A young lawyer is brought in to defend a case of wrongful dismissal against a despotic, wheelchair bound industrialist by his younger former mistress and becomes attracted to his wife. German veteran Kettenbach often reminds the reader of Patricia Highsmith at her darkest as he travels through the muddiest of psychological waters and lays people bare together with their worst criminal impulses.

Synopsis

Young lawyer Alex Zabel defends industrialist Herbert Klofft in a case for wrongful dismissal being brought against him by his former employee and mistress. She is thirty-four, he seventy-eight, a despot, now wheelchair bound and dying of cancer. Alex must deal with a hopeless case, his growing empathy with a repulsive client and his sexual attraction to Klofft's elderly wife.

Reviews

Praise for Kettenbach:

'Reading Kettenbach means taking a look into the individual's soul laid bare, into its abyss and its hopeless entanglements. Those who read his books will gain a better understanding of why human beings do the things they do, even the most absurd and horrendous things. The result is stories told along the razor-sharp edge of reality.' A Die Zeit

'Kettenbach provides answers that are either darkly humorous or melancholically tragic, depending on how black the reader's heart proves to be.' A Booklist

About the Author

Hans Werner Kettenbach was born near Cologne. He is the author of several highly acclaimed novels. He came to writing late in life, publishing his first book at the age of fifty. Previous jobs he has held include construction worker, court stenographer, football journalist, foreign correspondent in New York and, most recently, newspaper editor. His crime novels have won the Jerry-Cotton Prize and the Deutscher-Krimi Prize, and five of them have been made into successful films, including Black Ice, previously published by Bitter Lemon Press. More books by this author Author 'Like for Like' recommendation