“ King Stakh’s Wild Hunt is a suspense mystery thriller, set against a historical background,” says the publishing house's website. “The story kicks off from the book’s first pages, throwing the reader into the atmosphere of a dark intense fear before the inevitable. It doesn’t take long for the reader to begin anxiously accompanying Belaretsky on the swamps, meeting strange personae here and there, all of them either mad or scared, or hiding something important, and at times simply miserable. Uladzimir Karatkevich (1930-84) was born in Orsha, Vitsyebsk region. His first published work was a poem that appeared in 1951, which was later followed by three collections of verse. Later, he turned to prose and published a large number of short stories, in collections titled, Chazenia, The Eye of the Typhoon, From Past Ages , and others. He also wrote novels, with King Stakh’s Wild Hunt (Дзікае паляванне караля Стаха, 1964) being the most popular of them. His novels deal predominantly with Belarus' historical past, including the 1863-64 anti-Russian uprising led by Kastus Kalinowski. Karatkevich also wrote a number of plays, essays, screenplays, and detective and adventure stories. His works are marked by romanticism, rich imagery and emotionalism.

King Stakh's Wild Hunt tells the tale of Andrey Belaretsky, a young folklorist who finds himself stranded by a storm in the castle of Marsh Firs, the seat of the fading aristocratic Yanovsky family. Offered refuge by Nadzeya, the last in the Yanovskys' line, he learns of the family curse and terrible apparitions that portend her early death and trap her in permanent, maddening fear. As Belaretsky begins to unravel the secrets of the Yanovskys, he himself becomes quarry of the Wild Hunt, silent phantoms who stalk the marshes on horseback and deliver death to all who cross their path. He must uncover the truth behind the ghostly hunt to release Nadzeya from her fate and undo the curse that hangs over the marshes.A jewel of Belarusian classic literature, King Stakh's Wild Hunt is one of Karatkevich's most critically acclaimed works that also inspired a 1979 film adaptation. Based on an ancient European legend, this suspense masterpiece taps into the imagery of the country's rich...