Ikar Publishing House Bratislava, 2022

Gripping thriller about the recent political and social situation in Slovakia. There are no political or economic crises, only moral ones. They are caused by rats. They never have enough, are active mainly in the dark when they cannot be seen. They live in clans that wage war among themselves, are vindictive, leaders mark their subordinates with urine. Rats crawl on their bellies in front of the leader out of fear, they lick his fur to show their loyalty, although they would prefer to eat him. The similarity in the behavior of politicians and rats is incredible.

The protagonist of Banáš’s novel decides to enter the political carnival, but he quickly discovers that politics is a machine that turns a decent person into a pig, only to end up as a sausage. He learns to understand that a person’s character is known best when he gets his hands on power. He asks: Why are there laws where money rules? He realizes that the so-called democratic elections are an ideal system in which some thieves legally replace others in order to steal the money of those who voted for them. Despite everything, he fights, although he knows that teaching a politician honesty is like teaching a dog to walk on its hind legs. A politician never learns, but thank God at least for a few steps. He is guided by the belief that the only brave among thousands of cowards is the majority.

Free sequel to Banáš’s successful political thriller Rat Season.