Brenner and God

Brenner and God

Wolf Haas

Translated by Annie Janusch
Part of Melville International Crime

One of the most wildly popular detective series in Europe—where each book has sold over 300,000 copies—comes to America

Simon Brenner is an ex-detective who’s now turned to a quieter career as the personal chauffeur for two-year-old Helena, the daughter of a Munich construction giant and a Viennese abortion doctor. One day at the gas station, while Brenner’s attention is turned to picking out a chocolate bar for Helena, the little girl gets snatched from the car. Now out of a job, Brenner decides investigate her disappearance on his own. With both parents in the public eye, there’s no scarcity of leads—the father’s latest development project has spurred public protest, and the mother’s clinic has been targeted by the zealous leader of an anti-abortion group.

Set in Vienna’s gas stations, betting parlors, and “Yugoslav” discos, Brenner and God features a dubious cast of powerful characters: there are Viennese politicians, bankers, and real estate magnates, all implicated in the kidnapping.

Told in a playful style that has won the admiration of readers around the world, Haas writes with a dark humor that leaves no character, including Brenner, unscathed.

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WOLF HAAS was born in 1960 in the Austrian province of Salzburg. He is the author of seven books in the bestselling Detective Brenner mystery series, three volumes of which have been made into popular German-language films. Among other prizes, the Brenner books have been awarded the German thriller prize and the 2004 Literature Prize from the City of Vienna.

ANNIE JANUSCH is the translator of the Art of the Novella edition of Heinrich von Kleist’s The Duel.

"Simon Brenner, the hero of Wolf Haas' marvelous series of crime thrillers, is a wildly likable and original character—a delightful and unexpected hero to show up in this noble and enduring genre. That Brenner struggles his way—always humanistically, often humorously—through Haas' acutely suspenseful narratives without the aid of a firearm, armed only with his smarts and sometimes fallible intuition, is a monumental plus." —Jonathan Demme, Oscar-winning director of The Silence of the Lambs

“A must for crime fiction lovers with a sense of humor: In Simon Brenner, Wolf Haas has created a protagonist so real and believable that I sometimes wanted to tap him on the shoulder and point him in the right direction!”—Andrey Kurkov, author of Death and the Penguin

"Haas brings a wry sense of humor to this familiar story line with his detached, conversational style. American readers will look forward to seeing more of Simon Brenner." ---Publishers Weekly

“Drolly told by an unidentified yet surprisingly reliable narrator, Brenner and God is very funny, leavened throughout with a finely honed sense of the absurd.”—Lisa Brackmann, author of Rock Paper Tiger and Getaway

"He is highly entertaining... It's as if he sits on Mount Everest looking down at other thriller writers"
—Frankfurter Rundschau

“Thanks to Simon Brenner, the Austrian Wolf Haas is one of the German-speaking world's premier crime writers, beloved by critics and readers alike.”
—Der Spiegel

"This is great art, great fun."
—Germany Radio

"Wolf Haas writes the funniest and cleverest mysteries."
—Die Welt