A mother and daughter were brutally murdered in their apartment on Saturday morning. The killer treated the latter cruelly — her face was disfigured beyond recognition. The missing item — an ancient cross with black pearls — was found at one of the acquaintances of the murdered woman. He was hastily tried and sentenced to capital punishment...

The main character Vorobei is a professional grave digger and alcohol addict, who runs away from hospital to dig graves instead of treating his head broken by his brother. He comes to cemetery and keeps on working, instead of his friends' advice to stay in the hospital. The world of death turns out to be surrounded by corruption, satanic money-making, cemetery mafia and lots of vodka.

The young soldier Vasily Lemekhov has returned from the hospital and met a young woman Natasha in Chisinau.

Scientist creates a machine that is able to clone human beings. Soon the Government wants to take hold of it for military purposes.

Two Soviet partisans leave their starving band to get supplies from a nearby farm. The Germans have reached the farm first, so the pair must go on a journey deep into occupied territory, a voyage that will also take them deep into their souls.