A summary of Max Fry’s "Complaint Book"

The novel tells the story of people gifted with the ability to live other people’s lives and borrow their destinies. Created in 2003, it takes place on the streets of snowy Moscow, where the mystical underbelly of existence lurks beneath the mundane. The plot centers on the nakhkhs — creatures that feed on the concentrated emotions of others. The novel’s plot focuses on the problem of moral choice when interacting with the human mind.

Acquaintance and disaster

Varvara works as a fortune teller at the Moscow cafe "Shipe-Totec," owned by her older friend Marina. She devotes her free time to translating a novel by the German writer Michael Strauch. During card readings, Varya begins to physically sense others’ pain. She feels a throbbing in her jaw when her client, Lena, complains of a toothache. Later, Varya reads a card for an elderly man awaiting medical test results. The Hanged Man, the King of Cups, and the Sun appear. Varya predicts a happy future for the man, but at that moment, she herself suffers from severe stomach cramps. She is frightened by her sudden discovery of the gift of physical empathy.

Meanwhile, Max is wandering around Moscow. He’s a total jerk. Max subsists by extracting the intensity of emotion from people lamenting their lot. Max sits down at a table in the Shokoladnitsa coffee shop and effortlessly absorbs fragments of other people’s lives. First, he experiences the experience of a man who buried his mother and has casual affairs. Then, Max immerses himself in the experiences of a woman having an abortion. Then, entering the Cortile cafe, he spots Varya and unmistakably recognizes her as an uninitiated jerk. Max stares at her. Varya, startled by the stranger’s gaze, secretly pulls out a Tarot card under the table. The fifteenth Arcana, the Devil, comes up. Max approaches her table and asks, "Perhaps you could tell my fortune?"

They drive to Xipe Totec in Max’s old mustard-colored car. Varya barely manages to get Aleister Crowley’s deck when an explosion rocks the next room. Max drags Varya outside through the back door, grabbing the laptop with the book translation. The café is engulfed in flames. It turns out the terrorist attack is connected to the criminal activities of Alexey, Marina’s son. Marina calls Varya and asks her to pick up the remaining belongings later. Max brings the shocked Varya to his rented apartment on Izumrudnaya Street in the Babushkino district.

Rules of other people’s destinies

At home, Max admits that he personally knows the writer Michael Strauch. The German author once became his mentor. Max explains to Varya the nature of her new abilities. They both belong to a secret brotherhood of nahkhs. The strict rules of their existence stipulate that the fate of those who sincerely complain about their lives may be borrowed. After the contact is complete, it is strictly forbidden to interfere with the victim’s affairs.

To demonstrate the essence of the craft, Max takes Varya to the "Chinese Pilot" nightclub. There, Varya focuses on a gloomy bald man. She is instantly immersed in the life of Valentin Evgenievich. This addiction specialist hates his alcoholic patients with a passion. Varya is terrified when she learns of his secret plan to create a slow-acting poison for the covert murder of his patients. Max breaks contact. Varya is shocked by the terrifying cruelty of the alien consciousness and asks to stop the training for the day.

A few days later, Max brings Varya to the secret café "Door in the Wall." The establishment serves as a refuge for Moscow’s nahkhs. The space is divided into a coffee room and a tea room, decorated with painted windows depicting Martian landscapes. Varya meets the large, friendly Kapitolina Arkadyevna, the young half-Korean Yurka, and other members of the mystical community. Conversations are conducted in hushed tones. Visitors read each other’s moods directly. Max and Varya drink coffee, immersing themselves in the relaxed atmosphere of the secret club.

The Indian Witch and New Horizons

Varvara tells Max and Yurka about her recent independent experience. She delved into the life of a young woman named Leah, who went on a business trip to India. There, Leah befriended a local witch named Matatara, the owner of a restaurant with two restaurants. The ancient crone recognized the presence of a foreign spirit. The witch looked at the girl and sternly declared, "You are a hungry demon." The Indian woman offered to perform an exorcism on Leah for half the money she had. Ashamed of her theft, Varya voluntarily left Leah’s consciousness.

Upon hearing this story, the ambitious Yurka decides to find Leah in Moscow. He intends to follow her to the Cosmos Hotel, follow her to India, and learn the secret knowledge of an Indian witch. Yurka heads to the airport and leaves a message announcing his departure.

Max contacts Michael Strauch by phone. Varya acts as a simultaneous translator. Michael declares that the nakhkhs shouldn’t be tormented by pangs of conscience. Their purpose is to extract the inner core of their victims, and philosophical doubts are inappropriate. The writer suggests Max compromise and take only a couple of years of life from people instead of full immersion. Varya herself is offered the opportunity to translate Strauch’s second novel in its entirety.

The relationship between mentor and student blossoms into mutual love. Max admits that his time is limited by an internal clock. Next spring, he faces an inevitable departure into the absolute unknown. Varya accepts this reality. Soon, a mystical brown notebook, woven from Varya’s fears and doubts, appears in Max’s apartment. A quarrel ensues, but the couple quickly reconciles. Max deliberately provokes a minor car accident in the courtyard by kissing Varya while driving. He proves that their connection can directly influence physical reality. The surrounding space responds with a curtain flashing on the window and the wail of car alarms.

Transmission of the Sign and the Labyrinths of Probabilities

Max gives Varya a secret Sign that allows her to travel independently through the lives of others. He draws a complex symbol on paper using a drop of his own blood and a toothpick. Max burns the scrap of paper over a candle flame. Varya eats the warm ashes, sealing the magical ritual. Now she has become a full-fledged nahkh. She continues to work, receiving modest fees from her friend Natalya and visiting Marina.

Soon, Max is intercepted by a mysterious entity at the "Door in the Wall" café. The creature changes appearance, from a Lady in Gray to a young gypsy to a cozy old man. The entity offers Max a new level of mastery. Instead of delving into the lives of others, he must explore his own unfulfilled destinies. According to the mysterious interlocutor, each person carries within them a boundless labyrinth of unrealized versions of the past. Nahh can become an explorer of these hidden paths.

Max agrees to the experiment. The entity leads him down a long iron staircase into a dark basement and traces a new Sign on his hand. The entity’s finger penetrates Max’s palm. Max falls into a series of his own parallel lives. He is reborn again and again. He experiences thousands of probabilities. Max becomes an international journalist, a hired killer, a father of many children, a teacher, and a photographer. Millennia of subjective time pass. Max forgets reality, enjoying immortality in the labyrinths of probabilities.

The entity’s voice draws him back to his Moscow apartment. In the final scene, it is revealed that the unknown demiurge left detailed written instructions for the awakened Max. The mysterious guest hopes that Max and Varya, by joining forces, will one day be able to exchange their unfulfilled destinies. Max sleeps soundly on the couch. The entity dissolves into the darkness of the night, leaving open the question of which of them will awaken in the morning.