Crime : stories

From Ferdinand von Schirach, one of Germany’s most prominent defense attorneys, comes a jolting debut collection of short stories that daringly brings to light the motivations stirring within the criminal mind. By turns witty and sorrowful, unflinchingly brutal and heartbreaking, the deeply affecting, quietly unnerving cases presented in Crime urge a closer examination of guilt and innocence. In “Fähner,” a small-town physician and avid gardener betrays little emotion when he takes an ax to his wife’s head, an act that shocks the locals but provides a long-awaited reprieve for the good doctor. Abbas, a Palestinian refugee who is cornered into a life of crime, finds true love and seemingly a saving grace with a beautiful student named Stefanie in “Summertime.” But when she is viciously murdered in a hotel room after having been paid to sleep with one of the country’s wealthiest men, is Abbas to blame or is it the man who seems to have it all? And in the startling story “Love,” a young man’s infatuation with his girlfriend takes a grisly turn as he comes to grips with his unconventional—and uncontrollable—impulses to truly know a woman. “Guilt,” writes von Schirach, “always presents a bit of a problem.” In this beautifully nuanced and telling collection, guilt is indeed never as clear-cut as the crime, and justice is more nebulous still. From Ferdinand von Schirach, one of Germany's most prominent defense attorneys, comes a jolting debut collection of short stories that daringly brings to light the motivations stirring within the criminal mind. By turns witty and sorrowful, unflinchingly brutal and heartbreaking, the deeply affecting, quietly unnerving cases presented in Crime urge a closer examination of guilt and innocence. In "FAhner," a small-town physician and avid gardener betrays little emotion when he takes an ax to his wife's head, an act that shocks the locals but provides a long-awaited reprieve for the good doctor. Abbas, a Palestinian refugee who is cornered into a life of crime, finds true love and seemingly a saving grace with a beautiful student named Stefanie in "Summertime." But when she is viciously murdered in a hotel room after having been paid to sleep with one of the country's wealthiest men, is Abbas to blame or is it the man who seems to have it all' And in the startling story "Love," a young man's infatuation with his girlfriend takes a grisly turn as he comes to grips with his unconventional'and uncontrollable'impulses to truly know a woman. "Guilt," writes von Schirach, "always presents a bit of a problem." In this beautifully nuanced and telling collection, guilt is indeed never as clear-cut as the crime, and justice is more nebulous still Meet Fahner, The Retired Small-town Doctor Who Resorts To The Garden Axe When His Patience With His Cruel Wife Runs Out. Or Patrick, So Entranced By The Sight Of His Sleeping Girlfriend That He Cuts A Small Piece Out Of Her Back, Just To See What She Tastes Like. Or The Silent Assassin Who Calmly Despatches Two Neo-nazi Thugs On A Railway Platform. A Nameless Lawyer Invites Us To Read An Extraordinary Dossier Of Violent And Unspeakable Acts. All The Crimes Have One Thing In Common: The Guilty Are Never Convicted In A Court Of Law. But However Heinous The Crime, The Narrator Shows How The Human Circumstances Behind Events Can Tell A Different Story. Ferdinand Von Schirach, Himself A Criminal Lawyer, Unveils A Terrifying World Where Criminals Elude Justice, And The Apparent Innocents Are Perhaps The Most Dangerous Of All. 'guilt,' Writes Von Schirach, 'always Presents A Bit Of A Problem.' In This Nuanced And Telling Collection, Guilt Is Indeed Never As Clear Cut As The Crime. "A nameless lawyer invites us to read an extraordinary dossier of violent and unspeakable acts. All the crimes have one thing in common: the guilty are never convicted in a court of law. But however heinous the crime, the narrator shows how the human circumstances behind events can tell a different story."--Back cover A collection of nine stories features a coolly intelligent protagonist who makes compassionate observations about such characters as an abused small-town doctor, a pair of privileged but neglected siblings, and the card-playing youngest member of a family of petty criminals