Putto
Kristian Himmelstrup
translated from the Danish by Nina Sokol
ISBN 978-1-956005-42-4 278 pages $18.00
Ludovicus Nonnius, a great researcher during the Renaissance, discovers the smallpox vaccine in 1632 but is brutally murdered just as he wants to publish his groundbreaking discovery. It turns out a group with plans to take over the world is behind the murder. The group’s brothers want to complete Charles the Fifth's dream of a Greater Europe and have been given an eerie weapon now by which to complete just such a task.
Putto is a breathtaking story of angels, cups, war and love. It begins in the Garden of Love in Antwerp in 1632 and ends in Copenhagen in 2004. Along the way a complicated web of intrigue, Charles the Fifth's illegitimate children, disguised scientists, and malformed conspirators lead us on toward the end of history.
Kristian Himmelstrup (www.himmelstrup.info) has an M.A. from both The University of Washington and The University of Copenhagen and has taught language, cultural studies and creative writing at universities in Denmark and the US. He made his debut in 2004 with the novel Last Tango of the Dinosaur and has since published further two novels and a collection of short stories along with several books on literature and cultural studies.