The Viennese Marc Elsberg has sold millions of copies of his science thrillers. Now he's putting on a courtroom thriller. “For 'The President's Case' I wanted to put a US president behind bars,” he says in an APA interview, in which he also dares a prognosis about Donald Trump: He “will be convicted by a court, but for business Things that won't stop him from running for the presidency again “.
Image: APA
APA: At the center of your new novel is an ex-US president with the initials DT. That sounds very familiar. When did you start working on your book?
Marc Elsberg: I've been dealing with the topic for a long time. More concretely, the idea came up in the course of 2018. In 2019 I started to design and write, the intensive work was in the first half of 2020. The – fictional – figure of this ex-president bears the initials DT, but is younger and slimmer and fitter than Donald Trump, he is inspired by the last three US presidents and their actions: George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump.
APA: You became known for thrillers on science and technology topics. Why are you now entering the field of law?
Elsberg: I always understood my novels as thrillers on current topics. Technology and science are fundamental to our modern society, so they have to play a role in contemporary novels – sometimes a bigger one, sometimes a smaller one. Like in “The President's Case” when you think of the fake news, deep fakes and drones that appear in it. For “The President's Case” I wanted to put a US president behind bars – of course, justice and law are the main focus.
APA: What new challenges did you face with this unusual subject?
Elsberg: To understand international criminal law only in a rudimentary way – a very complex topic. Fortunately, I had very knowledgeable support.
APA: How much real probability did the experts you spoke to give your scenario, namely the arrest of a former US president by the International Court of Justice?
Elsberg: Admittedly, not very much.
APA: How did your research for the novel go?
Elsberg: In times of the Internet, research has become much easier on the one hand because you can find practically everything online if you know – and that makes it difficult again – where to look. So on the one hand I do research online and on the other hand I talk to experts.
APA: How much are or were you involved in the film adaptations of your novels “Blackout” and “Zero”?
Elsberg: The scriptwriters consulted me while they were writing and I was able to give my comments. But there weren't many, because I liked the scripts very much! The authors even had an idea that made me think: Great, I would have loved to have had that for the book!
APA: Due to the recent near blackout in the Central European power grids, you were again a sought-after interviewee on the subject. Would you wish more politicians would read your books and take them to heart? Or would you prefer that you were wrong about the developments you describe?
Elsberg: As I hear, my books are read by politicians anyway. The concepts for cooperation and growth optimization from my last novel “Gier” brought me lectures at the SPÖ and the Europaforum Wachau organized by the ÖVP, as well as a discussion with the German “economic wise man” Lars Feld, who later took over the chairmanship of this body that the Economic policy of the German federal government appraised. The German SPD chairman Saskia Esken recommended “Gier” several times and even read it live on Twitter once. But it is precisely these concepts that should be talked about more: In “Gier” I already described a gigantic economic crisis in 2019 that, oops, occurred in 2020, but also provided new scientific knowledge that can help to overcome such crises.
And I find some of the scenarios I have designed quite positive. I would not mind seeing them in reality if I were thinking of a broad discussion about the concepts of “greed”, or of the fact that the West really represents those values that it attaches to its chest and holds even high-ranking personalities from politics and business to account.
APA: Your books are millions of sellers. How are your connections and contacts to the “conventional” literary scene? Are there any exchanges and overlaps?
Elsberg: Of course, again and again. In 2019, for example, I was invited to the European Literature Days in the Wachau, a few months ago a conversation with colleagues Vea Kaiser, Ursula Poznanski and colleague Clemens Berger appeared in the German literary magazine “Allmende”, to name two examples. And in Vienna, when it's not lockdown, I meet a small group for a drink every now and then.
APA: We started with DT, let's end with DT: What do you think is more likely at the moment: Donald Trump will be convicted in a court – or will he run again in the next election? Additional question: If there is a conviction, will his business or political machinations be more responsible for it?
Elsberg: Both and. He will be tried in a court of law, albeit for business matters, which will not prevent him from running again for the presidency. It is to be feared that the Republicans will allow this a second time. Let's hope the US electorate doesn't go along with this.
(The questions asked by Wolfgang Huber-Lang / APA)
ABOUT THE PERSON: Marc Elsberg was born in Vienna in 1967. He worked as a strategy consultant and creative director for advertising in Vienna and Hamburg. Starting in 2000, he published a number of novels under his real name Marcus Rafelsberger. He celebrated his breakthrough as a thriller author in 2012 with “Blackout – Tomorrow is too late”. The book, which has so far been translated into over 20 languages, has sold over 1.8 million copies in German-speaking countries alone. This was followed by the thrillers “Zero” (2014), “Helix – They Will Replace Us” on the subject of gene manipulation (2016) and “Greed – How Far Would You Go” (2019). Film adaptations of “Blackout” and “Zero” are to be broadcast in 2021. Elsberg teaches storytelling at the University of Applied Arts Vienna.
(SERVICE – Marc Elsberg: “The President's Case”, blanvalet, 608 pages, 24.70 euros)
