Synopsis (Credit: Back cover)

Viktor — last seen in Death and the Penguin fleeing Mafia vengeance on an Antarctica-bound flight booked for Penguin Misha — seizes a heaven-sent opportunity to return to Kiev with a new identity. Clear now as to the enormity of abandoning Misha, then convalescent from a heart-transplant, Viktor determines to make amends.

Viktor falls in with a Mafia boss who engages him to help in his election campaign, then introduces him to men who might further his search for Misha, said to be in a private zoo in Chechnya. What ensues is for Viktor both a quest and an odyssey of atonement, and, for the reader, an experience as rich, topical and illuminating as Death and the Penguin.

(Bought new at Wordsworth book sale, V & A Waterfront.)

The adventures of Viktor and Misha continue.

Perhaps not as edgy as Death and the Penguin, and again I could not quite align all aspects of the conclusion with Viktor's character. However, on the whole, an enjoyable, offbeat read.

The book is on its way to Bosman in Pretoria. I posted it this morning.

Tracking number: PA417893586ZA
http://tracking.postoffice.co.za

Received it with Death and the Penguin, so its black & white for me for a while