Spare Change for a Tyrant

The rain at his mentor’s funeral does little to wash away the toxic ash of Khrebal, nor does it cool the quiet rage of Kavrin Yulash. As the ruthless Director of Internal Security, he vows to dismantle the terrorist network responsible. Yet, his calculating mind is equally obsessed with another ghost: a woman who sought shelter in his safehouse during a catastrophic smog-storm blackout. They shared a single, intense night in pitch darkness - only for her to vanish, leaving behind a mocking thank-you note and three copper groats on his pillow. Her audacity demands absolute retribution. Kavrin leverages the full weight of the surveillance state to hunt her down, delegating the archival investigation to Lishka, a clumsy, disguised intern desperately trying to lay low. Lishka is forced to hunt herself, frantically falsifying documents under Kavrin’s terrifying, watchful gaze. It is a razor's-edge game of survival amidst a corrupt Ministry, where the terrorist they seek might actually have a righteous cause. But when a mandatory government banquet forces Lishka to overindulge in fermented ash-wine, a drunken confession threatens to shatter her disguise. When Kavrin realizes his elusive prey is right in front of him, who will survive the fallout?