Queen of the Mountain

Rita Sotnikova gets everything right in life. As a young girl, she comes to a school of young journalists—and her first big article brings her fame and the respect of her colleagues. Rita is very attractive, independent, and witty; she skillfully uses men only as a stepping stone to climb the career ladder. Becoming the mistress of an older media magnate, Rita finds herself at the center of the city’s cultural life, surrounded by local and capital celebrities. She charges forward without barriers, because her weapon is flawless—her bright talent as a journalist and her unique feminine charm. She walks over heads and gets away with everything.

This continues until the director of a gun shop presents her with a lady’s pistol for her excellent article. And, as fate would have it, on that very day Rita Sotnikova gets into a car with a criminal…

All readers note the ease of Arkady Arno’s language, the dynamism of the plot—but above all, the vivid female characters, which he especially excels at. That’s exactly what the heroine of the novel “The Queen of the Mountain” is like—Rita Sotnikova, a talented journalist, who must go through fire, water, and copper pipes, be thrown out of paradise, and overcome all circles of hell before she can see, far ahead, the long-awaited light…

Writer Arkady Arno works practically in every literary genre: historical novels, detective fiction, adventure novels, adventurous romance, psychological fiction, fantasy, thrillers, biographies of famous historical figures told in the language of fiction prose—and even a novel-mystification. If he takes on a historical novel, he can easily guide his reader to any era—whether it’s antiquity, the early or late Middle Ages, the Modern period, or the 19th century. And if it’s a detective story, fantasy, or mysticism, the author seeks unpredictable plots and solutions—but in the center is always the confrontation between good and evil, the hero’s struggle in shining armor and the evil genius—and of course, the love of a man and a woman, without which this world simply wouldn’t exist.