Le mage du Kremlin

In the heart of the Empire of Lies. He is called the "Magician in the Kremlin." The enigmatic Vadim Baranov was a director and producer of reality TV shows before he became the gray eminence of Putin. After disappearing from the stage as a political advisor, more and more legends about him began to circulate. Until one night, he confides his story to the first-person narrator of this book, who has long been researching in Moscow's archives.

This novel takes us to the center of Russian power, where intrigues are constantly being spun. Vadim, who has become the regime's most important spin doctor, transforms an entire country into a political theater where there is no reality other than the fulfillment of the president's wishes. Yet Vadim is no ordinary ambitious figure: the director, who has strayed among wolves, becomes increasingly entangled in the machinations of the system he himself helped to build, and he will do everything to escape from it. He takes the narrator on a journey into the heart of darkness.

"The Magician in the Kremlin" is a grand novel about contemporary Russia and the emergence of its media-staged and entirely fictional, yet deadly reality, an Empire of Lies. It not only reveals the background of the Putin era but also offers a clairvoyant reflection on power.

Awarded the Grand Prix du Roman de l'Académie française and a finalist for the Prix Goncourt 2022. 200,000 copies sold, number one on the bestseller list in France. The rights have already been sold in 26 countries. A novel about Putin's most influential advisor and the media staging of power, based on the real figure of Putin's spin doctor Vladislav Surkov.