Bob Van Laerhoven: The Firehand File

Detective Chaim Orlosow, is a Jewish police officer hunting a brutal serial killer known as “The Skinner.” He suspects the man could be a damaged veteran of the First World War.

Flemish Dada poet Paul Van Ostaijen and his girlfriend Emma Clément’s relationship is strained by poverty, addiction and infidelity, and moves into dangerous territory when Van Ostaijen steals a mysterious file belonging to spy Elise Kraiser.

The Firehand File is complex and demanding. There are numerous characters, shifting perspectives, and observations to absorb. This complexity gives the book its depth, all while depicting the voice and speech patterns of the time.

Dark, intelligent and often disturbing, it examines how personal trauma and social instability can become fertile ground for violence, hatred, and extremism. Not a comfortable read, or easy read, but you may find it a rewarding one.

Bob Van Laerhoven’s The Firehand File is an ambitious historical thriller that drops the reader into the turmoil of Berlin in 1921, where political extremism, poverty, drugs and violence are beginning to reshape German society.