A young man runs away from academic failure and finds himself in Vienna. A pretty girl finds him a job working for her grandfather...but older people who lived through the war are not all they seem...simple prose and the American fascination for WW2.

Amazing writing for a debut, minus in the dialogues, which to me felt a bit forced. I also felt the representation of life in Austria was a bit stereotypical (I find it hard to believe that everyone the protagonist encounters refers to him as The American and tells him he is so American?). Apart from that, it held my interest and it was very well written in the descriptive parts!

exciting and fascinating though the idea of the "residual WWII ghosts" is a lot more blatant than it seems and the story felt too short.

An exciting and fascinating read that transports you back in time. It is dangerous, but fun at times too. They are great characters that you will care about until the end.