The world is a strange, sad, and wonderful place. And Moscow is at itscenter.
Killers are running through the city—some on two legs, some onfour. To lower the body count, Porfiry Rostnikov, the Moscow Police'sone-legged inspector, will have to move faster than anybody.
Stalwarts of the Russian Mafia who live by the sword are finally dyingby it. One is found naked and shot in the Moscow River, others floatingin pools at the city's poshest hotels. The mob concludes that the menare victims of a new gang war, a conflict they're prepared to escalateaccordingly—and ruthlessly.
Meanwhile, the craze for staged (and illegal) dogfights grows by leapsand snarls. Rostnikov's fellow officers Sasha Tkach and Elena Timofeyevago undercover to sniff out the facts. It doesn't help their case to knowthat their new boss, Director of Moscow Police Igor Yaklovev—capablebut corrupt—seems a little too interested in bloodycanine sport. And it really hurts when an animal breaks from the packand takes what could be a mortal chunk out of one unsuspectingcop.
Joined by Detective Emil Karpo, an apostle of old-fashioned Sovietjustice, Rostnikov follows the crazily wending trails of high crime andlow politics. The path will lead them to men whose ambition knows nolimits and to places where no man stands a chance—and even tothe ultimate question of who will live to rule Russia itself.
