Alexey Evdokimov is a laureate of the “National Bestseller” - 2003 and the author of the scandalous, ambiguously evaluated by critics of the “Puzzle”. For Alexei and his colleague Alexander Garros (co-author of the book), the novel became a debut. The fact that he provoked a controversial reaction did not come as a surprise to the author. According to him, he wanted to write a "provocative book that would be energetic and tough."
about the author
The writer’s mother is from Ukrainian Nikolaev, where Alexey was born in 1975. In the passport Ukraine is indicated as the place of birth. According to the writer Alexei Evdokimov, this fact played a negative role in the biography, and he was able to obtain citizenship by naturalization. In fact, their family has been living in Riga since 1950, ever since their grandfather, a military pilot, was transferred to this city. Here, Alexei graduated from high school and philological faculty at the university. He worked in Latvian publications as a journalist and literary critic.
After their debut in 2001, the book “Puzzle” together with A. Garros published:
- “Gray Slime” - the novel was released in 2005;
- “Truck factor” - in 2006;
- “Juche” - a collection of short stories was published in 2006.
How it all began?
With Alexander Garros, co-author of many books, Alexey Evdokimov met in the 8th grade. Both were interested in journalism, found a common language and made friends. The school was with a philological bias. Alex entered the correspondence department at Moscow State University and took up newspaper business. The university had to be abandoned, worked with a lyceum diploma as a “junior editor”. After graduating from the philology faculty, A. Garros came to the publishing house.
They worked together in the Riga newspaper "Hour", after - they were engaged in literature. “Puzzle” was the first serious work. Their plans included writing a hard thriller, something socially provocative. The plot is quite simple - a bank PR man accidentally kills his boss. Then the hero, a completely peaceful citizen, realizes that solving problems through violence is both profitable and pleasant, and he gets into the taste.
The office clerk, freaked out from his routine life, is transforming into an urban predator - dangerous and unpredictable. This is the provocativeness of the novel. In addition, the novel ends ambiguously - the reader himself is free to assume that everything ended well for the hero or bad. In the book, everything is named after itself, the text may be very harsh in some places. But this was also included in the plans of the creators - to draw attention, and remember that black is black.
In the West, literature of this kind has long existed. The creators of the novel simply adapted it “to Russian soil,” and it became a novelty in the Russian market. They did not expect that they would receive a national best, where the main bonus is the publication of a large edition of the book.
Garros - Evdokimov
“Truck Factor” is another joint novel by Garros and Alexei Evdokimov. Once they went to St. Petersburg together and a huge wagon was walking close to their bus. They were discussing plans for the future, someone said: "And then the truck enters." For a moment - and worthless to all plans. Here it is - the unpredictability of life, to which they dedicated the second novel. I did not have to think about the name for a long time: “Truck Factor”.
Alexei was very upset by the death of a friend and co-author, in an interview dedicated to Alexander Garros, he said: “Everything that we write about inconsistency, cruelty, to some extent applies to ourselves. When merciless illogicality concerns a loved one, one wonders: why is he? ”
A. Garros died in April 2017. He was diagnosed with cancer in September 2015, shortly after the birth of his second child. There was hope that everything worked out. But in February 2017, he became worse - he died on April 6 in an Israeli hospital.
Single relay
Alexey Evdokimov continued to write books. The debut in "single skating" was the novel "Tick", published in 2007, telling about the Secret History of Cinema. It is restored by completely unfamiliar people on a popular site in RuNet - they investigate coincidences in the fates of stars, patterns linking the most terrible crimes of the century and masterpieces of art. Passion seems like a game until they become pawns in it.
In 2008, the thriller “Zero-Zero” about the game was released. In network and role-playing, they are played by schoolchildren and students, managers and photo models, readers and writers. They pretend to be superheroes, kings, elves, aliens. Their life has become madness - they spend money, quit work, family, are ready for anything to continue the game.
In 2010, the book “Thank God they didn’t kill” was released - a mixture of a tough detective with documentary, a rogue novel with a parable. One can write about modern Russia only in this genre, the author is sure. The fact that they did it cannot but be horrified, it can make people laugh, but the main thing is that it makes you wonder by whose rules we live. The hero of the book - a poor provincial who lives in the capital illegally - accidentally becomes a participant in an intrigue, where millions of dollars are at stake and the main player is the security general.
From thriller to guidebook
The book “Riga”, published in September 2017, will be useful to everyone who is going to the capital of Latvia or loves this city. The author gives advice on where to go, what to eat and drink, what to see. Those who are considering buying an apartment will find in the book a lot of useful things for themselves - about getting a visa, about doing business, details about the state of the real estate market.
The provocative novels of the writer Alexei Evdokimov are unusual for the Russian reader. They provoke conflicting opinions, but, whatever you say, are popular. Evdokimov perfectly owns the form of the novel. He is an implacable satirist, and, like a true master of this genre, his view of society is extremely pessimistic.
For fourteen years, from “Puzzle” to “Riga”, Alexey Evdokimov has noticeably changed: he turned from a budding novelist into a mature publicist and wise editor.