Vodka - Boris Starling

Multi-stranded, groundbreaking Russian thriller from the bestselling author of Messiah and Storm

Moscow, December 1991. Chaos reigns after the fall of communism. Muscovites are used to queues and empty shelves, but now they have to cope with a dangerous power vacuum - and a war between brutal mafiya gangs for control of the city. So when a child's body is found beneath the ice of the Moscow river it attracts little attention to begin with. Then a second body is found. And a third.

At the heart of the gathering storm is Red October, Russia's most famous vodka distillery. Alice Liddell, an American banker, has come to Moscow to oversee its privatization - an unpopular move. Alice wants to get going, but faced with the charismatic, ruthless Lev - distiller director and head of one of the warring mifiya gangs - a very difficult job is starting to look impossible.

Lev's arch-enemy has vowed revenge on him and it seems that the bizarre child killings might be part of this. The last thing he needs is a determined young woman in the heart of his criminal empire. But will Lev and Alice be enemies or allies? And when the storm has passed, who will be left standing?