This account of human and societal failure is a tour de force of psychological cruelty, failed attempts at living life and an unbelievable escalation.

Fritz Mertens brutally murdered two people. As part of the process of determining his penalty, he is told to write down his life story. The resulting account is a document of collective failure: of a childhood characterised by illness and abuse, by the search for understanding and consistent disappointment. This is a book about the sensitive terrain of children’s minds, which we must navigate with the greatest of caution.

»This book was only written because my psychiatrist asked me to write down the story of my life. He had to write an expert opinion on my behalf, because I have killed two people.«
Fritz Mertens