In 1936, Germany and Japan sign a treaty to divide oil exploitation in Siberia, but the diplomatic courier carrying the German version disappears. Almost seventy years later, Canadian Jack Boulder is tasked by the German Foreign Office to trace the original treaty. His journey through multiple countries reveals a web of intrigue and politics, blending suspense with romance.
The year is 2006 - Russia and its billionaires promise riches and an auspicious future, for many the country has become the land of the rising sun, not least for German media czars and politicians. From Basel to the Mediterranean, from Berlin to Istanbul - and beyond. You live and learn, Jack Boulder realizes, but to which purpose? "One never really knows where a story has its beginning or when it's over and done with. This one was simple. It started on a Saturday." It tries to answer questions such as: Why is a Russian oligarch interested in reinventing the Berlin-Baghdad railroad of the late 19th century? Why is a leading German media entrepreneur and former East-German journalist deeply interested in the same topic? Is it dangerous to go long-distance biking in Turkey? Question after question. It begins with an accident in Greece, follows manhunts along dusty railroad tracks in the Middle East, and ends with a furniture truck in Switzerland.
In 1936 Germany and Japan sign a treaty with two oil companies: The two countries divide among each other the oil exploitation in Siberia. The diplomatic courier carrying the German version of the treaty from Tokyo to Berlin disappears while crossing the Soviet Union traveling on the Trans-Siberian Railroad. Nearly seventy years later Jack Boulder, a Canadian living in the Swiss city of Basel, is asked by the German Foreign Office to trace the original copy of the treaty. What is so important about an agreement that is outdated? Why does a German government office offer so much money for this task if they know exactly whom to ask for its whereabouts? Soon Boulder realizes that certain parts of the puzzle are not foreign to him. Driven by curiosity he follows the trails he discovers through Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, the United States and Russia ... and others follow him. The circle closes in Siberia. Who gets the Russian oil? Who finances the pipelines? Who bags the profits?
Two German tourists die in traffic accidents in Egypt. Their bodies are used to transport a huge amount of dollar bills into Germany. Why are the responsible German authorities not interested in this case? In the guise of a Canadian journalist Jack Boulder is sent to Egypt by a minor German secret service to inquire about the background, traveling with a German government minister's delegation. Unintentionally, an airline physician gives Boulder a lead that finally takes him to Spain. Apparently, money trafficking is but a sideline in the context of events. They have their root in recent German history, former East-West business relations kept alive, and they happen on the level of the new fast and loose German elite. The novel is set in Berlin, Cairo, the Libyan desert, Basel, Potsdam, reminiscences of Budapest in the 1950s and East Berlin in the 1970s, Madrid, Andalusia, and Tuscany ... as the world turns.
Im Jahr 1936 unterzeichnen Deutschland und Japan einen Ölvertrag, der 1936 verschwindet. Fast 70 Jahre später wird Jack Boulder gebeten, das Original aufzuspüren. Auf seiner spannenden und humorvollen Reise durch mehrere Länder entdeckt er die Verwicklungen von Politik und Wirtschaft. Der Roman kombiniert Intrige und Romanze.
Der Autor hat diesen Essay vor einiger Zeit geschrieben, um sich selbst einen kleinen Überblick über die Detektivgestalten in der Literatur zu verschaffen und zu versuchen, die klassischen Charaktere und teilweise auch die Handlungsabläufe zu beschreiben. Es ist ein kurzer historischer Exkurs ohne Versuch der Vollständigkeit, vom Altertum über den Chevalier Dupin, Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot, Piet Van der Valk, James Bond bis Paul Harris. Er war an sich nicht zur Veröffentlichung bestimmt, sondern nur dazu herauszufinden, wo die eigenen Bücher in der Literatur stehen oder stehen sollen. Dann kamen Nachfragen von Freunden und Lesern mit Diskussionen; kaum jemand schreibt heutzutage noch wirkliche Detektivromane. Unterhaltung und Spannung: ja, unbedingt; Gesellschaftsbeschreibung: ja, gewollt; Literatur: natürlich; Geschichte und Geschichten. Es ist schwierig die heutigen Romane in eine Gattung zu pressen: Sind es Abenteuerromane, Spionageromane, Entwicklungsromane, „entertainments“ oder vielleicht bloße Satiren? Die, subjektiv, wichtigsten „Helden“ dieses Genre werden vorgestellt, und es wird kurz auf sie eingegangen. Das Ganze gibt einen unterhaltsamen und teilweise augenöffnenden Überblick.