Cold Blood

Novel

Two brothers from Riga make a career for themselves: first in Nazi Germany, then as spies in the young Federal Republic. The Jewish woman Ev is sometimes one man's lover, sometimes the other's. In this passionate ménage à trois, moral abysses open up that lead to adventurous political entanglements.

The story of the Solms is also the story of Germany in the 20th century: of the fall of an old world and the rise of an eerie phoenix from the ashes.

The novel by Chris Kraus was published in Germany in 2017 and advanced to bestseller status when it was published in France two years later (more than 50,000 copies sold since 2019). The book has been nominated for all the prestigious French literary prizes (Prix du meilleure Livre étranger, Prix Femina, Prix FNAC, etc.) and will be translated into English or American, Italian, Russian, Ukrainian and Dutch by 2022.

Genre:
Historical drama

Status:
Published

Reviews (novel):

"The pages describing the fascinating era of East-West confrontation are touching in the strongest way. One feels transported back to "The Third Man". An outrageous epic and a great novel." (Le Monde)                       

"What an immense political text, what an immense literature, what an immense source of reflection!" (Vogue) 

"Not since The Well-Intentioned has one read anything comparably ambitious, nothing comparably self-indulgent, nothing comparably shameful. Chris Kraus manages to meet an unimaginable challenge with this exuberant text - which mixes history, geopolitics and big emotions. Magnificent!" (Le Figaro)

"The event of this autumn, a shocker book, a marathon novel, the predicates are not enough to give an idea of The Cold Blood!" (La Grande Parade)

AUTHOR

Chris Kraus first worked as a journalist and illustrator before studying directing at the German Film and Television Academy in Berlin from 1991 to 1998 and making his debut with SHATTERED GLASS (2002). Alongside POLL DIARIES (2010), his greatest successes include the international award-winning feature drama FOUR MINUTES (2006) with Monica Bleibtreu, Hannah Herzsprung and Nadja Uhl.