This first volume of the six-part series introduces us to the crazy world of the orphaned Tsagoi (aka Gypsy) and his little sister, Oblivia. After swearing to himself and Oblivia that he'd find a way to make his fortune and get them both out of their down-and-out beginnings, Tsagoi disappears from Oblivia's life for the next 12 years. The only contact Oblivia has with her roguishly handsome big brother are the money packages he sends in order to pay for her expensive boarding school in Switzerland that he has her enrolled in. And she was just fine with that... right up until the money runs out. Oblivia is left with no choice but to seek out her brother in Port Radium, where the pair embarks (against Oblivia's will) on one of Tsagoi's totally illegal money-making ventures. Living within the confines of Tsagoi's trusty truck, the modern-day Gypsy's caravan, Oblivia is forced to face up to the reality of what her brother has become: not the noble benefactor she had hoped for, but a first-rate scoundrel!

It's all kicking off in this action-packed series from Marini and Smolderen: Car chases on the intercontinental highway; struggling for survival during the global cooling; the coronation of a young Russian tsar; the resurrection of a Mongol army tracing the footsteps of Genghis Khan; a multinational superpower controlling all terrestrial transport... and right in the middle of all that, there's the man who goes by the name of 'Gypsy', a loveable tough-guy truck driver.

The idealistic young Prince Ivan, Oblivia's sweetheart, has just been crowned Tsar of Russia, and it seems like the vast state might finally be on its way to a better future. But following a vicious battle with Slomo and his men, it becomes clear that there's a tangled web of bad guys who see the young tsar as nothing more than a pawn in their game. Gypsy, as wild and as brazen as ever, bumps into an old friend and an old flame, but all he's really interested in is getting his beloved truck back! What he doesn't know, is that Oblivia's in danger... But as ever, he's got his little sister's back, despite their familial disagreements, and steps in just at the right time...

When he was a kid in the slums, Tsagoï would do everything in his power to avoid violin classes. He'd rather be having a punch up with some poor unsuspecting victim. He dreamed of owning his very own truck, while his cousin Mirno dreamed of marrying Milena and getting rich. Twenty-five years down the line at the Czech border, "little" (nearly two meters tall) Tsagoï is at the wheel of a truck full of Slovakian caviar, renowned for its inedibility, and Mirno, dressed like a lord, spends his time buying fur coats for Milena. It's the day of the football world cup finals, and all the cops are glued to their TV screens. So of course everyone's making the most of it—the Russian mafia, all manner of degenerates... and Mirno. But the day gets off to a bad start. It then has a bad middle, and not such a good ending either...!

Somewhere on the circumpolar tri-continental expressway, the highway covering Eurasia, Africa and America, you'll find Al Desir, the jewel of the socialist republic of Turdistan. And that's where Gypsy's heading. He's got a rendezvous with his little sister, Bibi, who is there for research purposes to write a book on The White Wing (a sect that's been forbidden since the revolution) and Sissiah the sorceress, who was recruited by the sect when she was just 10 years old because of her power to change faces...

Our favorite gypsy trucker is partaking in a humanitarian operation in Central America. At the border, he's stopped by nurses from the military health service. Like all new arrivals, Gypsy is vaccinated against "Aztec Laughter," the deadly virus ravaging the population, of which the symptoms include fits of extreme violence. In the first town he stops at, Gypsy finds a bunch of half-crazed zombies and suicidal dancers: they've all been infected with the pernicious disease. He gets out as soon as he can, but the journey only gets more macabre from there on in...