Project “￡” (Libra) provides for the violent overthrow of power in Russia. The powerful clan entrusted the implementation of the plan to the international adventurer Paul White - the Prompter. The success of the operation depends on whether it is possible to start a war between Russia and Ukraine. It turns out that this is not so difficult when White gets down to business. The last missing link in the adventure is a Media Killer that people will trust. There is such a person. He swims in TV and the web like a fish in water. And he has long lived by the rules dictated by corruption on Russian television, where you can’t get on air without a “kickback” and where you even have to pay for the rotation of brilliant content. It seems that Vlad Maksimov is ready to do anything for the sake of popularity. And including lies. But at some point he realizes that he brings true glory only the truth... The characters of the book are so recognizable that the two largest Russian publishing houses, despite the enthusiastic reviews of the book from all experts, refused to publish this novel, fearing prosecution from the prototypes of the main characters... The editors demanded that the author change the names, details, titles, geography of the events described, political assessments and publish the book under a pseudonym so as not to be exposed to “senseless risks.” However, the novel has not undergone a single change...

The near future. TV star Vlad Maksimov is tired of vulgar pop music and cheap hacks with interruptions to advertising and endless “product placement”. He dreams of his own star broadcast, which will remind him of him as a recognized master of the current political talk show. However, all of it attempts to regain the name of a serious columnist end in failure. His illusory popularity as a presenter disappears every month, his latest project was taken off the air, and his impresario friend disappears along with the sponsors’ money. A hopeless situation pushes Vlad to a desperate step - he turns for help to a person with a dubious reputation, the “gray eminence” of television, nicknamed Lord. As a result, he signs a blank sheet of paper, where he short-sightedly puts his signature...In return, Vlad receives the most promoted project of the National Channel, the presenter of which, the newfangled writer Minai Sergeev, is demonstrably killed on the threshold of the presidential administration. TV star Vlad Maksimov finds a “second wind.” But who would have thought that Vlad is just a pawn in a multi-move combination of a powerful clan, the goal which is a coup d'etat, and the prompter who is going to put the right words into the mouth of the people's favorite is the international adventurer Paul White - the author of the project "￡" (Libra) ... The threads of the conspiracy are controlled from London. World channels convince the public that there is a dictatorship in Russia, that it can only be overthrown by armed means, that the aggressors in power in Russia are responsible for starting the war in Georgia and the split in Ukraine. The rebels are betting on the impeccable reputation of the TV star...Vlad has no choice. But he has incriminating materials on the main participants in the coup in his hands. The outcome of the bloodshed that began on the streets of Moscow depends on the broadcast, which is broadcast live. What will the star say? Prompter's text or your own comment? Millions of viewers are glued to their screens in hoping to hear the truth from your pet. Not only his career depends on these words. Now it's about life. And not only him, but also thousands of his fellow citizens. He knows that all channels have already reported in the hot news information about the uprising in a light favorable to the conspirators, that the television center is in the hands of the militants. He says what his heart tells him. And at this moment he realizes that he is getting rid of his drug addiction - after all, he could not live without ether. This is what made him weak and vulnerable, ether was his only drug, his star fever... Everything is behind. The country is returning to its usual daily rhythm, bustling but peaceful. Vlad does not want to return to television. However, he receives a letter from London with the same piece of paper on which he once thoughtlessly wrote his signature...