Opera Ball

The guests of the Vienna Opera Ball become the target of a terrorist attack. A television journalist, who is supposed to coordinate the live broadcast from the ballrooms, witnesses the crime on the monitors. His own son is among the victims. The cameras keep rolling, broadcasting the deaths of thousands to countless screens worldwide. Driven by grief for his son, the TV journalist tries to uncover the background of the attack. It is convoluted, marked by negligence and coincidences. At least as convoluted as the worldview of the small group that prepared the killings. Josef Haslinger’s thrilling media novel and political thriller paints a panorama of a prosperous society threatened by terrorism. It highlights the grotesque political contradictions between liberalism and the need for security, as well as the barely controllable influence of television on everyday life.