Hugo Van Bever 
Darkness of Mind 
A Trilogy on the Art of Opera, and Murder

A Sweet Double Murder Out of the blue, a retired professor commits a double murder in his apartment, killing two men. In a monologue, at the police station, he explains why he did it, reflecting on wars, holocausts, religion, power, money, lust, love, and on the intellectual limitations of the human race When Death Does Not Part After ten years at a psychiatric institute, Thomas, a fifty-year-old teacher, returns to Florence in search of the truth. Retracing the steps he took with his young lover Irena, he learns who she really was. As similarities to Verdis opera Rigoletto haunt the pages, Thomas confesses what happened between them in a desperate attempt to purify his soul, find peace of mind, and love. Unable to accept the truth and its horrifying implications Thomas is doomed to relive his past. On My Fathers Bike I wanted to become the first creator of perfect and painless love. It was my fathers fault. Indirectly he forced me, because I loved him too much. Indeed, my father. Can you believe it? I wanted to optimize love by transforming into what you love. Imagine the advantages! Wouldnt it be delightful to adopt the patience of the snake, the speed of the panther, the devilish persistence of the scorpion, or the beauty of the orchid? And imagine absorbing the beauty of a lover? Nuts beauty? For he surely was beautiful. Youd reach ultimate perfection. Ultimate love! But how do you do it? How do you turn yourself into what you love? Being a scientist, and brilliant, I had hit upon a scientific method that would allow me to achieve such a transformation. Call it reverse metabolism. These are the words of Andre Junior, a professor who is certain that his mission in life is to prove that reverse metabolism is possible. So certain, in fact, he is willing to kill for it, even eat for it.