Spare Instinct

Arseny Troepolsky in life acknowledged only one thing — work. It replaced for him both faith and love, and even rest. The computer design company under his leadership steadily rose to greater heights until, one day, something irreparable happened. His deputy was killed — the outstanding designer Fyodor Grekov. The worst part was that… Arseny himself found the body. After spending three days in an isolation cell as the main suspect, he finally returned to the office, but the long-awaited return to the case brought no relief. Trying to figure out who and why killed Feda, Troepolsky realizes: there is nothing but lies all around — from the employees to his lover, from the sister to the deceased man’s niece. However, his mind — precise and cold, like a perfectly tuned system — step by step constructs a picture of what happened. And when the truth comes out, the avalanche of deceit sweeps all the “worthy” over completely…

Tatyana Ustinova is one of the most popular authors of contemporary Russian prose, a two-time laureate of the “Electronic Letter” (Электронная буква) award, and the holder of a TEFI (“ТЭФИ”) in the category “Screenwriter of a TV movie.” She is called “the first among the best” — and this is not just a catchy phrase, but a reputation confirmed by dozens of novels, successful film adaptations, and the steady love of readers.