Florian Kaufman, an engineer, dreams of setting up an ethical enterprise in Brazil. Being Swiss, he assumes that his logical mind will help him in this endeavor, but he soon finds himself up against the hostility of those who classify him as a “gringo”, a foreigner, plus inept police officers and a crime ring ready and willing to pay him off, or worse. Page after page, Kaufman’s initial faith in justice vacillates as he discovers a shadow reality. Especially when he finds himself catapulted into a case of murder, for which he’s been framed, and then into an ethical dilemma that challenges his morality and his dreams.

Carlo Calabrò was born in Palermo and studied bio-engineering in Milan and Paris. His career as a consultant, banker, and entrepreneur took him to countries all around the world to live, and he spent eleven years in Brazil. Thanks to this experience, in 2011 he published, together with his father, Antonio, the book Bandeirantes. Il Brasile alla conquista dell’economia mondiale (Laterza). He next moved to New York, became a screenwriter, and won an award at the Vortex Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Horror Film Festival. In 2024, his first novel, Meccanica di un addio, was published by Marsilio and shortlisted for the Giorgio Scerbanenco Award at this year’s Noir in Festival.