-
Your next favorite book
is waiting.
A Novel
by Wolf Haas
A clever, electrifying puzzle of a novel, inspired by MC Escher's optical illusions, in which two mirrored plots —a man waiting for an electrician and a mafia informant entering witness protection— converge in a mind-blowing finale.
Franz Escher is waiting for the electrician. His power outlet has a loose connection. To pass the time, he buries himself in a book about a Mafia key witness named Elio Russo. Elio is in jail, awaiting release. He has betrayed so many people that he fears for his life. Unable to sleep, he lies awake at night reading a book about a man named Franz Escher who's waiting for the electrician. His power outlet has a loose connection.
In Short Circuit, a dazzling display of literary pyrotechnics styled after one of M. C. Escher's impossible drawings, two different stories gradually intertwine to solve each other. It is a brilliant, inventive detective novel that becomes an electrifying show of sparks culminating in one final short circuit.
"Drawing inspiration from M.C. Escher's mind-bending graphic art, Haas toys with literary conventions including double identities and problems of translation to dazzling effect ... a clever, wryly funny ride enhanced by a memorable supporting cast ... Fans of Anthony Horowitz will find a lot to like." —Publishers Weekly
"Short Circuit is incredibly easy to read, as entertaining as a well-oiled thriller, yet so sophisticated that it will dazzle you ... an absolute must-read." —Die Zeit
"Highly entertaining. But it's not just one book; it's at least three in one, all of which are highly enjoyable. He plays cleverly with form and structure—not just as a gimmick but as a fundamental part of the story. Wolf Haas has mastered the rules of writing so completely that he can just as easily ignore them." —Der Spiegel
"A novel so rich in allusions, enjoyable, and cleverly constructed that only Umberto Eco, Italo Calvino, and Roberto Bolaño could otherwise achieve." —Welt am Sonntag
This information about Short Circuit was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Wolf Haas was born in 1960 and has received multiple international prizes, including the Bremen Literature Prize, the Wilhelm Raabe Prize, and the Jonathan Swift Prize. His novels include Property, which won the 2024 Erich Kästner Prize; The Weather Fifteen Years Ago; Defense of the Missionary Position; Young Man; as well as nine Detective Brenner crime novels. He lives in Vienna.
If you liked Short Circuit, try these:
by Thomas Mullen
Published 2024
A riveting crime novel with a speculative edge about the ways our perceptions of reality can be manipulated.
by David Joy
Published 2023
Acclaimed author and "remarkably gifted storyteller" (the Charlotte Observer) David Joy returns with a fierce and tender tale of a father, an addict, a lawman, and the explosive events that come to unite them.
by John Boyne
Published 2019
A seductive, unputdownable psychodrama following one brilliant, ruthless man who will stop at nothing in his pursuit of success.
Asking a working writer what he thinks about critics...
Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!
Can you name the title?
Test your book knowledge with our daily trivia challenge!
Your guide toexceptional books
BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
