Commander of the second department of the third directorate of Smersh, the Soviet department in charge of military counterespionage.
Kartashov is the highest ranking official that meets Wallenberg in prison in two memorable chapters of the novel The Wallenberg Dossier. The two meet at Lefertovo prison in Moscow for two high stakes interrogatories. Kartashov, instructed directly by the Prime Minister is seeking information about the resistance network in hungary and the American plans to take control of Budapest once Nazis are defeated. Wallenberg is an undercover agent of the CIA who was collecting information and acting on behalf of the agency and the Allied forces.
However, as the interrogatories progress, an epic clash takes place between two very strong personalities and two opposing worldviews. The author superbly develops the relation between the two, highlighting the personality of both protagonists, in an increasingly close and extreme dialogue.
A bestselling novel by Davide Amante