Relatives of a murdered magnate transfer a multimillion-dollar business to a front man, a small-time trader named Abbas. Part of this business is controlled by intelligence agencies. Under their pressure, the unsuspecting Abbas buys several cars, one of which triggers an explosion at the Hammer Center, and another on New Arbat.

Thus begins a story that is simultaneously reminiscent of a crime thriller, a spy novel, and an absurdist drama. Here we have a small man possessing information that could change the life of an entire country, and political games resembling a chess match where the players strive not so much to outplay but to "out-betray" each other.

And the clash of elites, bringing to the surface "an unremarkable figure in gray, with watery blue eyes and a tan of unclear origin." In the new novel by Yulia Dubov, "The Lesser Evil" (a continuation of the previously published "The Big Slice" by Freedom Letters), one can trace how the path was calculated and created, along which the country "rushed to a catastrophic finale, sincerely believing it was moving away from danger."

As Dmitry Bykov writes in the afterword, "this book is meant to make you feel alive while reading it."