"A chilling and cinematic thriller set in 1961 in one of the most secretive locations in Soviet history. Ten days before the test of largest nuclear device in history--the Tsar Bomba--a KGB officer must investigate the murder of one of the architects of the bomb, and unravel a conspiracy that could set the world on fire"--

1961, Arzamas-16, a top-secret research city that does not appear on any map. RDS-220 is a project of such vital national importance that, unlike everyone else in the Soviet Union, the scientists of Arzamas-16 are free to think and act, live and love as they wish-- as long as they complete the project, and build the most powerful nuclear device ever known. When a young physicist is found dead, KGB officer Major Alexander Vasin is sent to investigate. It is a city full of secrets-- including one that could extinguish all human life on the planet. -- adapted from jacket