A summary of Boris Akunin’s "Spy Novel" Automatic translate

This historical detective novel about the confrontation between Soviet secret services and German intelligence on the eve of the Great Patriotic War was written in 2005. The book reimagines the events of the spring of 1941. It describes the operation to disinformation the Soviet leader as a multi-step Abwehr scheme. This operation forced the withdrawal of troops from the border.

The novel was successfully adapted into a film by director Alexei Andrianov. The film "Spy" was released in 2012. The film won the Nika and Golden Eagle awards.

This work is the third book in the author’s "Genres" series. Boris Akunin brings together texts from various genres in this series. The series includes "Children’s Book," "Sci-Fi," "Spy Novel," "Quest," "Children’s Book for Girls," and "Fairy Tales for Idiots."

German command plan

In the spring of 1941, the Reich leadership adjusted its military plans. The Balkan operation had taken too long. The German dictator demanded that Admiral Canaris and his deputy, Sepp von Theofels, guarantee complete surprise in the attack on the Soviet Union. The campaign date was moved to summer. The success of the blitzkrieg depended on disinformation against the enemy. Abwehr leaders assigned the operation to a top-notch agent under the pseudonym Wasser.

Boxer recruitment

A sports match is taking place in Moscow. Dynamo team member Yegor Dorin knocks out an experienced CSKA player. The day before, Yegor saved nurse Nadezhda Sorina from three hooligans. She took him to her home in Plyushchevo, near Moscow. The young couple spent the night together. In the morning, Yegor met her father, Vikenty Kirillovich. The ophthalmologist professor openly criticizes the Soviet regime. Dorin promises Nadezhda he will return.

His athletic success attracts the attention of Senior Major Oktyabrsky of the State Security Service. The stern leader of the special task force "Zateya" is looking for a quick-witted operative with an impeccable command of the Bavarian dialect. Yegor’s mother is German, and he speaks the language perfectly. The senior major snatches the junior lieutenant right from the locker room. Dorin doesn’t have time to warn the girl.

Oktyabrsky explains the political situation to Dorin. The "Zateya" special task force must determine the exact date of the German attack.

Capture on the lake

State security officers detect the arrival of three German agents. Diplomat Reschke, engineer von Launitz, and businessman Stahlberg arrive in Shatura. They head for Svyatoye Lake, disguised as fishermen. A parachutist descends onto the ice.

Oktyabrsky and Dorin organize a capture. To learn the password, the senior major drowns two Germans in icy water. A terrified von Launitz reveals the secret word and becomes a double agent, codenamed Efir. The parachutist puts up a fierce fight. Oktyabrsky falls into an ice hole. Dorin incapacitates the enemy with powerful blows. The detained Stepan Karpenko turns out to be a radio operator. The Abwehr sent him to assist the elusive Wasser.

Decoy duck

A secret tea party is taking place in the People’s Commissar’s office. The intelligence officers debate political priorities. Oktyabrsky argues for the inevitability of German aggression. Another participant in the meeting, Captain Matvey Kogan, reports on the peace negotiations between Great Britain and Germany. Kogan relies on information from the British agent "Lord." The People’s Commissar supports Oktyabrsky. The General Commissioner demands that Wasser be taken alive.

The agents set up an ambush in a communal apartment on Kuznetsky Most. The real radio operator is hidden in the room. Yegor studies radio technology. He copies Karpenko’s handwriting when working on the key. Makeup artists alter Dorin’s appearance to resemble the arrested man. Now the lieutenant is ready to replace the radio operator at the meeting. Dorin pines for Nadezhda. The service demands complete dedication.

Bloody shootout

The long-awaited call comes in. An unknown contact named Selentsov arranges a meeting. Dorin runs through the streets of Moscow. Selentsov notices heavy surveillance. The contact takes the radio and disappears.

Oktyabrsky dispatches numerous vehicles to pursue him. Selentsov evades pursuit on public transport. He barricades himself in a wooden house on a children’s playground. The liaison fires accurately at the agents. Selentsov kills several security officers and commits suicide.

The operation reaches a dead end. The real Karpenko slits his wrists with a shard of glass. The radio is smashed.

The People’s Commissar orchestrates a cynical stunt. A truck pushes a trolleybus off a bridge into the Moskva River. Eighty-two people die. Divers plant Selentsov’s body among the victims. The secret service hopes to deceive the Abwehr. The resident is forced to believe that the liaison officer’s death was an accident in a traffic accident. Oktyabrsky justifies the passengers’ deaths as a matter of national necessity.

Prison cell

The People’s Commissar’s plan works. The woman contacts Yegor. The lieutenant follows her to an abandoned house on Sretenka Street. The stranger locks Dorin in a windowless basement. The woman forces Yegor to assemble a new transmitter. She dictates digital encryption to him.

Dorin spends about four weeks in captivity. The stranger feeds him meager rations. She uses the lieutenant as a blind weapon. Yegor weakens from hunger. To keep from going crazy, the prisoner taps out messages in Morse code on the iron headboard.

One day, the prisoner solves the mystery. The girl is drinking water from a glass. Water in German sounds like "Wasser." Yegor realizes this is no ordinary Abwehr agent.

She discovers Doreen’s hunch. Wasser ties the lieutenant to the bed. The spy pours kerosene, sets the floor on fire, and leaves. The fire engulfs the room. The lieutenant rips out the leg of the bolted-on bed. He frees himself from the restraints. Doreen squeezes through the hole in the basement’s lower tier. The lieutenant escapes the crumbling building.

Operation in Khamovniki

On the street, Dorin runs into an old colleague. Former cadet Petr Bozhko has become an air force general. Bozhko gives Yegor some clean clothes. Dorin returns to the Main Building. At the checkpoint, he sees his tormentor. The girl is wearing a state security sergeant’s uniform and is about one metre seventy centimeters tall. Oktyabrsky quickly identifies the suspect. It is Iraida Petrakovich.

Major Ludwigov summons the employee to his office. Oktyabrsky and Dorin detain Petrakovich. Oktyabrsky demands, "Stop prevaricating, Wasser. Answer the question." The woman confesses to her complicity. She claims that the real Wasser is her lover, who directed all the actions.

The group heads to Petrakovich’s apartment on Obolensky Lane. During a thorough search, the doorbell rings. Iraida rushes to the door and shouts a warning. Bullets thunder in response. Petrakovich dies instantly. Dorin leaps up the stairs, knocking the shooter down. The unknown man attempts to bite into the poison vial. Yegor knocks him out with a powerful blow to the head. The detainee is wearing the uniform of State Security Captain Matvey Kogan.

Artificial frankness

The arrested man is taken to the medical center on Varsonofyevsky Lane. Dr. Graivoronsky injects Kogan with the drug "Cola-S." The substance causes an attack of uncontrollable talkativeness. Kogan loses the ability to lie.

The spy tells his story. The agent’s real name is Korvettenkapitän Josef von Theofels. He is the son of the deputy head of German intelligence. His father trained him for the job. The young man infiltrated the ranks of street children. He attracted the attention of the Soviet secret service leadership. Later, the German agent joined the Foreign Department.

Kogan names the date of the attack. Germany will strike at dawn on June 22nd. Oktyabrsky receives precise information. The session is interrupted. The agent loses consciousness from central nervous system overload.

The price of deception

Oktyabrsky tries to contact the People’s Commissar. The senior command ignores the senior major. Dorin calls Nadezhda Sorina at the Medsantruda Hospital. She dismisses the lieutenant. Nadezhda doesn’t want to be associated with a member of the punitive forces.

In the morning, the People’s Commissar awakens the sleeping Dorin. The People’s Commissar accuses Oktyabrsky of official misconduct. The General Commissar declares that there will be no large-scale war. The German officer Kogan is released.

The hidden truth is revealed. Kogan secretly met with the Soviet leader. The agent delivered a personal message from the German Chancellor. Germany allegedly sue for peace until early 1943. German defector Rudolf Hess flew to England specifically to legitimize the agent, "Lord." The leader believed Kogan. The leader of the state banned defensive preparations by army units.

The People’s Commissar sends Dorin on leave. The lieutenant refuses to reveal his superior’s location. Later, Oktyabrsky calls Dorin from a pay phone. The senior major shot the capture team sent after him. Oktyabrsky realizes the Chief has fallen for the German command’s ruse. Oktyabrsky bids farewell to Yegor. A gunshot is heard over the phone.

Dorin decides to go to Nadezhda. The lieutenant plans to spend his last days of peace with her. After his leave, he plans to submit a report for transfer to the air force. Secret radiograms from the Abwehr archive, attached to the file, confirm the success of the German operation. The resident informs him of the Soviet leader’s complete confidence. Preparations for a large-scale military invasion are complete.