1991 and in Russia the Mafia wars are about to kick off. The son of an old-school boss with a kind of code of honour falls in love with the daughter of a Jewish boss, just as they start to clash. The cops are on the case, but the cops have decided the best thing to do is to help them kill each other. It's hard to see this nasty brutal world as romantic, but Littell melds the mob thriller to the model of a classic tragic romance, because by comparison with what's coming, it's all puppies and fluffy clouds. Reminds me of Jack Womack's Let's Put The Future Behind Us - the end of an era that by no means can be looked on with nostalgia - except in comparison to the things that follow.