Black Earth

I just started reading a new book today called Black Earth: A Journey Through Russia After The Fall, and so far its really good. Its basically the true tale of a journalist and his adventures through the far corners of Russia's more remote places. He starts out in Moscow and basically lays down the foundation of Russia as a insanely shady and creepy place and then goes around the rest of the country to see how the fall of communism has affected these very isolated and often unruly regions. Right now I'm at the part where he is en route to Chechnya via Ingushtan and it is getting pretty intense. For some reason I cant help but thinking these areas are all like real life versions of "The Village of The Crazies" in Gymkata. If you have seen that film and know what I am referring to, then that is a truly horrific thought. Maybe its just my imagination, but the more I read the more it almost seems to be true. Since I am only about 100 pages in and havent finished the book I can only give you a mini-review, but what I have read so far I have thoroughly enjoyed. So if you have any interest in remote foreign lands where things operate in an almost "Bizzaro World" version of how we live here in America, I recommend you check this book out.
Dargavs, City Of The Dead (One Place The Author Visits In This Book)