The gut-wrenching ghost of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster hangs over Beres's depressing sequel to Chernobyl Murders
. Former stripper Mariya Nemeth hires Chicago PI Lazlo Horvath after her husband of one month, Viktor Patolichev, dies in the torching of his adult video store. Did Victor set fire to the store for the insurance money, or was the arson related to Viktor's past involvement in human trafficking? Mariya also seeks help from Kiev PI Janos Nagy, Lazlo's protégé, with whom she develops a romantic relationship. Two masked men later brutalize Mariya, a not so subtle warning that the investigation must stop. Lazlo, Mariya and Janos eventually find answers in the exclusion zone around Chernobyl. Readers should be prepared for some overheated prose (e.g., “the video store blazing.... The fire so hot when her father cut slabs of bacon to put on a stick and shove into the flames and drip blackened grease onto rye bread for aunts, uncles, and cousins”). (Nov.)
