Two LEaps Across A Chasm

by Nikolai Aleksandrov, Anthony Olcott

The near death of Serge Orlovsky reunites him with an old classmate, Moscow physician Uri Kirilov, but the reunion is undermined by the mysterious involvement of the police and KGB officials.

322 pages, Hardcover

First published June 22, 1992

Reviews

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating glimpse into 90s Russia. hard to follow and awkward ending

[Sally Sugarman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set in Moscow, this book focuses on two characters. The first is Yuri Kirilov, an obstetrician whom we first meet in the hospital as he is waiting for his young assistant to finish delivering a baby. Kirilov has delivered many babies and is embarrassed when he meets the children of his young patients who probably point him out as the one who brought them into the world. One immediately gets a physical sense of the country. When he arrives home that night, he gets a strange call from a former classmate of his Sergei Orlovsky, asking for his help. He has not seen Orlovsky in years but he sounds as if he is in trouble, particularly when the call ends abruptly. Visiting the magazine for which Orlovsky works he discovers that the man is on vacation in a distant city and has not been heard from. One of this associates gives Kirilov information about a story Orlovsky had been working on that had been rejected. Since he has time off because of the scheduling routine at the hospital, Kirilov goes to the city to find Orlovsky, who has disappeared. Kirilov finds himself embroiled in intrigue and danger as he tries to untangle the mystery. At the end of the first section of the book when he finally does rescue Orlovsky, Kirilov disappears from the story which is taken over by Vashko, a seasoned policeman who is two years from retirement. Like many of his European ilk, Vashko’s unconventional detecting is tolerated for his many successes. When the journalist again disappears, Vashko is on the case since it is clear that the story Orlovsky is following is a big one, involving corruption in high places. Although there are many shady men and women and threats of physical violence, there is no murder. The story is absorbing because of the characters of the men involved. The crime is one that emerges from the evils of a totalitarian society where greed threatens those who are functioning successfully within it.