This novel tells the story of just one week – from April 25 to May 1, 1945. A few days remain until the surrender of the Nazi army in Berlin. Against the backdrop of fierce fighting in the German capital, shocking events unfold. An unknown maniac dresses girls in the costumes of fairy tale characters and hunts them in the central park of the Third Reich's capital. He finds his victims both in areas liberated by the Red Army and in city districts still occupied by the Wehrmacht and SS. Soviet investigator Sergey Komarovsky, who speaks German fluently, disguises himself in an SS uniform and infiltrates enemy-controlled territory to track down the killer. He will have to fight not only against Hitler's soldiers but also confront his colleague from the Reich criminal police, who is also trying to capture the maniac.
