In the aftermath of the Soviet Union's demise, two star-crossed lovers seek escape from the nation's pre-democracy turf wars in Robert Littell's short, quirky novel A Plague on Both Your Houses. Littell (The Company) tells the story, filled with Shakespearian overtones, of Roman and Yulia: one, the only son of Timur the Lame, Ossetian godfather of the vory v zakone ("thieves-in-law") mafia; the other, the only daughter of Naum Caplan, head of the Jewish vory. It is the time known to Russians as the Great Turf War, where "scavenger capitalists" rush to provide krysha or "roof" (i.e., protection) to new businesses springing up across the country.
Littell's descriptions of Moscow's hurly-burly world of criminality, corruption, and cynical police investigations are devilishly good. Although Roman and Yulia's love story lacks depth, the tale of Russian gangsters trading blows for control of the city is delightful fun. Littell playfully jumps between the backstory and "frontstory" of his characters and effortlessly shifts from first- to third-person perspective, capturing a range of eccentric voices in the dawning days of a new Russia. As Roman and Yulia weigh the risks of escaping their destinies within their honor-bound mafia families, the unsurprising ending is cloaked cleverly enough to provide a satisfying coda. A Plague on Both Your Houses is an engaging and high-octane tale of love and war that keeps its tongue firmly in cheek, but its dynamic characters deserve a longer stage run than Littell provides. --Peggy Kurkowski, book reviewer and copywriter in Denver