by Laird Hunt
First published 2010
Henry wanders through Manhattan's East Village in the aftermath of the World Trade Center attacks. Vulnerable and lost, he encounters Mr Kindt, an elderly man who loves pickled herring and makes an unusual offer. Mr Kindt runs a team that stages fictional murders for clients. Henry finds himself drawn into this bizarre world, meeting the eccentric and potentially dangerous people who orbit around the old man. His fascination grows alongside his mounting dread. Meanwhile, in a city hospital where illegal drug trafficking flourishes, Henry and Mr Kindt appear as patients under the care of a doctor. This physician bears a striking resemblance to one of the young women from Mr Kindt's circle. The boundaries between reality and fiction blur as New York transforms into something resembling a necropolis. The living city gives way to its ghostly double, and Henry must navigate a world where virtual avatars threaten to replace authentic experience.
Genres: literary-fiction, american-fiction, contemporary, 21st-century
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: blurred-lines, fish-out-of-water, unreliable-narrator
Setting: East Village, Manhattan, New York
Period: Aftermath of 9/11
288 pages · Hardcover · ACTES SUD
Content warnings: death, mental-illness