“Heartless” is Pavel Kornev’s fantasy novel, the second book in the cycle “All-Profitable Electricity.” In this world, steam and electricity are held in high esteem; science has replaced religion, and magic is the lot of a small number of outcasts. But the boundary between reality and the underworld is extremely thin, and adherents of scientific knowledge manage, with the greatest difficulty, to hold back the onslaught of infernal creatures. Electricity is stronger than magic, but it is not all-powerful and it isn’t everything.
Former detective constable of the metropolitan police, Leopold Orso—he is a splendid man. From his ancestors he inherited a grim talent: turning other people’s fears and phobias into reality through the power of imagination. Dealing with his own nightmares proved far from simple—and when Leopold finally freed himself from them, some cunning and powerful someone pulled him into a dangerous game where you can’t tell the puppet from the puppeteer. There is no chance for winning; defeat will mean falling into the abysses of Hell. Run? Alas, the trap is woven too expertly…