From the man Arturo Perez-Reverte has called "the most talented young Russian author" comes this extraordinary family saga, a journey into the depths of the human soul. The Round-dance of Water is a detailed portrait of three generations of a large family, but in this story there is no division into primary and secondary characters: each individual fate carries its weight and runs into the bloody river of the twentieth century. The novel drifts between years, tones, and styles, and the range of its influences is overwhelming, ranging from Rudyard Kipling to Andrei Platonov and Daniil Kharms, from gangster movies to Japanese anime.

When a brutal and sadistic serial killer begins stalking the streets of Moscow, Xenia, an ambitious young newspaper editor, takes it upon herself to attempt to solve the mystery of the killer's identity. As her obsession with the killer grows, she devises an elaborate website with the intention of ensnaring the murderer, only to discover something disturbing about herself: her own unhealthy fascination with the sexual savagery of the murders.