Ivan Filippov "Mouse" Tbilisi: Freedom Letters, 2023

Journalist Ivan Filippov's novel, published in 2023 and currently being actively withdrawn from sale in Russia, seems derivative at first glance: a genre story about a zombie apocalypse woven from dozens of similar fragments. A closed research institute, an accidental virus leak, an epidemic that turns ordinary people into violent undead, and several sympathetic characters who overcome obstacles and reveal their true selves. "The Mouse" is a solid, middling novel, but its appeal lies not in its literary merits or shortcomings, but in its essence. Filippov's text features (sometimes very briefly) recognizable social figures, and this elevates the book beyond the realm of fiction: post-apocalyptic fiction becomes a political pamphlet.
"For the first few hours of the epidemic, television was silent or lying, as usual. No emergency broadcasts—only news of stability and peace."

