"Wonderfully terrifying novel from a leading thriller writer."--"Le Monde"

When David Ninochvili arrives from war-torn Georgia, the peaceful existence of a schoolteacher's family in Germany comes to an abrupt end. Christian Kestner has all but forgotten his stay in Tbilisi seven years before under Soviet rule, but when he receives a letter from David announcing his visit, he begins to worry. Why is David coming? To seek revenge for a relationship that Christian had with his wife? To conspire with one of the different factions now vying for the control of Georgia? Christian becomes intensely suspicious of David's secretive ways, jealous of the Georgian's attraction to his wife, and even resentful of his relationship with his teenage son. Fear turns into panic, a feeling so corrosive that it almost transforms this most rational individual into a monster.

Hans Werner Kettenbach came to writing late in life, publishing his first book at the age of fifty. His previous jobs include construction worker, court stenographer, football journalist, and foreign correspondent in New York. Five of his thrillers have been made into successful films, including "Black Ice," previously published by Bitter Lemon Press.In 2009 he won the Glauser award (Germany's most prestigious crime writing prize) for lifetime literary achievement.

This is a beautifully crafted thriller set in a European world of small-town hypocrisy. Erika, an attractive local heiress, is married to Wallmann. When she falls to her death near their lakeside villa, the police conclude it as a tragic accident. Scholten, a long time employee of Erika's, knows a thing or two about the true state of her marriage. He suspects an almost perfect crime. Scholten's maverick investigation soon buys him a ticket for a most dangerous ride.

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

""Black Ice" is a devilish dive into an obsessed mind by a prolific German writer."--"Kirkus Reviews," starred review

The cover cites Simenon and Highsmith in comparison. I'll not quibble with that."--Tangled Web

"A look into the individual's soul laid bare, into its abyss and its hopeless entanglements. Stories told along the razor-sharp edge of reality."--"Die Zeit"

Young lawyer Alexander Zabel has been pressured by the head of his law practice into defending the indefensible: a lying, power obsessed adulterer and ruthless industrialist accused of wrongfully dismissing his assistant and mistress. She is thirty-four; he, seventy-eight: a despot who has always had his way, now wheelchair-bound and dying of cancer. Alex must deal with a hopeless case, his growing sympathy for a repulsive client, and his sexual attraction to Klofft's elderly wife.

Less a thriller than an investigative and psychological cliffhanger, this novel examines how eroticism is somehow amplified by a sense of approaching death and presents insights into the corrosive desire for revenge, and the narrowing horizons of old age.

Hans Werner Kettenbach was born near Cologne. He published his first novel at the age of fifty. Previous jobs he has held include construction worker, court stenographer, football journalist, and foreign correspondent in New York. This is his third novel published by Bitter Lemon Press.