Set in post-Soviet Kiev, this novel is about Viktor, who takes over the care of a penguin named Misha who has been ejected from the city zoo in a frenzy of budget-cutting. When Viktor gets a job writing obituaries for the local paper, he is horrified to learn that the people he writes about are being murdered. Meanwhile, things become complicated when a friend`s little girl comes to live with Viktor and Misha, and Viktor falls hard for the nanny he hires to look after her. Copyright (C) Muze Inc. 2005. For personal use only. All rights reserved.