Excerpt from The Accidental Further Adventures of the Hundred-Year-Old Man by Jonas Jonasson, plus links to reviews, author biography & more

'Then don't,' Allan suggested, taking a bite of his mildly seasoned nasi goreng.

More urgent was the issue with the boat-renter, who had been in touch to say that he had throttled their line of credit and intended to do the same to Messrs Karlsson and Jonsson unless their debt was settled within the week.

'The boat-renter?' Allan said. 'Did we rent a boat?'

'The luxury yacht.'

'Oh, right. So that counts as a boat, does it?'

Then Julius confessed that he'd been planning to surprise Allan on his hundred-and-first birthday, but their financial situation was such that the celebration couldn't be up to Harry Belafonte standards.

'Well, we met him once before,' Allan said. 'And my birthday parties and I have never quite seen eye to eye, so don't worry about that.'

But Julius did. He wanted Allan to know he had appreciated the Belafonte gesture. It had been above and beyond. Julius was no spring chicken himself, and at no time in history had anyone done anything as nice for him as Allan had.

'Though I wasn't the one singing,' Allan said.

Julius went on to say that there would absolutely be a party: he'd already ordered a cake from the one bakery he'd been able to find that would make it on credit. Thereafter awaited a hot-air balloon ride over the beautiful green island, along with the balloon pilot and two bottles of champagne.

Allan thought a hot-air balloon ride sounded pleasant. But perhaps they could skip the cake, given that their finances were strained. Even the hundred and one candles might cost a fortune.

The state of the friends' joint capital didn't hinge on a hundred and one birthday candles, according to Julius. He had dug through the suitcase the night before and made a rough estimate of how much was left. Then he made another based on what he expected the hotel thought they owed. When it came to the yacht, he didn't need to make an estimate, since the lessor had been kind enough to tell him the exact amount.

'I'm afraid we're at least a hundred thousand dollars in the red,' said Julius.

'Is that with or without the candles?' Allan asked.

Excerpted from The Accidental Further Adventures of the Hundred-Year-Old Man by Jonas Jonasson. Copyright © 2019 by Jonas Jonasson. Excerpted by permission of William Morrow. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.