The Blades of Captain Benfica

Vadim Fefilov is a well-known journalist; for twenty-six years he worked as a reporter-documentarian, often in areas of military conflicts.

“Knives of Captain Benfika” is a gripping debut novel. A strong Yemeni girl—an intelligence officer—stands alone against the harsh Muslim world of men, the state apparatus, terrorists, and her own family.

“Over the last quarter century, in the world there hasn’t been a single war that Fefilov hasn’t visited. We’ve long been waiting for a writer who could uncover the secrets of the Middle East, explain the underlying causes of conflicts, and make that world understandable. Vadim Fefilov leads the reader into a space where artistic and historical truth are identical.” (Andrey Rubanov)

“During the Yemeni revolution in 2011–2012, I was struck—right to the heart—by a girl who turned out to be a captain of ‘Mukhābarat’ (military counterintelligence) and a great specialist in jiu-jitsu. Back then, I wanted to destroy the stereotypical view of the Arab girl. The backdrop and the characters of this novel are completely real.” (Vadim Fefilov)