Tempted by the offer of easy earnings, Olya goes with a fellow traveler to an unknown village. In the vast forests of the voluntary exclusion zone, she finds the body and casually becomes a key figure in the investigation. Olya strives to leave these places of forgotten roads, mysterious graves and strange people with dark stories as quickly as possible. But an unsolved case turns into a trap. The main character will have to find out the truth on her own, find out what caused the tragic events — human cruelty, conspiracy or some chthonic force. After all, the locals are convinced that the forests are hiding something more dangerous than the killer. Oksana Kovalchuk is a Ukrainian writer and journalist whose prose is formed at the intersection of thriller, horror and detective, based on the polessky space, local beliefs and the experience of closed communities. The book "Abandoned" is an independent work of fiction by the author and continues her work with the themes of fear, silence and responsibility of a person to the place in which he finds himself, even by accident. The plot centers around Olya, who agrees to a trip for the sake of quick earnings and finds herself in a village near the voluntary exclusion zone. The forest, the road, unfamiliar inhabitants and The found body gradually turn a short journey into a story from which it is impossible to just get out. The investigation has no clear boundaries, because the answers are hidden not only in the events of the present, but also in what has remained unspoken for years. The book raises questions of collective guilt, violence in closed environments, and fear of others, which often masks fear of one's own actions. What matters here is not only what happened, but also why they were silent about it.