Lazarus

Recommended for readers aged 16+

Svitlana Taratorina's novel "Lazarus" is contemporary Ukrainian fantasy, existing at the intersection of retro-detective and dark urban fantasy. Kyiv, 1913. Vampires, mavkas, perelesnyks, devils, and other evil spirits coexist with humans, though not entirely peacefully. Kyiv is a Border city, where two worlds meet: the familiar and the otherworldly.

The protagonist of the novel, Detective Tyurin Oleksandr Petrovych, is tasked with unraveling crimes involving evil spirits. Oleksandr has his reasons for staying as far away from Kyiv as possible, but he was asked to help investigate the brutal murder of a small boy by an evil spirit. Oleksandr Petrovych steps onto the Kyiv platform from the train. But he has no idea that this stop will fundamentally change his life and force him to stay in Kyiv for a long time.