Serhii Loiko
| Aeroport | Airport Docu-Thriller. Bright Star Publishing. Kyiv 2015. 403 pages |
| Foreign rights: | China, Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Georgia, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Ukraine |
AIRPORT is a docu-thriller, which illustrates the tragedy of the on-going Russian-Ukrainian conflict by means of a fictional story of love in times ofwar. It is on the one hand exciting and emotional, and on the other hand it endeavours to be as authentic and accurate as possible. The author‘s spyglass is directed at the airport of Donetsk, which is important both logistically and symbolically for the entire conflict. Had they seized the airport, the separatists, aided by Russia, would have been able to attack other towns, in particular the city of Kharkiv. However, the author‘s spyglass is in reality a kaleidoscope, drawing on all events, background information and consequences to form a composite picture. And like a kaleidoscope, the novel clearly shows that the composite picture is actu- ally made up of a great many individual shards and splinters, which can never become a healthy whole again, if indeed they ever were. Alexei, a journalist and war-correspondent from Moscow has been living the „American Dream“ in the USA with a lovely family and a wonderful job. In 2014 he goes to Kyiv to report about the revolution a tMaidan square. The events develop all too quickly taking a tragic turn and eventually leading him to Donetsk airport, where the Ukraine forces have been besieged by the separatists for more than 200days. The novel‘s action and suspense climax during the last five days of the siege. The airport is like the site of the apocalypse where death can strike at any moment and there are no corners, let alone even an inch of ground providing any safety. The walls and roofs are scarred by the barrage of gunfire and can hardly bear up against the daily heavy shelling. They threaten to collapse and bury the defenders, whose determination to survive surprises even the relentless attackers. AIRPORT is neither a war chronicle, nor a documentary, nor an investigative novel. It is a work of fiction based on true facts and events. The novel has many characters and intertwining dramatic plot lines. The novel is not only and not so much about a war everyone thought was impossible. It is also about love, betrayal, passion, cheating, hate, rage, tenderness, courage, pain and death. In other words, this is a book about our today’s and yesterday’s life.
