1961. Hidden deep in the forests of central Soviet Russia, there is a place that does not appear on any map: a city named Arzamas-16. There, a closed community of dedicated scientists, technicians, and engineers is constructing the most powerful nuclear device the world has ever known – three thousand times more destructive than the Hiroshima bomb.

Ten days before the scheduled nuclear test, the young physicist F. Petrov is found dead. His corpse contains a radioactive poison in an amount capable of killing thousands of people.

The Arzamas authorities insist it was a suicide, but in Moscow, the bosses of KGB Major Alexander Vasin are unsettled by what is happening in this strange, isolated place. Investigating the Petrov case, Vasin will confront some of the brightest minds of the Soviet Union – eccentric, patriotic, and dissident – who, because their work is considered of vital national importance, have been granted the freedom to think, act, and live as they please. But in Arzamas, nothing interferes with the program. Not even murder…

The author's thorough research, clever plot, and excellent narration make Black Sun a riveting thriller set at the core of the Soviet superpower.