Poisons of the chemical and moral kind are explored in this fascinating novel from Sergei Lebedev, where the Crown Prince of modern Russian novelists turns his gaze to state-sanctioned assassinations, the dark roots of chemical warfare, and the nature of evil.

It’s not a wasp but something far worse when Vyrin feels a sting while lunching in his adopted country. He may have left his years of Soviet spy craft behind, but its shadow has reached out from the new regime, touching him in the deadliest way. When ageing scientist Kalitin hears of Vyrin’s death he knows his own past may be coming back to haunt him. He recognises the method of dispatch; he worked on such poisons in a secret Soviet lab decades ago, before defecting to the West with a vial of Neophyte, his greatest creation – an untraceable, extremely lethal substance. As Kalitin realises he may be next, two soldiers who’ve seen the worst of humanity up close during the Chechen conflict suffer all sorts of mishaps while travelling across borders and zeroing in on their target.

Ably translated by Bouis, with Untraceable Lebedev takes readers into a cold world where killing is perfected in morality free labs in a secret city, history casts a fetid shadow, and chemical warfare has gone from mass gassing on battlefields to individual assassinations abroad. An absorbing political thriller with plenty of humour among the darkness.

Reviewed by Craig Sisterson

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sergei Lebedev is known for meticulously detailed novels that often combine coming-of-age stories with descriptions of the consequences of Soviet history for contemporary Russians.