When Lena marries Alex, a daring young helicopter pilot, it feels like she’s won life’s lottery. But as Russia descends deeper into a brutal war with Ukraine, Alex returns home a changed man—haunted, violent, and loyal only to the military machine that devours him.

Who is Alex now? A war criminal? A looter? A man willing to commit a horrific act to save his dead friend’s wife and children from a predatory bank?

War claims Alex, and he becomes a ghost in Lena's life. A ghost who sends her money—huge sums. And yet, she is left to raise their son alone in a world growing colder by the day. Cities crumble under drone fire. Veterans roam as criminals. And the only voice she can confide in is her AI-powered car—until even that begins to betray her.

Years later, her son Sashka returns from a military youth camp with a secret. He’s seen the truth behind the state’s control—and he wants to fight back. But in a nation ruled by surveillance, silence is safety. Resistance is fatal.

Set in a near-future Russia gripped by war and controlled by machines, The Russian Gladiator is a chilling story of love, betrayal, and quiet defiance.

For readers of 1984, Brave New World, and Never Let Me Go, this dystopian novel asks:
What happens when the state owns your future—and even your grief?