The novel is based on real events, however characters, locations and circumstances may be fictional.
Although I have never met Victor Matveev in real life, and our relationship as author and translator over the past year and a half has developed through telephone calls, emails and the pages of his novel, I would dare call myself a friend and supporter. I was aware of the incident with the Artic Sea through the media, but not until now had I understood the depths of physical and emotional cruelty, but also heroism and stoicism. Victor is a true Hero of Our Time, but unlike Pechorin, one not overcome by self-doubt and hesitation, but one filled with resolve, sensitivity and courage, the Hero that our times need.
he MV Arctic Sea is a cargo ship formerly registered in Malta that was reported missing between late July and mid-August 2009 en route from Finland to Algeria, manned by a Russian crew and declared to be carrying a cargo of timber. Hijackers allegedly boarded the ship off the coast of Sweden on 24 July 2009. The incident was not immediately reported, and contact with the ship was lost on or after 30 July. The Arctic Sea did not arrive at its scheduled port in Algeria and was reportedly located near Cape Verde instead on 14 August. On 17 August, it was seized by the Russian Navy. An investigation into the incident was started amidst speculation regarding the ship's actual cargo, and there were allegations of a cover-up by Russian authorities. The Arctic Sea was towed into harbor in the Maltese capital of Valletta on 29 October 2009.

The ship's alleged hijacking and subsequent events have remained difficult to understand, as no credible explanation has been presented of its disappearance and Russian authorities' conduct during and after the ship's capture.If confirmed to be an act of piracy, the hijacking of Arctic Sea would be the first known of its kind in Northern European waters for centuries.