Blurb Josef Gripke, a pre-retired high school teacher who is as sedate as he is curious, has become involved in a conspiracy that revolves around books, World War II soldiers and magic tricks with ropes. It all begins with a restrained patient who disappears from the hospital without a trace. Gripke investigates and comes across an airborne unit that went missing in the African desert in 1942 - now events seem to be repeating themselves. What begins as a fantastic crime novel soon turns out to be a clever piece of literature that dismantles the construct that Josef Gripke thinks is his life piece by piece. Biography Christopher Ecker, born in Saarbrücken in 1967, lives and works in Kiel. In 2005 he was awarded the Gustav Regler Prize of the Saarländischer Rundfunk. Notes: