The Girl With the Transparent Skin, Elena Zhuravleva, Independently Published, 2019
Maria is a young woman who has found a disgusting, almost pornographic, video with her face online. Is she about to be blackmailed? Are other such videos coming in the future?
The IP address is traced to a monastery in (pre-invasion) Kiev, her hometown. She became an orphan when her parents died in an auto accident. She spent some time in an orphanage, and has lived abroad for the past several years.
She finds very questionable financial dealings between the monastery and a local Foundation. Video confessions of girls who have been raped are recorded and put on DVD. Those disks are sent to women all over Europe to "shock" them into giving birth (Really?) The intention is to start to reverse Europe's population decline.
There is a scandal-plagued construction project (the monastery is involved). A multi-story building is to be built over an underground lake (that no one knows about) right on the Dnieper river. Maria is caught in a landslide. Before she is rescued, she starts hallucinating. Was it a random event, or something more sinister. There is also a bit of witchcraft, and pre-Christian gods.
Here is a really good piece of storytelling. The fact that it is set in present-day Kiev (or Kyiv) makes it that much better. It is not a very easy novel to read; it will require some effort on the part of the reader. Here is a first-rate story.
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