An Hour Before the Explosion

The most gripping novels about Stalin’s special forces — SMERSH.

1945. On the shores of East Prussia, the Germans are preparing a sabotage operation codenamed “Flood.” The idea is simple and terrifying: inundate the coastal territories and thereby derail the Red Army’s advance in this section of the front. To prevent a catastrophe, a group led by SMERSH Major Alexey Uvarov is sent to the designated area. With special authority, he orders the local headquarters to completely cut off power to the district and switch off all electronic equipment—this creates a chance to determine the locations of fascist mines. The plan works, but at the decisive moment it turns out: the objects found are not charges, but only decoys designed to distract attention. And now the major and his men have only a few hours before the explosion to manage the impossible…

“Death to the spies!” (SMERSH) — that was the name of the harsh and unequivocal special unit of the NKVD, directly subordinate to I. Stalin. Created during the war years, it brought together battle-tested, reliable, and fearless officers of the Red Army. Everyone feared SMERSH: both fascist intelligence officers preparing sabotage within our combat formations and Hitler’s accomplices operating deep in the Soviet rear. The enemy understood: if Stalin’s special-forces fighters are on his trail, swift and unavoidable retribution cannot be avoided.

The novels in the “SMERSH — Stalin’s Special Forces” series are always fast-paced, exciting action and new historical details—an action-packed story written in a clear and accessible language.

A. Tamonikov’s total book print run is over 10 million copies!
“Tamionikov’s novels are about real men for whom the concepts of valor, honor, and duty are not empty words.” — V. Kolychev