer with a search organization and a woman with a difficult past, single-handedly raising her adopted daughter, sets out to find her. Little does Anna suspect that by stepping into the dark forest, she will set off a chain of terrifying events that will threaten her daughter's life, as well as...

A naked beauty steps out the window of an elite high-rise in central Moscow, wearing all her priceless diamonds... But she's a promising figure skater, a contender for world championship medals, the heiress to millions, a woman without any problems! The investigation suspects it's not suicide, but is having trouble classifying the case, as it seems utterly improbable. They have to start with a...

The women of Picasso’s life are glamorous and elusive, existing in the shadow of his fame—until 1950s aspiring journalist Alana Olson determines to bring one into the light. Unsure of what to expect but bent on uncovering what really lies beneath the canvas, Alana steps into Sara Murphy’s well-guarded home to discover a past complicated by secrets and intrigue.

The heroes of her stories include Nesmeyana, Cheloveditsa, Ega-Bikha, Pele, the goddess of lava and flame, and other unusual creatures. None of them intend to remain beyond the realm of fiction and—though it's hard to say for the better—energetically transform our sedentary lives.

‘You are not respectful enough to your king,’ he said hoarsely, looming over me, ‘and you deserve punishment.’ I ran away from my home to be with my lover. And he lost me at dice. This was the price I paid for my recklessness, a cruel lesson. In a world where lust and passion are the source of power, I became a bargaining chip. There is no justice here, only law, which tries to protect people...

In her novel ‘Fear and Obsessions,’ the narrative is nonlinear and multilayered, intertwining real and imagined reality. The protagonist, a writer from St. Petersburg, is traveling to an international conference. Her plane makes an emergency landing at an unknown airport. Unexpected twists and turns give birth to new literary characters in her imagination and evoke long-forgotten events from...

Fifteen new stories, specially written for the collection, by popular Russian writers: Dmitry Danilov, Alexey Salnikov, Anna Matveeva, Grigory Sluzhitel, Daria Bobyleva, Sergey Shargunov, and many others. – In the wonderful company of contemporary writers, the reader will discover new and recall favorite Moscow routes. – The collection opens with an excerpt from a poem by Dmitry Danilov and his...