If you had never existed, you wouldn't have read this.

And it wouldn't have made any difference. And when you no longer exist, it will be as if you had never read this. It makes no difference. But now, as you are reading, something happens: it eats up a few seconds of your time, like a tiny gnawing animal, furry with letters, blocking the path between you and your next minute. You will never get it back.

Undisturbed, it chews on the micro-organisms of time. It never gets its fill.

Nor do you.

Andreas"s disappearance is a mystery to all, including his inseparable friend Zipp. But as much as the police question him it"s not easy for Zipp to come forward with details of the last time he saw his friend. They had been shadowing an old woman, an easy target for some quick cash, and Andreas, brandishing his knife, boldly followed her into her home. The next moment he was gone. Zipp had waited anxiously outside but Andreas failed to reappear...

Inspector Sejer and his colleagues are baffled, but while the confusion in the outside world continues, a chilling and heartstopping drama is unfolding inside the old woman"s home. In a plot in the tradition of Stephen King, Fossum deploys her trademark skill of looking realistically, terrifyingly, into the minds of criminal and victim. Appearances aren"t always to be believed, and people are not always what they seem.

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24