"Not Saying Goodbye" by Boris Akunin, summary Automatic translate

The novel, written in 2018, concludes the adventures of detective Erast Fandorin, transporting the aging hero to a Russia devastated by the Civil War. The plot depicts the clash of aristocratic intellect with the brute force of the new era. It is the sixteenth book in the "Adventures of Erast Fandorin" series. The series includes the well-known novels "Azazel," "The Turkish Gambit," and "Coronation." This book concludes the plots of the previous installments.

Waking up on the train

The action begins in the spring of 1918. A train carriage traveling from Samara to Moscow is filled with a motley crowd. His loyal servant, Masahiro Shibata, is transporting the wounded Erast Fandorin. The detective was shot in the head four years earlier and is in a deep coma. Among the passengers are a priest, a speculator carrying a bag of scarce sewing needles, a sailor, and a young thief posing as a high school student. That night, the train is stopped by local robbers. An armed bandit takes valuables from the passengers and fires, miraculously scorching the temple of the sleeping Erast Petrovich. The detective suddenly regains consciousness.

Fandorin struggles to comprehend the changed reality, but quickly becomes immersed in the events. A profiteer complains about missing needles. Relying on deductive reasoning, he asks Masa to use a powerful magnet, which he calls a ferroattractor. The device helps locate the stolen goods in the shoe of a supposed high school student. After this brief burst of activity, Erast Petrovich falls back into a stupor and sleeps until he reaches Moscow.

In the capital, Fandorin finally awakens. His body has weakened considerably, and he is forced to move around in a wheelchair with rubber wheels. The city astonishes the detective with its filth, chaos, and abundance of strange slogans. During his first independent walk, he witnesses a street robbery. An anarchist in a black hat robs the elderly Chernyshevs of a gold medallion. Inside were a photograph and a lock of hair of their dead son. Erast Petrovich promises to help the elderly couple.

The Black Truth

The detective tracks the criminal and ends up at the headquarters of the anarchist "Freedom" gang. The group is led by the ideological fanatic Aron Volya, who preaches the so-called "black truth" — the absolute freedom of the individual from state laws. Erast Petrovich familiarizes himself with the commune’s rules and demands the robber be punished. Volya goes to the Chernyshevs’ house but finds the old couple brutally murdered.

Fandorin conducts an investigation and brilliantly proves the guilt of actor Gromov-Nevsky, a cocaine addict. The gang sentences the murderer to death, but fails to carry out the sentence. The building is suddenly attacked by a Red Guard battalion and a detachment of Chekists. The Bolsheviks methodically eliminate the anarchists. Volya’s lover, a fearless girl nicknamed Lynx, dies in the shootout. She sacrifices herself by throwing away a grenade. Fandorin helps the gang leader escape, showing him a secret escape route through a drainpipe. The detective himself successfully evades arrest.

The hunt for conspirators

The narrative then shifts to the young officer Alexei Romanov. Chekist Orlov recruits Romanov to infiltrate the large-scale White Guard underground organization, the Union for the Defense of the Motherland. The captain skillfully creates a false cover story. He contacts the organization’s rank-and-file members and meets the Bolshevik liaison, Nadya Zueva. Romanov falls in love with the young underground worker, though he tries to suppress his feelings.

The officer gradually unravels the enemy’s spy network. He manages to infiltrate a meeting of the conspirators’ general staff. White officers are preparing a mass uprising in Moscow and plan to seize the telegraph office. Torn between his operational duties and his sympathy for specific individuals, Romanov arranges the fake assassination of Chekist Orlov. This ploy enhances Romanov’s standing among the underground. The situation soon spirals out of control.

Nadya Zueva falls into the hands of the stern counterintelligence officer Cherepov. To escape horrific torture, she throws herself out of a third-story window. A shocked Romanov cold-bloodedly kills Cherepov, mimicking the executioner’s suicide. The hero permanently destroys his capacity for love.

Steppe Odyssey

Meanwhile, a young woman named Mona, née Elizaveta Anatolyevna Turusova, makes her way to the south of the country. She skillfully disguises herself as a sick beggar, using elaborate theatrical makeup. En route, Mona begs two rough rafters to let her onto a raft. That night, the bandits attempt to rape her. A chance companion, an old man in a monastic habit named Father Sergius, comes to her aid. With astonishing dexterity, the monk stuns the criminals.

The heroes commandeer a motorboat and continue their journey along the Seversky Donets River. They soon pick up two fugitives: White Lieutenant Colonel Arkady Skukin and Bolshevik Shaya Kantorovich. The group is captured by Green School militants. The head of the Directory, Zhovtogub, imposes a harsh patriarchal order on his domain, mercilessly executing violators.

The fake monk uses his negotiating skills and obtains a life-saving pass from Zhovtogub. Mona realizes that the elder is the legendary Erast Fandorin, about whom her mother, Varvara Suvorova, had told her many stories. Erast Petrovich removes his makeup and shaves off his false beard. The officers and Fandorin repel a mounted patrol. Mona bravely saves the detective from a bandit’s bullet. Mona confesses her strong feelings to Fandorin, and a romance blossoms between them.

Kharkiv Labyrinth

Fandorin, Mona, and Masa, who has returned from Crimea, settle in Kharkov, occupied by the Volunteer Army. Mona is expecting a child, and her doctor prescribes strict bed rest. White General Gai-Gaevsky asks the detective to investigate a bloody terrorist attack. Unknown persons planted a powerful bomb in the Kaledin Orphanage, attempting to assassinate the commander-in-chief. Women and several small boys were killed. Fandorin begins searching for an informant among the General Staff officers.

Masa plans to help his master and attempts to infiltrate the Chinese Red Underground. The Japanese man is captivated by a stern bodyguard named Shusha. Masa opens his heart to her. The treacherous Shusha demands that he prove his loyalty and bring Fandorin’s head. The Japanese man produces a masterfully sculpted wax replica. Shusha laughs at her deceived admirer and attempts to kill Masa with a poisoned needle.

Erast Petrovich saves the servant just in time. It turns out that Shusha is a former palace eunuch from the Forbidden City. The line leads the friends to the savage Chekist Zaenko. Masa takes him prisoner and hands him over to the White Army.

Exposing ambitions

Erast Petrovich identifies the true mastermind behind the assassination attempt on the commander-in-chief. It turns out to be Colonel Skukin, General Gai-Gaevsky’s nephew. Skukin is obsessed with absolute power and espouses the "brown truth," which entails an ideology of total state terror. To eliminate his rivals, he manipulates the Red underground and cold-bloodedly frames his own comrades.

Fandorin travels to Taganrog and reveals this cunning scheme to the commander-in-chief of the Volunteer Army himself. The White leader is horrified by what he hears. The general promises to arrest Skukin and restore law and order within his ranks. The commander-in-chief asks Fandorin to act as a negotiator and go to Batko Makhno to halt the rebel advance. The detective refuses to participate in political games.

Erast Petrovich soon learns that Red agents are planning to derail a special train carrying British heavy tanks. If successful, the Bolsheviks will halt the White advance on Moscow. Fandorin intercepts the saboteur Makoltsev at a railway switch but deliberately lets the Red agent go. Erast Petrovich is deeply disillusioned by the unmotivated cruelty of both sides in the fratricidal conflict. He chooses a private life and plans to leave for New Zealand with Mona.

The last flight

Skukin pretends to welcome Fandorin’s departure. The wily colonel arranges a separate light motorized railcar for the detective. Erast Petrovich bids farewell to his faithful Masa and sets off alone. Ahead of him, a small railcar carrying children evacuated from the Kharkiv orphanage slowly moves along the rails.

On a steep descent, Fandorin’s handcar begins to rapidly gain speed. The detective realizes the car’s brakes are not working. The brake mechanism had been deliberately sabotaged on Skukin’s secret orders. To avoid crashing into the children’s carriage and killing the orphans, Erast Petrovich yanks the emergency stop lever with all his might. The handcar skids off the tracks and crashes.

The events shift to Lausanne, Switzerland. It’s 1922. Mona lives in a cozy European city and is raising her young son, Alexander Erastovich. A large Soviet delegation arrives in the city. Mona learns from the newspapers that Corps Commander Skukin has been appointed military leader of the mission. She visits him at a fashionable hotel.

A former White Guard cynically confesses to the murder of Erast Petrovich. Skukin boasts of his career successes under the new regime, declaring, "He was a hero, and now he’s gone. Five pounds of dynamite — that’s no joke." Mona leaves the spacious room without shedding a single tear.

Masa awaits her obediently on the sunny embankment. The Japanese man watches intently through the open hotel window. He takes out a long blowpipe and fires a poisoned dart. Guard Revazov falls dead. A second well-aimed shot accurately hits Corps Commander Skukin. The traitor receives his just retribution. Masahiro Shibata calmly gazes out over Lake Geneva, knowing that his debt of honor to his beloved master has been fully fulfilled.