Arkady Renko investigates reports that the ghost of Joseph Stalin has been seen at a Moscow subway station, as well as the possibility that a fellow police officer is a killer for hire. The cases entwine, and the investigation leads Renko to the fields of Tver, where the bones, weapons, and personal effects of slain World War II soldiers are being collected, and where Renko must face the ghost of his own father.

Map on endpapers.