Andrey Cruz is an iconic figure among contemporary Russian science fiction writers. He is considered the founder of the zombie horror genre in Russian fantasy. Gained popularity after the release of the "Age of the Dead" series of novels.
Biography
Andrey Yuryevich Khamidulin (Cruz is a literary pseudonym) was born on January 26, 1965 in Tver. His parents are from Ukraine. My father was a military man, so the family often changed their place of residence. There are many bright spots in the biography of Khamidulin. So, according to other sources, Andrei was born in Ukraine, but a few days later the family moved to Tver. The childhood years of the future writer were spent in this city on the Volga.
When he was 15 years old, his father was transferred to serve in the Russian capital, and the family moved with him. Andrei spent his youth in Moscow. After serving in the army, he entered the university.
In the mid-nineties, Khamidulin decided to go into business. In the post-Soviet period, perhaps, only the lazy did not try to find himself in business. In the early 2000s, he ran his own company. It is not known exactly what field of activity she belonged to. According to some sources, Khamidulin was at the helm of the construction company "Education, Science, Production", which was engaged in the design of residential buildings. In parallel, he worked for a British company that specialized in risk management.
Scandal and emigration to Europe
In 2005, Khamidulin was forced to flee Russia, where he was suspected of fraudulent activities. The scandalous story began back in 1998. Then the future writer created a company, on behalf of which he began to build elite multi-storey buildings in the immediate vicinity of the Kremlin. For these purposes, he attracted money from investors.
In total, only one house was built, on Malaya Nikitskaya Street. Another one, in Granatny Lane, was never finished. Khamidulin himself stated that the construction was frozen due to several attempts at raider seizure. Residential meters near the Kremlin and at that time were estimated at large sums. In his words, the unknown tried to get the unfinished house at any cost. In 2003, the construction was frozen, at the same time the investors suddenly wanted to withdraw from the case and went to court with a request to recover the invested money from Khamidulin.
The court accused Andrey of fraud. Several criminal cases were opened. The litigation lasted more than two years. In 2005 Khamidulin emigrated to Spain. Already from there, by a court decision, he paid off the debts to investors along with all fines and penalties. Criminal cases were closed, and his construction company was declared bankrupt.
Andrei and his family settled in the Spanish Marbella. There he went back to business. This time he was associated with weapons: Khamidulin opened several gun shops and a shooting club.
Writing career
Khamidulin began writing science fiction stories in 2006. Even then, he firmly established himself in Spain. The writer posted his first works in the Samizdat online magazine. Then he came up with a pseudonym - Cruz.
Soon Andrei's fantasy attracted the interest of the Armada publishing house. Later it changed its name to "Alpha Book". Since 2008, this publishing house began to print Cruise's books. Success came to science fiction quickly. Readers appreciated his parallel worlds and zombie apocalypses, strong and brave heroes. Cruz liked to focus on the description of military operations, equipment, ammunition and weapons.
Among his first books:
- "Land of the Superfluous";
- "By the great river";
- "Age of the Dead".
He wrote the cycle "Land of the Superfluous" together with his wife. Many critics thought that the story turned out to be largely autobiographical.
In subsequent books, Cruise went on to describe in detail the weapons and equipment that became his hallmark. Critics noted that he had a strong influence on young science fiction writers, who began to imitate him to some extent.
In one of the interviews, the writer was asked why he began to write science fiction, and not reality. Cruz replied that in the modern world there is already nothing to discover, so he invents his own fantastic realities and gives his characters the opportunity to explore them. The writer also noted that when writing books, he first creates the world, describes it in detail, and then comes up with heroes.
last years of life
At the beginning of 2016, the story of the construction of elite housing in Moscow surfaced again. Spanish police have taken Cruz under arrest based on a request from the Russian police. He was again accused of fraud. The writer spent 12 days in prison. The Spaniards did not extradite him to Russia and released him on recognizance not to leave.
At the end of the same year, doctors diagnosed the writer with a disappointing diagnosis - last-stage liver cancer. The Cruz family announced a fundraiser for treatment. Andrei managed to undergo two courses of chemotherapy. At the same time, several more books were published:
- "After";
- Art Deco. My own game";
- "The escape";
- Kommersant;
- "World of the Citadel".
On February 20, 2018, the science fiction writer died in Marbella. He was buried at the Vagankovskoye cemetery in Moscow.
Personal life
Andrei Cruz was married to Manana Kosashvili. They have lived together for over 20 years. In the marriage, two sons were born - Yuri and Alexander. The wife also writes science fiction books. Previously, her works were published under the pseudonym Maria Lourdes. In collaboration with his wife, Andrei published several books. After his death, she decided to publish as Maria Cruz.
