The Infant and the Devil
Author | Boris Akunin |
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Original title | Младенец и чёрт |
Country | Russia |
Language | Russian |
Series | Brüderschaft with Death |
Genre | Historical detective |
Publication date | 2007 |
Followed by | The Torment of a Broken Heart |
The Infant and the Devil (Russian: Младенец и чёрт, romanized: Mladenets i chort) is a novel by Boris Akunin, the first part of the first book on the adventures of Russian and German spies during the First World War.[1] In this book the reader first gets to know the two main characters of this literary series - the Russian student Aleksei Romanov and the German super-spy Josef von Theofels. Theofels is a pun on the German word Teufel which translates directly to devil.
Plot
In June 1914, Europe is moving towards a big war following the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria in Sarajevo. One of the minor officials in the Guards Corps of the Russian Army has made copies of the mobilization plan of the forthcoming war and offers them to the German intelligence service. The main spy of Germany in Russia, Captain Joseph (Sepp) von Theofels, participates in the operation of transferring the document. During the meeting with the traitor, Sepp is ambushed, however thanks to the accidental intervention of a young man, student Aleksei Parisovich Romanov, he manages to escape. Russian counterintelligence begins the hunt for Sepp but he always manages to slip away with his faithful servant and assistant Timo.
In counterintelligence, Romanov is interrogated by Captain Duke Kozlovsky, who explains the outcome of Romanov's actions. Realizing his guilt, albeit accidental, Romanov is full of desire to atone. Russian counterintelligence manages to learn that a copy of the plan is hidden in the premises of the sports club of the Guards Corps, the site of a football match between the Guards and German football players. Assuming that during the match the spy will try to get the invaluable plan from the cache, Kozlovsky wants to organize an ambush. Aleksei Romanov disguises himself as a football player in the Russian Guards team and tries to teach Kozlovsky to become a goalkeeper.
References
- ^ Natalia Kochetkova (16 November 2007). "Писатель Борис Акунин: "Немецкого шпиона сыграет Леонид Парфенов"". Izvestia.
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- The Winter Queen
- The Turkish Gambit
- Murder on the Leviathan
- The Death of Achilles
- Special Assignments
- The State Counsellor
- The Coronation
- She Lover of Death
- He Lover of Death
- The Diamond Chariot
- Ying and Yan
- Jade Rosary Beads
- All the World's a Stage
- The Black City
- Planet Water
- Not Saying Goodbye
- Erast Fandorin's Dao
- Tamba's Lessons
- Frog Bashō
- Just Masa
- Yama
- The Infant and the Devil
- The Torment of a Broken Heart
- The Flying Elephant
- Children of the Moon
- The Wandering Man
- Let the Thunder of Victory Rumble!
- Maria, Maria...
- Nothing Sacred
- Children's Book
- Spy Novel
- Science Fiction
- Quest
- Children's Book For Girls
- Fairy Tales from Around the World
- Azazel (2002)
- The Turkish Gambit (2005)
- The State Counsellor (2005)
- Spy (2012)
- Fandorin: Azazel (2023)
- Leviathan (2021)
This article about a historical mystery novel of the 2000s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. See guidelines for writing about novels. Further suggestions might be found on the article's talk page. |
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This article about a World War I novel first published in the 2000s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. See guidelines for writing about novels. Further suggestions might be found on the article's talk page. |
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