BOOK REVIEW: Death and the Penguin by Andrey Kurkov

This is one of the darkest, mini tragi-comi masterpieces I have ever come across. Set in post-Communist Russia, protagonist Viktor and his pet penguin Misha (it's not as bizarre as it sounds. Well, it is, but it's endearing nonetheless) become entangled in a web of serious organised crime.

Kurkov's deadpan style immediately appeals, and his depiction of children (and penguins) is simply stunning. The Soviet cityscape is as bleak and stark as any Orwellian world, sucking you in to the absolute desolation, where the American Dollar is the only thing of strength.

Definitely the best book to come out of the modern-Ukraine in recent times...

Slightly too implausible to be billed as a genuine thriller - this gets a decent 4.2 Kangaroos(the 0.2 is made up of an ear).

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