First published 2015
A penniless former student, Rodion Raskolnikov, lurks in the cramped shadows of St. Petersburg with a dangerous theory: some extraordinary individuals stand above moral law. His test? A calculated murder of a miserly pawnbroker, whom he sees as a parasitic obstacle to greater human progress. But murder shatters differently than planned. As police investigator Porfiry Petrovich begins to circle closer, Raskolnikov's psychological defenses crumble. Paranoia and guilt consume him, challenging his cold intellectual premise. Between potential capture and psychological disintegration, he must confront the brutal consequences of transforming philosophical abstraction into violent reality. His salvation might lie in unexpected human connection—particularly through Sonya, a young woman who understands suffering and redemption.
Genres: fiction, literary-fiction, mystery, crime, psychological-thriller, 19th-century
Vibes: dark, emotional, thought-provoking
Tropes: psychological-thriller, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Moscow, Russia, St. Petersburg
Period: 19th-Century
57 pages · Paperback · Penguin Classics
Content warnings: murder, violence