"Cherub" by Polina Dashkova, summary

Polina Dashkova’s psychological crime novel was published in 2000. It’s a gripping tale of guilt, retribution, and the intertwining of human destinies, where a complex intelligence operation to eliminate a dangerous terrorist collides with the investigation of a long-running family and criminal drama. In 2005, a television series of the same name, directed by Nikolai Geiko, was made based on the novel.

Rescuing the Major and Assassinating the General’s Son

In a secret FSB hospital in Taldom, near Moscow, GRU Major Sergei Loginov awakens. He is gravely wounded after being captured in Chechnya, exhausted, and unable to move. Surgeon Hamlet Rubenovich Avanesov saves his shattered legs with a unique operation, forbidding him to inform his family that he is alive. Sergei is informed that his mother has died of a heart attack, and he is officially listed as missing in action.

Meanwhile, in Moscow, on the balcony of his mistress, Galina Kacheryan, thirty-six-year-old Stanislav Gerasimov notices two unknown individuals planting explosives under his silver Volkswagen. Stas is an infantile entrepreneur, the son of retired special services general Vladimir Marlenovich Gerasimov. Bomb disposal experts arrive and defuse the charge. Colonel Mikhail Yevgenyevich Raisky, a former subordinate of the general, takes personal control of the investigation.

Doctor Tikhoretskaya and Colonel Raisky’s plan

A young pop singer, Angela Boldyanko, is brought to a prestigious private clinic to see the talented cosmetic surgeon Yulia Nikolaevna Tikhoretskaya. Her face is disfigured beyond recognition by beatings. Soon, Yulia receives a call from an unaccented man, who commands her to remain silent about the operation in a commanding tone. It is later revealed that the caller was Shamil Ismailov, a field commander and terrorist who had been keeping the singer and brutally beaten her out of jealousy.

Colonel Raisky recruits Tikhoretskaya for a secret operation. He brings her to a base near Moscow to see Major Loginov. The surgeon has been tasked with transforming the crippled officer into an exact replica of Stas Gerasimov. Sergei himself is tricked into anesthetizing the procedure, claiming it was a treatment for an injury. Only after removing the bandages does the major realize with horror that he has acquired a completely different appearance. Raisky explains to Sergei the essence of the plan: Loginov is to become live bait for Ismailov, who is hunting Stas.

Psychological bullying and shadows of the past

The life of the real Stas turns into a nightmare. Soon after the botched explosion, unknown individuals block his bank cards, and his personal chauffeur, Georgy Zavyalov, is found shot to death in his car right outside the restaurant where Stas was dining with his lover, Evelina Deryabina. The murder weapon is planted in Evelina’s apartment. Then, in his own bedroom, Gerasimov discovers a ripped mattress with a piece of rebar embedded in it and a photograph from his student days strung on it.

Panicked, Stas recalls his student years at MGIMO and the tragedy of 1985. Back then, the beautiful Masha Demidova died after falling onto a construction pole in a pit, and his classmate, Yuri Mikheyev, nicknamed "Multik," was sentenced to ten years for murder. Stas finds the supposedly alcoholic Mikheyev in a dilapidated house in Vykhino through his sister, Irina. The landlord intimidates his guest with hints of inevitable retribution. However, it soon emerges that the real Yuri Mikheyev died of tuberculosis five years ago, his family emigrated to the United States, and the house on Sormovskaya Street has long been vacated.

The Mystery of the Brothers’ Birth

The events are intertwined with the story of the Gerasimov family. In 1964, in Tuva, on a remote mountain road, young Natalya Markovna goes into labor prematurely. A drunken nurse delivers twins. The first baby, named Seryozha by his mother, stops breathing in his father’s arms. Senior Lieutenant Vladimir Gerasimov buries his firstborn in Abakan and announces to his wife that only his second son, Stas, has survived.

Natalya Markovna cherishes the memory of her gentle angel, the cherub Seryozha, in her heart her entire life, comparing her living, spoiled son to her lost firstborn. Thirty-six years later, the general, gravely ill with stomach cancer, takes the panicked Stas to a villa on the Greek island of Corfu.

Double game and the kidnapping of a singer

Loginov assumes the role of Stas Gerasimov under the guise of Sergei Naidenov. He moves into his double’s apartment and communicates with Stas’s mistress, Evelina, and the bank’s head of security, Pleshakov. From Pleshakov, the major receives documents to sign: the Omega company is transferring huge sums of money through a Cypriot bank to Angela Boldyanko’s personal account. The major realizes that the terrorist Ismailov is laundering money through Stas’s company, and that the persecution of Gerasimov is not at all caused by the Chechens.

Meanwhile, in Moscow, Ismailov’s men kidnap Anzhela from her home with the help of her housekeeper, Milka. They take the singer to a safe house because she had changed her bank account number and blocked the militant’s personal millions. The bandits murder Milka in cold blood. Anzhela manages to turn on her phone for a few seconds and dial Tikhoretskaya’s number, giving the security services a lead.

Clash and finale

In Corfu, Stas again sees a girl resembling Irina, nearly dies under the wheels of a heavy water tanker, and, in a fit of madness, destroys the villa. The general and his wife hastily return to Moscow, and Stas secretly escapes after them. At Sheremetyevo Airport, Natalya Markovna sees Sergei, bearing Stas’s face, greeting them and instantly recognizes him as her firstborn, exclaiming, "Seryozha!"

Ismailov sends drug addict Andrei Tratsuk to kill Dr. Tikhoretskaya at the clinic, but Sergei manages to neutralize the attacker. Special forces storm the terrorists’ hideout near Moscow and free the singer.

In the morning, Shamil Ismailov personally arrives at Gerasimov’s apartment, hoping to force Stas to return the frozen Cypriot money. Loginov engages the militant in conversation, calling for backup. In the midst of their conversation, the real Stas appears at the door, followed by Evelina. Sergei knocks the terrorist’s weapon out of his hands and shoots him in both knees, avenging his fallen comrades. The riot police burst in, eliminate the militant’s guards, and capture Ismailov alive.

Sergei travels to the dacha village of Fedotovka, where he discovers the secret hideout of the real Yuri Mikheev. A prison survivor named Multik, he became a crime boss nicknamed Palych. He faked his own death and, with the help of his sister Irina and the veteran thief Leshch, methodically extracted a confession from the true culprit in Masha Demidova’s death. It turns out that in 1985, it was a frightened Stas who pushed the girl onto the rebar and escaped.

Major Loginov brings a witness’s tape recording to General Gerasimov’s home. The dying Vladimir Marlenovich and Natalya Markovna force their broken son to write a confession to the prosecutor’s office. Sergei remains in the family under his real name and a new face. The mother’s soul finally releases the phantom of the dead infant, finding her grown-up son.