The fifth book in the cycle that began with the novel “The Hunter of Wunderwaffe.” Our far descendants have a short conversation with those trying to change the course of history: the “chronocriminals” are sent after by a “hunter,” who executes them on the spot, without trial or investigation. For our contemporary, Andrei Chernikov, such thankless work of a “hunter of popadants” has become routine. But now he must operate in the atomic hell of a Third World War that began in October 1962, when the Cuban Missile Crisis moved into the hot phase—and intercontinental missiles finally took aim from their launch sites. Can Andrei complete the mission if he has to catch the “popadants,” maneuvering between NATO troops retreating in panic and the “Eastern Bloc” armies that eagerly chase them, led by Soviet tank divisions?