The beginning

About this book

Long after the Iron Curtain has crumbled, an invisible wall remains between the good citizens of Berlin and those who dwell in the city's dark underbelly. And one family, the Bentheims, straddles the line between good and evil. The family has graciously taken in Till Anschu˜tz, a young orphan on the run, and he quickly befriends his new brother, twelve-year-old Max. Together, the boys explore the office where their cold, distant father, Xavier Bentheim, writes his novels. They discover a secret door, an underground lair, gruesome photographs, bizarre films, and horrifying scenes. Is this shadowy world the reason Xavier's behavior has taken a turn for the vicious and will they ever be able to escape what they've seen? Berlin Police Inspector Konstantin Butz discovers the mutilated corpse of a woman; beside her lies a power drill freshly wrenched from her stomach. This latest in a series of related murders launches Butz on an obsessive search for the killer, but the key could lie hidden with his own girlfriend, laire Bentheim.