HUMAN SOLUTIONS

Based on the true story of Paul Schaeffer, an ex-Nazi who founded the Colonia Dignidad colony in Chile in the 1970s, Human Solutions is a story easy to submit to and impossible to escape.

To most people, Javier Gonzalez is an ordinary man. If you were to ask him, he would tell you that he runs an acting studio in Santiago, Chile, which is the truth, but not the whole story. Only a handful of people know that Javier also runs an unusual sort of business. With the help of a team of actors, Javier engineers social situations that meet the unique needs of his clients. He calls his business Human Solutions, and that is exactly what he provides. And Javier is good at what he does, so good, in fact, that his manipulations never fail. But things are about to get challenging. Against his better judgment, and the council of his associates, Javier takes on a case that he quickly realizes might be his last. It is too dangerous, they tell him, impossible. His client's son is locked behind the well-armed walls of a cult masquerading as an educational institution. The gates are secured by armed guards, and he is warned that getting in will be as difficult as getting out. He intends to do both, and quickly. Once inside, Javier meets a man who is running a larger-scale social manipulation than he ever thought possible. The man is Peter Wenzel – or Uncle Peter, as he insists on being called – and as the charismatic leader of the cult he deftly manipulates his followers through a complicated system of fear. Uncle Peter is an ex-Nazi, Javier discovers, expelled from Germany, and his ties with General Pinochet – Chile's ruthless dictator – are extensive and terrifying. Javier quickly realizes that he may have met his match -- but there isn't time for thoughts like this. He must find the boy, earn his trust, avoid Uncle Peter's wrath, and figure out a way for them to escape. AVI SILBERSTEIN was born in Chile in 1982, during the rule of General Pinochet, and moved to Canada after high school. His short stories have appeared in publications including The New Quarterly and Grain. He is a librarian in Victoria, BC. This is his first novel.