Plot

It is a psychological action adventure with espionage, intrigue and mystic vibes set in the waning days of Imperial Russia and the assassination of the so-called the Holy Devil, Grigory Rasputin.

A cadre of would-be assassins crystallizes in Petersburg, Russia, around Kotya Karsavina, an actress and confidante of Rasputin, and the Grand Duke Dmitri Romanov, a rising star the Imperial family. Others join the plot, and many attempts on the Holy Devil's life ensue. All end in failure. Further, the would-be assassins confront complex and ambiguous alliances, with shifting dangers and conflicts that threaten to upend their plot and tear the cadre of killers apart. Tension heightens as World War I erupts and the armies of Europe mass on two fronts. As armies fight to win on the battlefield, shrouded forces in many capitals, including in America, enter into intrigue meant to drive the war toward a victory. Reinforced now by the attractive Russian Prince Felix Yusupov and by British and American operatives, the killers make one last attempt to kill the Mad Monk. The story hurls toward a harrowing winter night in Petersburg, and culminates in a murder most macabre.