The Guard

Winner of the European Union Literature Prize and having pinteresque sensibilities, Peter Terrin’s The Guard is a haunting novel of perceived oppression by the an omnipresent, but unknown, authority.
 
In the near future, Harry and Michel live in the basement of a luxury apartment block, guarding the inhabitants. No one goes outside. The world might be at war, it might even have been plunged into nuclear winter. No one knows.
 
But one weekend, all of the residents leave the block, one by one, all but the man on floor 29. Harry and Michel stick to their posts. All they know, all they can hope for, is that if they are vigilant, “the Organization” will reward them: promotion to an elite cadre of security officers remains their shining goal. But what if there were no-one left to guard?
 
Playing on our darkest fears, The Guard is a tautly observed novel by a writer of striking and stylish originality.

Flemish novellist Peter Terrin has been described as ‘a master of ominous detail’ and is considered by critics to be a literary maverick, a classic writer who doesn’t follow trends, and a masterful stylist. He has also written for the theatre and is active as a columnist. Terrin was the recipient of the European Union Literature prize and has been nominated for major literary awards several times, including the AKO Literature, Libris Literature, and the West Flanders Prizes for Literature.