Working the Dead

Moscow, 1961. General Zarubin, Special Advisor to the First Secretary, is beginning to worry about his prospects. His power-base consists of the goodwill of just one man, but Nikita Khrushchev is tiring of his 'nagging' and avoiding him. KGB, nursing old, deep grudges against Zarubin, have an ambitious new Deputy Chairman, who senses a long-overdue opportunity to correct the balance of power in the Kremlin. He begins to manufacture evidence that will expose the General as a traitor and put him directly above an execution-cell sluice.

None of this should be of any concern to Otto Fischer. He is, after all, dead, and dead men have the right not to be distracted by more than the gentle nibbling of worms. But the plot against Zarubin needs absolute credibility, and what better means of ensuring it than a prosecution witness who will perform to order and allow himself to be buried quietly thereafter?

From a hillside in northern Portugal to London, from there to Bonn and finally Berlin, the deceased Fischer dances on strings pulled by men he'll never meet or identify. He's resigned to his probable fate, until they give him a reason to fight back. After that, they find reason enough to wish they'd let this dead dog lie.


Genre: Historical