Artur leads an ordinary, uneventful marriage with Rita, works in a copy shop despite his university degree, and overall does not seem to have any particular ambitions or demands in life. Until, one day, a certain Alice enters the copy shop and leaves a message…
What happens then is positively comic for a while, but gradually takes a gloomy, and eventually even harrowing turn, like in a splatter movie. Eventually, the hitherto content and maybe even happy protagonists get themselves entangled in a plot neither them nor their readers could have anticipated.
On the longlist of the German Book Prize 2014
»Antonio Fian leaves readers dumbstruck by this scathing psych thriller, which, as usual, does not lack humour.« (Sophie Weilandt, ORF)
»This psychological thriller is not only fun to read, but also captivating. The story told by Artur as first-person narrator is utterly devoid of morals, and at the same time tongue-in-cheek, with dry dialogues, great lines and keen observations. This could easily be made into an outstanding movie, with characters worthy to be put on-screen.« (Wolfgang Huber-Lang, Austria Press Agency)
»It is widely known that fun and crudeness go together well in Austria, but Fian has found a particularly modern and contemporary way to couple the two.« (Klaus Kastberger, ex libris Ö1)