Human Solutions

A South American–set novel based on the true story of an ex-Nazi cult leader: "If The Boys from Brazil was written by Paul Auster . . . A one-sitting read" (Robert Hough, author of The Final Confession of Mabel Stark).

In Santiago, Chile, Javier Gonzalez runs an unusual sort of business. With the help of a team of actors, he engineers social situations that meet the unique needs of his clients. If you want your boss to like you, he can help; if you want the weatherman to fall in love with you, he can arrange it. He calls his business Human Solutions, and that is exactly what he provides.

But when Javier agrees to free a woman's son from a dangerous cult, he meets his match. Peter Wenzel—or Uncle Peter, as he insists on being called—is the cult's charismatic leader, who deftly manipulates his followers through a complicated system of fear, deception, and brutality. A man with no conscience or fear, Uncle Peter is an ex-Nazi, expelled from Germany for molesting children, and his ties with General Pinochet, Chile's barbarous dictator, are terrifying. He is a problem that Javier must solve—to save a life, to save a love, to save himself . . .

"[A] stunning debut . . . Gripping, disturbing, darkly funny, and impossible to put down . . . Triumphant." —Carmen Aguirre, bestselling author of Something Fierce, 2012 winner of Canada Reads