Mikhail Gigolashvili is the author of the novels “Tolmach,” “The Devil’s Wheel” (shortlist and winner of the readers’ vote at the “Big Book” Prize), “The Capture of Muscovy” (shortlist for the “NOS” Prize), and “The Secret Year” (“Russian Prize”). In the new novel “Koka,” the recognizable young hero from “The Devil’s Wheel” continues his psychodelic epic. Amsterdam, Paris, Russia—and of course, Tbilisi. Everywhere—tempting freedom… but freedom of what? Social and criminal bottom; the softest nostalgia; irresistible temptations and tragic coincidences; sharp satire and gospel motifs come together into a single tapestry, where Bosch competes with the highest-grade lyrical style and accompanies the hero from a German madhouse to a Russian prison—and back again.