The Good Angel of Death

( Russian - Dobryj Angel Smerti ( Добрый ангел смерти ) - 2000 )

novel by Andrey Kurkov

translated by Andrew Bromfield

Published: Harvill Secker - paperback - 2009
ISBN: 184655117X / 9781846551178

Vintage Digital - e-book - 2009
eISBN: 1407013459 / 9781407013459
ASIN: B0031RS3XK

Vintage - paperback - 2010
ISBN: 0099513498 / 9780099513490


synopsis
When Kolya moves into a new flat in Kiev, he finds a book hidden within a volume of War and Peace. Intrigued by the annotations that appear on every page, Kolya sets out to discover more about the scribbler. His investigations take him to a graveyard, and more specifically to the coffin of a Ukrainian nationalist who died in mysterious circumstances and was buried with a sealed letter and a manuscript. An exhumation under cover of darkness reveals that an item of great national importance is buried near a fort in Kazakhstan.
As nightwatchman at a baby-milk factory, Kolya exposes himself to the attentions of a criminal gang, and so he decides to leave Kiev for a while. Armed with only three cases of baby milk, which have unexpected hallucinogenic properties, he sets off on what turns out to be a very bizarre journey: crossing the Caspian Sea and traversing the deserts of Kazakhstan. He meets a host of unlikely characters on the way, including Bedouins, ex-KGB officers and a spirit-like companion in the form of a chameleon…

awards
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