Felidae (Paperback)

Chased by the local bully, King Kong, and his two brainless minions Hermann 1 and Hermann 2, and haunted by nightmares of being jerked around by puppet master Gregor Mendel (the Austrian monk who, in the late 19th century, first came up with the basic biological principles on breeding and inheritance of genes), Francis almost stumbles into the reunion of a secret sect honoring a certain Claudandus, mysterious savior of all cats' misery on earth who alone escaped a cruel series of experiments performed in the very house Francis now calls his home. But while sect members pay tribute to Claudandus's memory by the macabre practice of jumping into the electric current produced by two open wires, this is not the cause of the feline population's demise; although the figure of Claudandus undeniably has something to do with it. With his human buddy and (in Bluebeard's lingo) "tin opener" Gustav completely oblivious to the horrors Francis must witness and investigate, our feline sleuth is left to his own wits - at least until Bluebeard introduces him to Pascal, the neighborhood's other "smart ass."

This is an intelligently crafted thriller and, at the same time, a book every cat lover will relish. Pirincci, who says the book was inspired by his own cats, brings to it as much talent as a writer as understanding for our four-pawed friends. Felidae easily stands its ground not only next to other (and maybe better-known) cat detective stories such as those by Lillian Jackson Braun, but next to the great thrillers involving human detectives as well.

If you speak German and get a chance, do watch the video as well - it brings this story of, as Francis once says, "horrors east of Aristocats" to life with the help of a number of actors well-chosen to portray the book's characters; among them, Ulrich Tukur as Francis and Mario Adorf as Bluebeard (although the casting of others, particularly of Klaus-Maria Brandauer, is such a reinforcement of their cliché roles that it is almost a dead give-away... so watch the movie only after having read the book; I promise you'll still enjoy it). And who knows... with the book, which is the first of a series, still immensely popular in continental Europe, and the latest Francis story ("Cave Canem") now out in paperback, maybe there will be another chance for an English language edition some time in the future, too. My cats and I would certainly hope so!

Chased by the local bully, King Kong, and his two brainless minions Hermann 1 and Hermann 2, and haunted by nightmares of being jerked around by puppet master Gregor Mendel (the Austrian monk who, in the late 19th century, first came up with the basic biological principles on breeding and inheritance of genes), Francis almost stumbles into the reunion of a secret sect honoring a certain Claudandus, mysterious savior of all cats' misery on earth who alone escaped a cruel series of experiments performed in the very house Francis now calls his home. But while sect members pay tribute to Claudandus's memory by the macabre practice of jumping into the electric current produced by two open wires, this is not the cause of the feline population's demise; although the figure of Claudandus undeniably has something to do with it. With his human buddy and (in Bluebeard's lingo) "tin opener" Gustav completely oblivious to the horrors Francis must witness and investigate, our feline sleuth is left to his own wits - at least until Bluebeard introduces him to Pascal, the neighborhood's other "smart ass."

This is an intelligently crafted thriller and, at the same time, a book every cat lover will relish. Pirincci, who says the book was inspired by his own cats, brings to it as much talent as a writer as understanding for our four-pawed friends. Felidae easily stands its ground not only next to other (and maybe better-known) cat detective stories such as those by Lillian Jackson Braun, but next to the great thrillers involving human detectives as well.

If you speak German and get a chance, do watch the video as well - it brings this story of, as Francis once says, "horrors east of Aristocats" to life with the help of a number of actors well-chosen to portray the book's characters; among them, Ulrich Tukur as Francis and Mario Adorf as Bluebeard (although the casting of others, particularly of Klaus-Maria Brandauer, is such a reinforcement of their cliché roles that it is almost a dead give-away... so watch the movie only after having read the book; I promise you'll still enjoy it). And who knows... with the book, which is the first of a series, still immensely popular in continental Europe, and the series now in its fourth instalment in Germany, maybe there will be another chance for an English language edition some time in the future, too. My cats and I would certainly hope so!

Chased by the local bully, King Kong, and his two brainless minions Hermann 1 and Hermann 2, and haunted by nightmares of being jerked around by puppet master Gregor Mendel (the Austrian monk who, in the late 19th century, first came up with the basic biological principles on breeding and inheritance of genes), Francis almost stumbles into the reunion of a secret sect honoring a certain Claudandus, mysterious savior of all cats' misery on earth who alone escaped a cruel series of experiments performed in the very house Francis now calls his home. But while sect members pay tribute to Claudandus's memory by the macabre practice of jumping into the electric current produced by two open wires, this is not the cause of the feline population's demise; although the figure of Claudandus undeniably has something to do with it. With his human buddy and (in Bluebeard's lingo) "tin opener" Gustav completely oblivious to the horrors Francis must witness and investigate, our feline sleuth is left to his own wits - at least until Bluebeard introduces him to Pascal, the neighborhood's other "smart ass."

This is an intelligently crafted thriller and, at the same time, a book every cat lover will relish. Pirincci, who says the book was inspired by his own cats, brings to it as much talent as a writer as understanding for our four-pawed friends. Felidae easily stands its ground not only next to other (and maybe better-known) cat detective stories such as those by Lillian Jackson Braun, but next to the great thrillers involving human detectives as well.

If you speak German and get a chance, do watch the video as well - it brings this story of, as Francis once says, "horrors east of Aristocats" to life with the help of a number of actors well-chosen to portray the book's characters; among them, Ulrich Tukur as Francis and Mario Adorf as Bluebeard (although the casting of others, particularly of Klaus-Maria Brandauer, is such a reinforcement of their cliché roles that it is almost a dead give-away... so watch the movie only after having read the book; I promise you'll still enjoy it). And who knows... with the book, which is the first of a series, still immensely popular in continental Europe, and the latest Francis story ("Cave Canem") now out in paperback, maybe there will be another chance for an English language edition some time in the future, too. My cats and I would certainly hope so!