The Half Life of Valery K

Fandom
Name:	The Half Life of Valery K
Abbreviation(s):
Creator:	Natasha Pulley
Date(s):	2022
Medium:	Novel
Country of Origin:	UK
External Links:	Goodreads page
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The Half Life of Valery K is a novel by Natasha Pulley, published in 2022.

Summary

From Goodreads:

In 1963, in a Siberian gulag, former nuclear specialist Valery Kolkhanov has mastered what it takes to survive: the right connections to the guards for access to food and cigarettes, the right pair of warm boots to avoid frostbite, and the right attitude toward the small pleasures of life so he won’t go insane. But on one ordinary day, all that changes: Valery’s university mentor steps in and sweeps Valery from the frozen prison camp to a mysterious unnamed town that houses a set of nuclear reactors and is surrounded by a forest so damaged it looks like the trees have rusted from within. In City 40, Valery is Dr. Kolkhanov once more, and he’s expected to serve out his prison term studying the effect of radiation on local animals. But as Valery begins his work, he is struck by the questions his research raises: why is there so much radiation in this area? What, exactly, is being hidden from the thousands who live in the town? And if he keeps looking for answers, will he live to serve out his sentence?

Main Characters

• Valery Kolkhanov
• Anna Shenkova
• Konstantin Shenkov

Resources

• The Kingdoms AO3 tag