Cassandra’s Finger
Fredric Drum, the gourmet, adventurer and cryptologist, lives in Oslo, where, among his many interests, he also successfully runs a starred restaurant.
His great friend Hallgrim Hellgren, curator of the National Gallery, returns home after a day’s work, in a valley near the city. There, in the center of his small living room, he finds the giant stone statue of Ashurbanipal, king of the Assyrians, one of the museum’s most precious pieces.
Shocked, he gets back in the car towards Oslo to give the news, but while driving, he is hit by an object that breaks through the windshield and smashes his skull.
This time Fredric Drum has to face a mystery that seems impossible to solve: the inexplicable murder of Hellgren and the presence of a four-ton statue in a small country cottage. In the same days unthinkable things start happening around him, and Fredric finds himself caught up in a drama that defies the laws of human nature. The capital is invaded by magicians who have come from all over the world for a congress; a medieval bishop reappears in the ruins of an ancient church; a punk collective is dedicated to a mysterious ancestral cult.
Among the Mayan deities, king of the elves and famous illusionists worldwide, Norway’s most famous cryptographer-winemaker and his uncle, investigator Skarphedin Olsen, give life to an amusing volume in the Fredric Drum saga.
It's Fredric Drum. He is back. With a new adventure. And this is great news.
Convenzionali, Italy
Because his stories (...)are really very pleasant to read, intriguing, compelling, exciting, original, rich in nuances.
Not to be missed!
A surprise "noir" (...) to unveil the mystery, follow the dark corners of Drum's mind
La Repubblica, Italy
A whirlwind of adventures (...) a series of characters that leave us speechless every time for their characteristics. A flowing style and a tight tone lead the reader to the last page in a crescendo of surreal situations, intrigues that seem insoluble and characters that become, page after page, more and more linked to a world not regulated by the physical laws we know.
Solo Libri, Italy
Tension increases from chapter to chapter, making the plot twists ever tighter (...) The more this book seems to drag the reader into non-sense, the more it actually drags the reader into a thick magma of events.
Milanonera, Italy
The truth, is more difficult to accept than to search for: and the long catharsis path followed by Frederic Drum somehow also draws the reader with him, leaving him changed.
Because nothing is created, nothing is destroyed, but everything is transformed.
Even the most unlikely-looking mysteries.
"A track lights up only because other lights are turned off"
Thrillernord, Italy
A simple sentence, like the one mentioned above, was enough to win me over and catapult me into a reading that made me smile from start to finish (...) Brilliant and imaginary, this story takes us into the mind of our protagonist who turns out to be anything but ordinary (...) I found the author's style flowing and pleasant.
The logic madness of our protagonist is combined in an exemplary way with the context and the plot. One reads all in one breath as curiosity overcomes you
In some respects, grotesque and surreal situations, this story seems to evoke the son of the god of thunder of the late Arto Paasilinna
Mangialibri, Italy