Jim Ritter

The Austrians Jim Ritter

What is the value of truth in a world of want? This question is at the heart of a tightly woven plot, full of imagery and intrigue, that builds to the final pages, to the final word, and perhaps to the answer of "truth vs. want" for the reader. The Austrians takes place twelve years after terrorist attacks have turned the United States into "the country that isn't a country anymore" - twelve years after the United Nations has taken over and given to each state a nation to act as its protectorate, with Austria chosen for Georgia. In a backdrop of an extreme America, one where there are no responsibilities, no consequences, a little girl dies a violent death on the streets of Atlanta and a tangled web of wants begin to spiral out of control. A shattered police officer, in the ranks of the corrupt Georgia Austrian Police Force, sees her as a link to his lost past. The flamboyant singer of the rock band Marmot Crowd sees her as a symbol of love whose death must be vindicated. The head of the S Faith religion sees her as his "Angel of Light," sent down to make the prophecies of his S Faith handbook complete. When the truth of the little girl's death is finally revealed, all that is left to question is, "What is the value of this truth?"