Esoteric detective
A thriller
Psychological drama
Moscow
Psychic
Oligarch
Tibet
Shambhala
Spiritual quest
"Little" people
Love
Humor
"White Brotherhood" is the second book by Eleonora Pakhomova about the new adventures of Ivan Zamyatin and Miroslav Pogodin.
The heroes of the detective novel seek clashes with secret forces and discover the laws of the universe. Tibetan mysticism is closely intertwined with Moscow scams – a very dangerous cocktail.
The ruined businessman Strelnikov, whose airliner, packed to the brim with tourists, crashed into the sea, leaves his hated Moscow and sets off for Tibet in search of Shambhala. He is joined by a young occult researcher, Miroslav Pogodin, and Professor Rodnyansky, who is also fascinated by the same topic.
Meanwhile, in Moscow, the PR woman Svetochka drags her protégé, a graduate of a TV show about psychics, onto the roof of a cathedral and forces him to predict the Apocalypse. Vadim Sigismundovich Uspensky manages to portray the prophet so convincingly that he himself begins to believe in his own chosenness. Moreover, his prophecies unexpectedly begin to come true...
SYNOPSIS
The plot of the novel "White Brotherhood" begins with the fifty-year-old Vadim Uspensky, a finalist of the TV show "Battle of Psychics," now somewhat forgotten by the public, climbing onto the roof of a cathedral in the center of Moscow in broad daylight and proclaiming a prophecy about the imminent end of the world, promised by Vanga, from which only the White Brotherhood can save humanity. After which Vadim Sigismundovich falls from the cathedral to the terrified gasps of the crowd.
Then the reader discovers the second plot line of the novel: the oligarch, owner of the second largest airline in Russia, Vladimir Strelnikov, has locked himself away from everyone in his country house. The day before, the flagship of his air fleet crashed along with its passengers. But that's not all: Vladimir Sergeyevich is about to announce the bankruptcy of his airline to everyone. The public is wondering if Strelnikov has gone mad from the shock. To check, the Pogodins, father and son, are arriving with him (Miroslav Pogodin is also one of the main characters in the novels "Rose and Cross" and "Quiet House"). Strelnikov declares that he doesn't care about the bankruptcy of the business; he is a long-time adherent of the ancient Tibetan religion of Bon, and in the coming days he will be leaving on an expedition to Tibet in search of Shambhala (closely associated with the legend of the White Brotherhood), and he invites Miroslav to join him.
Next, three storylines develop before the reader:
All three plot lines are tightly intertwined as follows. The false psychic Uspensky accidentally prophesies a plane crash. The plane with passengers actually crashes in Russia. This plane belongs to the airline of Vladimir Strelnikov, who is at that time in Tibet and moving with a group to the mystical Mount Kailash, where he intends to find the entrance to the legendary, mystical Shambhala, where, according to legend, live the true all-powerful rulers of the world – the White Brotherhood.
The closer Vladimir Strelnikov gets to Shambhala, the more often planes with passengers from his failing airline crash, and the more attention in Moscow is paid to the person of the psychic Uspensky, whose random prophecies about plane crashes come true again and again. To make his prophecies seem convincing, Uspensky, at Sveta's behest, brings in Vanga, who spoke of the imminent arrival of the White Brotherhood. Because of the self-fulfilling prophecies about plane crashes, Uspensky is constantly on the front pages of newspapers, holding high-profile press conferences, being hailed as the new messiah, and everyone dreading the coming end of the world he speaks of. The blessed one continues to write him her poignant letters, telling him of her experiences, a life spent in suffering and compassion for others, and the twists and turns she has experienced.
Meanwhile, Strelnikov is moving ever closer to Mount Kailash, but along the way, his expedition is beset by various misfortunes, including illness and then the inexplicable death of one of Strelnikov's guards, among others. But Strelnikov is unstoppable on his way to his goal. Ultimately, in order to pass the final forbidden barrier on the way to Kailash, he kills their guide in front of the expedition members and confronts the professor, who, it turns out, considers Strelnikov a monster and only went on the expedition to stop him. Strelnikov invites Miroslava Pogodin to enter Shambhala with him. Pogodin tries to reason with him, as he has known Vladimir Strelnikov since childhood and is a close friend of his father. But Strelnikov tells him he can't stop now, because he has prepared too carefully for the encounter with the White Brothers and has made too many sacrifices to reach Shambhala. His airline's planes, which are now crashing one after another in Russia, are crashing because he disabled them as a sacrifice to the Bon gods. At the foot of Mount Kailash, a fight ensues between Pogodin and Strelnikov (including the Lama Rinpoche and Miroslav's dog, who ultimately saves his life). Meanwhile, a group led by Major Ivan Zamyatin ("Rose and Cross," "Quiet House") arrives at the salon where Vadim Uspensky works to detain him. Uspensky is arrested for fraud and taken away. A distraught Sveta, also in the salon at the time, realizes she's lost her job and potential husband, but suddenly her phone rings. It's from the office of a deputy, who is very impressed by how Vadim Uspensky's name has become known throughout the country. Sveta has been offered the position of head of this deputy's campaign staff for the next presidential election. As she leaves the salon, Sveta remembers that today, the same Blessed One who was in love with Uspensky had made an appointment with him. In her last letter, she wrote that she had sold her room in a communal apartment and decided it was time to be happy, and to do that, she needed to finally meet her beloved. Sveta realizes that the Blessed One never showed up at the salon. Meanwhile, the news reports that another plane crashed today. In the end, the reader understands that the Blessed One was flying "towards happiness" on this very flight, and that of all the book's characters, she was the one who ended up in Shambhala, as a sort of paradise.
FRAGMENTS
"A thin, sinuous flash of lightning licked the steep-sided clouds above the Catholic cathedral in the center of Moscow – as if the tongue of a predatory reptile had reached out to the man standing on the building's canopy above the entrance. "This man in a white robe raised his arms to the evening sky, trying to shout over the thunder. Behind him loomed the bulk of a Gothic cathedral. It seemed as if the sharp peaks of its towers, reaching skyward, were piercing the loose clouds, releasing moisture from them."
"I realized that one can have any attitude toward esotericism, mysticism, and utopian legends—for example, consider them the product of fantasy and the speculations of sick or healthy people. One can complain as much as one wants about the fact that all this is ephemeral and unprovable. But one cannot deny that these ephemeral, unprovable, seemingly non-existent concepts sometimes exert no less an influence on an individual, and through him, on the course of history, than science, religion, and progress. From this point of view, dubious esoteric teachings are essential and tangible. "After all, they manifest themselves in the decisions and actions of real people, sometimes reaching phenomenal proportions. Take, for example, Hitler…"
"Vadim Sigismundovich somehow inadvertently, one might say accidentally, managed to become a public figure. Out of resentment and indignation, suddenly, in a moment, a daring idea flashed in his head - to show up at the casting of an extremely popular TV show in which people with paranormal abilities measure their strength in order to popularly explain to everyone who they really are. He was sitting then in his one-room apartment on the outskirts of Moscow and moving his jaws as if lifeless, mechanical, chewing the hateful Doshirak, staring at the TV screen with an empty, unblinking gaze."
Publishing Solutions, 2017
A thriller
Psychological drama
Moscow
Psychic
Oligarch
Tibet
Shambhala
Spiritual quest
"Little" people
Love
Humor
"White Brotherhood" is the second book by Eleonora Pakhomova about the new adventures of Ivan Zamyatin and Miroslav Pogodin.
The heroes of the detective novel seek clashes with secret forces and discover the laws of the universe. Tibetan mysticism is closely intertwined with Moscow scams – a very dangerous cocktail.
The ruined businessman Strelnikov, whose airliner, packed to the brim with tourists, crashed into the sea, leaves his hated Moscow and sets off for Tibet in search of Shambhala. He is joined by a young occult researcher, Miroslav Pogodin, and Professor Rodnyansky, who is also fascinated by the same topic.
Meanwhile, in Moscow, the PR woman Svetochka drags her protégé, a graduate of a TV show about psychics, onto the roof of a cathedral and forces him to predict the Apocalypse. Vadim Sigismundovich Uspensky manages to portray the prophet so convincingly that he himself begins to believe in his own chosenness. Moreover, his prophecies unexpectedly begin to come true...
SYNOPSIS
The plot of the novel "White Brotherhood" begins with the fifty-year-old Vadim Uspensky, a finalist of the TV show "Battle of Psychics," now somewhat forgotten by the public, climbing onto the roof of a cathedral in the center of Moscow in broad daylight and proclaiming a prophecy about the imminent end of the world, promised by Vanga, from which only the White Brotherhood can save humanity. After which Vadim Sigismundovich falls from the cathedral to the terrified gasps of the crowd.
Then the reader discovers the second plot line of the novel: the oligarch, owner of the second largest airline in Russia, Vladimir Strelnikov, has locked himself away from everyone in his country house. The day before, the flagship of his air fleet crashed along with its passengers. But that's not all: Vladimir Sergeyevich is about to announce the bankruptcy of his airline to everyone. The public is wondering if Strelnikov has gone mad from the shock. To check, the Pogodins, father and son, are arriving with him (Miroslav Pogodin is also one of the main characters in the novels "Rose and Cross" and "Quiet House"). Strelnikov declares that he doesn't care about the bankruptcy of the business; he is a long-time adherent of the ancient Tibetan religion of Bon, and in the coming days he will be leaving on an expedition to Tibet in search of Shambhala (closely associated with the legend of the White Brotherhood), and he invites Miroslav to join him.
Next, three storylines develop before the reader:
- The story of the fake psychic Vadim Uspensky, a graduate of the show "Battle of Psychics," and now an employee of a magic salon affiliated with the show. In this storyline, the reader (viewer) is revealed the truth about the seamy side of the TV show about psychics (casting based on charisma, working according to a script, a mandatory contract with the show organizers and then working for the money by working in a magic salon, etc.). In this storyline, we also learn the ins and outs of modern PR technologies, how, with the help of PR, a folk hero, prophet, and messiah is made out of "nothing" with the help of PR. Uspensky's actions in the media arena are managed by his PR specialist and lover, thirty-two-year-old Svetlana. It was Sveta who forced Uspensky to climb the cathedral and shout prophecies about the end of the world and the coming of the White Brotherhood, in order to attract media attention to him with a resonant topic. Afterwards, Uspensky was detained for 15 days, and when he was released, continuing the apocalyptic theme, he told reporters that he had a vision and that "a plane will crash tomorrow." Sveta sprinkles ashes on her head, as no plane crash is expected on the specified date, and everyone will understand that Uspensky is no prophet. However, a plane crash actually occurs! Everyone is astonished: the public, Sveta, and Vadim Sigismundovich himself.
- The second storyline unfolds before us the story of the practically bankrupt aviation magnate and oligarch Vladimir Strelnikov. At the height of his life's turmoil associated with ruin, he assembles an expedition to Tibet in search of Shambhala. Strelnikov has long been fascinated by the ancient Tibetan religion of Bon (the original Tibetan religion), which espouses mass sacrifices for the sake of power. Now he intends to throw everything aside and finally realize his long-held dreams by assembling an expedition in search of the mystical Shambhala, home of the White Brothers. Now, he believes, is the perfect time. The expedition includes Strelnikov's assistants/guards, an elderly professor specializing in this subject, Miroslav Pogodin, who brings along his enormous dog, Alisa (rescued as a puppy at the end of "The Rose and the Cross"). Once in Tibet, the expedition is joined by a local guide named Choepel (foreigners in Tibet are not allowed to travel deep into the country without a guide and special passes) and Lama Rinpoche (practically a saint by local standards), who asks travelers in fancy SUVs for a ride to Kailash.
- The third plot line unfolds in love letters sent to Vadim Uspensky, the screen star, by an unhappy, lonely woman from a remote province. She lives in a communal apartment, works a low-paying job, and anything interesting happens to her only in her dreams, in which she is happy with Uspensky. In reality, however, there is complete darkness. Her letters to Uspensky are intercepted and read by his PR specialist, Svetlana. Sveta nicknames this woman "Blessed." Uspensky himself knows nothing about the Blessed One or her letters.
All three plot lines are tightly intertwined as follows. The false psychic Uspensky accidentally prophesies a plane crash. The plane with passengers actually crashes in Russia. This plane belongs to the airline of Vladimir Strelnikov, who is at that time in Tibet and moving with a group to the mystical Mount Kailash, where he intends to find the entrance to the legendary, mystical Shambhala, where, according to legend, live the true all-powerful rulers of the world – the White Brotherhood.
The closer Vladimir Strelnikov gets to Shambhala, the more often planes with passengers from his failing airline crash, and the more attention in Moscow is paid to the person of the psychic Uspensky, whose random prophecies about plane crashes come true again and again. To make his prophecies seem convincing, Uspensky, at Sveta's behest, brings in Vanga, who spoke of the imminent arrival of the White Brotherhood. Because of the self-fulfilling prophecies about plane crashes, Uspensky is constantly on the front pages of newspapers, holding high-profile press conferences, being hailed as the new messiah, and everyone dreading the coming end of the world he speaks of. The blessed one continues to write him her poignant letters, telling him of her experiences, a life spent in suffering and compassion for others, and the twists and turns she has experienced.
Meanwhile, Strelnikov is moving ever closer to Mount Kailash, but along the way, his expedition is beset by various misfortunes, including illness and then the inexplicable death of one of Strelnikov's guards, among others. But Strelnikov is unstoppable on his way to his goal. Ultimately, in order to pass the final forbidden barrier on the way to Kailash, he kills their guide in front of the expedition members and confronts the professor, who, it turns out, considers Strelnikov a monster and only went on the expedition to stop him. Strelnikov invites Miroslava Pogodin to enter Shambhala with him. Pogodin tries to reason with him, as he has known Vladimir Strelnikov since childhood and is a close friend of his father. But Strelnikov tells him he can't stop now, because he has prepared too carefully for the encounter with the White Brothers and has made too many sacrifices to reach Shambhala. His airline's planes, which are now crashing one after another in Russia, are crashing because he disabled them as a sacrifice to the Bon gods. At the foot of Mount Kailash, a fight ensues between Pogodin and Strelnikov (including the Lama Rinpoche and Miroslav's dog, who ultimately saves his life). Meanwhile, a group led by Major Ivan Zamyatin ("Rose and Cross," "Quiet House") arrives at the salon where Vadim Uspensky works to detain him. Uspensky is arrested for fraud and taken away. A distraught Sveta, also in the salon at the time, realizes she's lost her job and potential husband, but suddenly her phone rings. It's from the office of a deputy, who is very impressed by how Vadim Uspensky's name has become known throughout the country. Sveta has been offered the position of head of this deputy's campaign staff for the next presidential election. As she leaves the salon, Sveta remembers that today, the same Blessed One who was in love with Uspensky had made an appointment with him. In her last letter, she wrote that she had sold her room in a communal apartment and decided it was time to be happy, and to do that, she needed to finally meet her beloved. Sveta realizes that the Blessed One never showed up at the salon. Meanwhile, the news reports that another plane crashed today. In the end, the reader understands that the Blessed One was flying "towards happiness" on this very flight, and that of all the book's characters, she was the one who ended up in Shambhala, as a sort of paradise.
FRAGMENTS
"A thin, sinuous flash of lightning licked the steep-sided clouds above the Catholic cathedral in the center of Moscow – as if the tongue of a predatory reptile had reached out to the man standing on the building's canopy above the entrance. "This man in a white robe raised his arms to the evening sky, trying to shout over the thunder. Behind him loomed the bulk of a Gothic cathedral. It seemed as if the sharp peaks of its towers, reaching skyward, were piercing the loose clouds, releasing moisture from them."
"I realized that one can have any attitude toward esotericism, mysticism, and utopian legends—for example, consider them the product of fantasy and the speculations of sick or healthy people. One can complain as much as one wants about the fact that all this is ephemeral and unprovable. But one cannot deny that these ephemeral, unprovable, seemingly non-existent concepts sometimes exert no less an influence on an individual, and through him, on the course of history, than science, religion, and progress. From this point of view, dubious esoteric teachings are essential and tangible. "After all, they manifest themselves in the decisions and actions of real people, sometimes reaching phenomenal proportions. Take, for example, Hitler…"
"Vadim Sigismundovich somehow inadvertently, one might say accidentally, managed to become a public figure. Out of resentment and indignation, suddenly, in a moment, a daring idea flashed in his head - to show up at the casting of an extremely popular TV show in which people with paranormal abilities measure their strength in order to popularly explain to everyone who they really are. He was sitting then in his one-room apartment on the outskirts of Moscow and moving his jaws as if lifeless, mechanical, chewing the hateful Doshirak, staring at the TV screen with an empty, unblinking gaze."
Publishing Solutions, 2017