A once famous writer, M. achieved his greatest success with a thriller based on a real-life disappearance. In it, he told the story of a history professor who disappeared one winter after having a brief affair with his beautiful student. The professor was never found. Upon publication, M.'s novel became a bestseller, marking his international breakthrough.
That was many years ago, but now M.'s career is on the decline. But not if you ask his bizarre, seemingly shy neighbor, who is stalking both him and his wife. Why?
Thanks to M.'s novel, which is supposedly fiction, it seems that everyone is connected forever, until something unexpected takes the "story" in a completely unexpected direction. With the ever-increasing tension of his darkly cynical mind and world-famous instinct for human flaws, Hermann Koch once again spares nothing and no one in his tense novel, a cunning play that keeps readers on their toes in the mysterious space between fact and fiction.
