Untraceable

Keeps the action pulsing with enough intrigue to make it hard to turn the virtual pages fast enough.  Thoroughly fleshed-out characters you tend to either like or dislike with enthusiasm.  A great bedtime read that'll keep you engaged till the very end.  Highly recommended!

*This book was provided free of charge in exchange for my honest review.  My thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to participate in this program.*

For many years, Kalitin has lived alone on the hill, in the house at the end of the road, isolated from his neighbours. He kept for himself, guarded the secrets of his former life, knowing that one day, they would catch up with him. Now, with the cancer in his body, there is not much time left anyway. His enemies are already on their way, two men, the ordinary set-up, to find and kill him. Agents who turn into angels of death because Kalitin not only knows too much, but because he was the man to develop Neophyte, a highly lethal substance which leaves no trace when applied, perfect to get rid of obnoxious people who know too much or who have fled the secure boundaries of their former home country. Such a behaviour against the code of honour is something Shershnev cannot accept. He has always been hard, hard against himself, hard against his son, hard against everybody. Two men who after a long life in the service of a country which does not exist anymore, have to fight their last battle.

“Kalitin knew that his inventions did not simply create specific weapons of death poured into ampoules. He also produced fear.”

Sergei Lebedev’s novel tells the story of two men who have seen everything in life and for whom life and death have been just states which a person can be in but nothing spiritual. Now, close to the end of their lives, they not only look back but also start to question what they have seen and done. “Untraceable” also tells the story of a lethal weapon we have heard of in the news more than once in the last couple of years. The time of shooting double agents, dissidents, whistle blowers and the like are gone, the strategies and means have become much more sophisticated, but one thing has remained the same: the human factor.

“In that world, most people did not yet see the dark side of science, its evil twin.”

For Kalitin, science, the discoveries and expansion of his knowledge about how nature works have always been paramount. However, he has come to understand that the leaders of the URRS for whom he worked had a different understanding and that, first and foremost, the individual scientist wasn’t worth much. He was only an obedient soldier on duty for the state. Surely, they gave him the opportunity to work in his lab, but at the end of his life, he also sees the price this came with and he can see the bigger picture. He wasn’t interested in politics, he has always seen himself just as a scientist, but eventually, he has to acknowledge that it isn’t so simple and that he cannot put the blame only on the others.

Shershnev, too, ruminates about his life which he has fully dedicated to the long gone state. He is one of the last still on duty who have lived in the USSR and who still, after all those decades, adheres to the old values. He has to admit having made mistakes. Big mistakes which haunt him now. Yet, he follows the assigned mission stubbornly, too weak to make a courageous decision himself.

The beginning was a bit slow, I didn’t get the connection between the different characters and chapter immediately. However, as soon as the main conflict was laid out, the novel was not only suspenseful but also morally challenging since it raises the big issue of science and the responsibility of the scientists. Additionally, it is no question that the former USSR was a rogue regime, yet, no system is flawless and to what extent each civil servant, soldier or simple citizen complies with given values and rules has to be answered individually. 

A thrilling political thriller which also offers a lot of food for thought.

This is a book which will confront you as much as entertain you.  It’s a great story full of details which draw you further and further in.  The fine line which science walks ethically is brought to bear and it adds an interesting aspect to the plot.  The writing style is really wonderful, painting a picture without getting carried away with overly descriptive language.  I felt faintly troubled by the end of it but can’t wait to read more by this very talented author.

"Untraceable" by Sergei Lebedev is a chilling insight into the dark underworld of chemical poisoning, defection and assassinations by state-sponsored bodies. 

The release of this fictional account of events could not be more timely with all that is currently happening to Alexey Navalny.

I was engrossed in the story, the characters and the single-minded determination by government departments to develop an untraceable poison with little regard for community or environment. 

The timeline of events being described was at times unclear to me and whilst I was did not get the ending I expected this is overall this an excellent read.

A brave and topical book written by one of Russia's most promising young authors. It isa beautifully written and well plotted expose of Russia'suse of assassination and lethal poisons against its main rivals.

It is an exciting thriller festering assassinations and tradecraft but also questions the morals of the use of such weapons.

Original and well worth reading.

This is a book of many parts and many tonalities, which might put some readers off, but which really appealed to me. It is a thoughtful analysis of why a scientist would choose to collaborate with an evil regime, how science can be subverted, and how ideals go out the window. It is also a historical picture of the mess and lack of certainties after the fall of the Soviet Union. It is of course also a spy thriller, with a sinister opening and a mounting sense of dread. Yet, in certain parts, when the would-be assassins are embarking on a road-trip to find the rogue scientist, it becomes quite comical, even farcical. All in all, a really enjoyable read.

“This place does not exist, understand? That’s why I could bring you here”

An untraceable poison is a modern dictator’s dream, the perfect weapon that allows to assassinate dissenters and defectors and indulge in the most lawless acts while maintaining a respectable façade in the eyes of the international community. 

At the beginning of Untraceable, a Russian defector is killed by a poison of this kind. The Russian scientist who invented it is also a defector: when funding for biochemical weapons was frozen due to talks of disarmament, he had fled abroad in search of a place where he could “restore his arsenal and continue his interrupted research”. Now, with a sting of nostalgia, he understands that experimentation has resumed in Russia and that his creature is being used to eliminate political enemies. Could he be one of them? On his traces is Shershnev, a former Chechnya military operative with a curriculum of war crimes under his belt. 

The two are “workers of hell” whose lives intersect in a tense, urgent literary thriller: a novel that fearlessly interrogates contemporary Russian history by drawing inspiration from recent cases of political poisoning happening in plain sight, while also seeking the roots of the issue in a more distant past.  More widely, Untraceable explores the nature of modern regimes, the dangerous liaison between science and power and what this entails in terms of biopower and biopolitics. 

Indeed, as it takes us through a surreal, phantasmagorical landscape made up of undocumented centres of power and secret labs undocumented resembling a “matryoshka doll, consisting of layers of increased secrecy”, the novel turns out to be a nuanced exploration of the mindset, historical circumstances and political structures that make modern regimes possible. An excellent, thought-provoking work written with an eye to the great Russian novel, which typically interrogates questions such as power, tyranny and the nature of evil. 

I am grateful to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Based on the trend for Russia to poison its enemies, Untraceable follows a scientist who developed an untraceable poison as he flees the country he used to serve. It's a novel but feels like non-fiction, and that first scene is really great, and pulls you right in to the story. It probably didn't hurt that we were watching Spycraft at the same time!

A much lauded Russian author, Sergei Lebedev was unknown to me until recently, but if his fifth novel, "Untraceable," is any guide, he will only grow in stature. Dubbed a political thriller, Untraceable is a riveting examination of state and private morality, anchored in hot-off-the-press news. An ex-Soviet super-chemist in charge of developing ultra toxic bioweapons at an institution called The Island, Professor Kailitin flees the collapsed empire and disappears under a new identity. Now, when another defector is mysteriously killed by a toxin that seems to leave no trace, Kailitin is called to help. But that arouses interest from Putin's Russia, and two seasoned operatives depart to bring Kailitin down, using his own supreme nerve agent. No blockbuster, Untraceable is artfully structured as a thriller of predators chasing prey, but the author is far more interested in all his characters' past and present emotional and ethical landscapes. Engrossingly atmospheric, the alternating chapters of Untraceable reminded me of James Sallis's pithy, noir novels, creating in the reader not only visceral excitement but also lingering disquiet about our inner lives. Superb.

Sergei Lebedev, born in 1981 has become one of Russian’s most important contemporary writers. The Berlin based Russian writer has developed a reputation of examining some of the darker occurrences in his country’s history. His debut novel “Oblivion” examined the horror of the Siberian detention camps set up by Stalin through a contemporary setting. With “Untraceable” the storyline focused on the very topical issue of Russian state sponsored poisoning.

The novel opens with focus on an elderly Russian dissident Vyrin who is living out his years in Germany. Despite a false name, plastic surgery and cautious behaviour, he is located and eliminated using an untraceable, extremely lethal poison called Neophyte.  We then learn that the investigation team set up by the German authorities involves four scientists, three of which are named. Given that the original developer of Neophyte is former Soviet professor Kalitin who defected upon the collapse of the USSR is believed to be in Germany;  it is deduced that he must be the fourth scientist. This effectively reveals his cover. 

Two unnamed generals agree to dispatch special forces killers from Russia to silence Kalitin. The story then breaks into two concurrent running storylines, the first featuring Kalitin in his secluded home in the German countryside and the second follows Lieutenants Shershnev and Grebenyuk on their travels from Russia to locate and exterminate him. Gradually the back story to both Kalitin and Shershnev emerge and we discover that neither is a character due our sympathies. 

"Untraceable" may be a work of fiction but it does give a high level of imagined insight into the development of chemical weapons by the Russians during the Cold War. Kalitin who excelled at science was recruited by his family acquaintance Igor Zakharyevsky. Sworn to secrecy he progressed his career leading to his development of Neophyte. Dedicated to his work, it cost him his own marriage and chance of a family. His defection was more motivated by the loss of further opportunities to continue his research rather than ideological reasons. While taking nothing personal with him, he did keep a secret quantity of Neophyte. 

Lieutenant Shershnev's perspectives of Russian operations in Chechnya are revealed as he takes the long and protracted journey to Germany. He has torture and a death which rest uneasily on his conscience. He has a formal relationship with his colleague Grebenyuk and they just about remain able to tolerate each other on their mission. Things do not go to plan from the outset and these sections are some of the lightest of the book. On occasion I did wish that the self reflective sections would be shorter as I was keen to follow the pursuit. However these are the aspects that Lebedev specifically wants to inform us about. While Kalitin often appears to live in his past and imagination he is awoken from his slumber by the character of Pastor Travnicek. Easily the greatest redeemer of the story he suffered at the hands of the East German STASI and he recognises something of himself in Kalitin while keeping ever vigilant within his parish. 

As a whole the novel is strong and compelling providing both a historical context and a thriller as the protagonists draw closer. The translation by Antonina W. Bouis is fluid and without ambiguities.
Untraceable by Sergei Lebedev is a very absorbing and revealing story, opening your eyes to a world that often seems closed to us. It will long remain with me and expect it to be unlike any other books that I will read this year. I will certainly be awaiting Lebedev's next work with keen anticipation.

A slow, thoughtful, pertinent and disturbing read : Russia then, Russia now

Whilst reading this I was increasingly concerned for its Russian author. ‘Inspired’ by the Sergei and Yulia Skripal Novichok Salisbury poisonings, it concerns an agent who defected, a Soviet scientist who worked on the creation of an untraceable poison, and another agent sent to eliminate the scientist. It is a fiction, but set ‘now’ and clearly exposes the shadowy sinister reach of Putin, and his efforts to deal with those who express criticism of his rule.

I wondered how on earth Lebedev could dare to write this book – but was at least relieved, researching him, to find that he and his family live in Germany now. Not that that necessarily means life is secure. Skripal after all lived in Salisbury and the long arm of the Kremlin got there.

Lebedev writes from what I always think of as ‘Russian soul’ – a tendency to the deeply mystical, often linked to place, landscape, and suffering.

The central character in this is the research scientist Kalitin. His initial experience of chemistry, at a young and impressionable age exactly fell into a mystical, spiritual, transcendency.  However, the complex duality here is that science is being used and developed for a narrow idea of ‘the greater good’. Not humanity at large, but the ideology of the State – Kalitin finds a purity and liminal space in the idea of his powerful, lethal, untraceable poison. Now Kalitin has defected, and his secrets might be sold to others

Untraceable is absolutely a thriller, a chase to the poisonous kill as a couple of other state agents, both with a complex and dubious past, and neither of whom can trust each other, are charged with eliminating Kalitin. 

I would say ‘thrillerdom’ here, is the means to explore all manner of weighty and philosophical topics, both specifically within Russia’s complex past and present, and ideas about means, ends, greater goods of long term ideologies versus steeped-in-gore to achieve those ends. Plus, can be such a thing as ‘scientific purity’ without taking into account the ends to which the pursuit of ideas can be put. The conundrum of genetic sequencing and modification, atom splitting, robotics etc never goes away and is always present in different guises. Here, it centres round the elimination of enemies of the state. Warfare against and defence of ‘us’ has driven many scientific advances, and continues to do so. Lebedev takes us swimming in murky waters, and ‘absolutes’ are often impossible. Everything is often morally uncomfortable.

This is not in any way an easy book, but if you like the challenge of being thoroughly disturbed whilst in pursuit of a what happens next story, this will be an – I can’t quite say ‘enjoyable’ read, but it will be a valuable one.

I was keen, and grateful, to receive this from the publisher, New Vessel Press, via NetGalley

A spy novel with an all to real feel from current world events. This was a real treat to read. Incredibly fast paced propulsive story. Highly recommended.