Rostov of the 90s—and doors you shouldn’t have opened. The sequel to a hit horror novel
Rostov-on-Don, the early nineties. This is a city where everything is collapsing: money loses its value, families fall apart, the familiar order of things cracks at the seams, and gangs divide what’s left of the country. Even the ground beneath your feet seems as if it’s about to split open—and something very ancient, very hungry, will show through.
Somewhere on Zelyony Island, an impossible door appears. It stands firmly amid overgrowth, on its own. It promises to give back everything you’ve ever lost—and everything you’d so badly want back. It lies. Once you cross its threshold, you will never return. Or rather, something will return—but it won’t be you. Not a person.
Four friends who somehow survived the first book once again find themselves face to face with an ancient evil. This time, the cozy horror of a southern city has been left behind; in its place comes cold, alienating, and oppressive cosmic horror. There’s no end to this nightmare, no edge—and the very matter of an already fragile, crumbling world tears apart under its pressure. Can anyone survive if reality itself is breaking into shards?
“The first ‘Last Day of Summer’ was about how childhood ends. It’s always bitter and frightening, but usually lit by hope for tomorrow. The second ‘Last Day of Summer’ is about how adult life begins. It’s also always bitter and frightening—only instead of hope, there comes a different, more sober understanding: the winged swings’ run—was over. ‘After that—figure it out yourself,’” Andrey Подшибякин
“In this duology, the most valuable thing is not the horror, but a vivid and meticulously accurate memoir of the nineties—plus, all of it on a colorful Rostov backdrop. A flashback of real horror, beside which any fantasy evil looks like a children’s tale,” Yana Vagner, writer
Listen to the long-awaited sequel to the horror with a southern flavor, performed by Grigory Peryel and Maxim Sukhanov.
The first audiobook of the duology is a finalist for the “Book of the Year” award in the “Audiobook” category (2023).