How far would you go in the pursuit of beauty?
Nicolas Keszthelyi – aesthete, philanderer and semi-legitimate Moscow antiques dealer – is heading to Afghanistan on the trail of buried treasure. A friend of a shady friend has discovered a hoard of priceless ivory carvings beneath a copper mine in Paktia, and Keszthelyi intends to ensure that finders remain keepers. Unfortunately, UNESCO, the Afghan government, and the mobbed-up owners of the mine seem, inexplicably, to have other plans.
In no time at all, Keszthleyi finds himself sucked into a great game of crime and chaos: playing high-stakes mahjong, impersonating the Russian mafia, wrestling with giant teddy bears and – just maybe – becoming filthy rich.
