It’s not enough to write “I love” for the reader to understand that the hero has fallen in love, and it’s not enough to write “horror” to send goosebumps down our backs. The author of “Panic Room” knows how to make his words believed. The collection of short prose by Vadim Leventhal, who made a brilliant debut with the novel “Masha Regina,” reveals new facets of his talent - before us is a writer of mysterious stories in which mirages intertwine with reality, and objects reveal the fire hidden in them. Urban noir and gothic short story are the genres to which this time the finalist of the BIG BOOK award, Vadim Levental, pays tribute. The book ends with the story “The Angels' Share” - sparingly, with icy laconicism, telling about the terrible days of the Leningrad siege.