In 1963 Russia, former biochemist Valery Kolkhanov is a political prisoner in a Siberian gulag serving 10 years’ hard labour. When he receives a transfer order, he assumes he is to be killed. Instead, he is taken to Chelyabinsk 40, also known as City 40, a radioecological facility. Reunited with his former undergraduate research supervisor, Dr Resovskaya, Valery discovers he is to serve out the rest of his sentence as a prisoner scientist studying the effects of radiation on an ecosystem.
Everyone at the facility is under strict security, unable to tell anyone where they are. The rooms are bugged and all research is vetted by the KGB. But Valery has questions. The forest is full of dead and dying trees. The radiation levels on the research data are clearly wrong. But it is dangerous to ask any questions: people who do so are shot.
Based on real events, The Half Life of Valery K exposes the absurdity of Soviet life, where authorities deny patently obvious facts and everyone pretends that City 40 and its radiated environment does not exist. Worse than the double-speak is the terrifying environmental damage and cover-up. But amid the bleakness and inhumanity, there is also friendship, love and some who fight against the system no matter the consequences.
Another brilliant read by the talented Pulley.
Reviewed by Melinda Woledge
0 Comments