Tag: novel

Beyond the Grave

keverberg kessel frank jacobs frankjacobs limburg netherlandsAfter the death in a dutch convent of a mediocre nun, the old noble family Van Keverberg van Kessel seems to be extinct. A century later, though, it appears that her father, the last baron, during the sinister last days of his life woke up powers that spread their lethal tentacles out to the present. Suddenly, people are fighting over his legacy. But why? What enigma did he take with him in his grave? Eventually, only his grave can de-escalate the situation, but no-one knows where that is.

Beyond the Grave is a historical fact-fiction thriller, based on the turbulent life of baron Frederik van Keverberg van Kessel, a colorful querulant who died in 1876, after which his corpse vanished, leaving only a mystery. The story switches between the closed dutch country life of the 19th century and contamporary Paris, and travels with the immigrants across the Atlantic to hostile New York and with the homesteaders to the new territories, via the Great Plains of Nebraska back to the sinister secrets of the baron.

Trash

Trash is the story by a man who gets romantically involved with the girl next door, a lovely and beautiful single mother. The first period of their relationship is great, but by the time Mark really starts loving her, Rachel turns out to be an alcoholic. Mark decides to help her, but misses the indications of far bigger trouble. While fighting Rachel’s alcoholism, for both the sake of Rachel and her baby, Mark slowly gets stuck in a web of borderline personality disorder. Lies, treason, shoplifting, obsession, drugs, sexual perversity and shady people soon become part of their daily life. When Mark finally realises that his world has become insane and that the child’s life is in danger, he is too far involved to withdraw. Finally, he jumps off, only learning that a borderline doesn’t take no for an answer..

Trash is based on a true story. The author turned his experience with a borderline woman into an ironical, dark novel. One moment a comical tragedy, the other moment a tragical comedy, narrating in a very confrontating manner how a caring mother is capable of destroying both herself and her infant.

‘How’s that you only have one fragrance of shower gel in your bathroom?’, she barked at me while entering my living, wearing my bathrobe, head bowed, rubbing her hair with my towel. ‘My ex used to have a whole collection. Real men have a choise of fragrances in their shower.’
Real men wash their body with bleach. Except for their dick, that they leave for the girl next door to suck until it’s shiny and clean. It was on the tip of my tongue. Why didn’t I have the guts to just say it?

Hitler’s Son

April 30th 1945. Berlin is destroyed and surrounded by russian troups, hungry for victory, revenge and german blood. Within only a few days, a young woman witnessed her husband being shot and her neighbour hanging himself, before being raped by russian soldiers and  kidnapped by two high ranked german military men. In an underground bunker, Adolf Hitler and his entourage realize that the end is near. Hitler is determined never to let himself being captured by the russians and commits suicide, together with his wife Eva Braun.

January 23th 1965. Two young aircraft mechanics steal a Lockheed Neptune from the dutch naval airbase of Valkenburg. Although they lack flying experience, they manage to get the plane airborne. Only a few minutes later though, they crash it in the North Sea. No one understands what made these fine young men do such a thing, since they must have known that there was no chance whatsoever that they could ever land the plane safely or survive this deed.

A somewhat eccentric man moves into a manor in the dunes. He spends his days hiking at the beach and in the dunes, leaving the villagers wondering how he can afford his costy house and what he does for a living. During one of his strolls, the man meets a woman from the village. They get acquainted and the woman shows him a photograph her father once found at the beach decades ago. The picture appears insignificant, until the man discovers the mind blowing truth behind it.

Three different events in three different eras soon appear to be connected in a peculiar way. A man who learned to even mistrust facts is to disclose facts that are too shocking to be trusted. He decides to chase them anyway and soon finds out that someone is not amused by his curiousity, causing a sequence of terrible events.

Hitler’s Son is a historical fact-fiction thriller, set on the aftermath of World War II. Freedom is reclaimed and the nazis seem to be defeated, but are they really? The line between facs and assumption appears thinner than ever.