The Hitman's Guide to Housecleaning

Senka’s number so they can have my babies meet.
    The groin-pain grows with each step, as I make my way to the front door, leaving behind me a trail of blood. With the sound of silent church bells, I open the door and step over the golden threshold. I’m greeted with music, some flutes and stuff, coming from the living room. As I enter (in my shoes) I can see that they’re all still there, gathered around the loud TV: Goodmoondoor and Sickreader, Torture and Hanna, Ari and Gunnhildur, Olie and Harpa. They seem surprised to see me, staring at me with big eyes, small noses, and open mouths. Eight good snowballs facing a man on fire.
    “I didn’t.” I manage to say before I collapse on the floor. “I didn’t kill them.”
    They rush to my rescue. Olie’s small golden earring flicks above me like a halo thrown at me from a thousand feet. Torture gets all red in the face, turning his glasses into two half moons. Gunnhildur’s bright face hovers over me like a large sun over a troubled land. She says something, but I can’t hear it. And then more faces appear. Hanna, Harpa, Sickreader…And they all say something, but I can’t hear it for the room is filled with music. I don’t recognize the song, but I can make out some of the words.
    “Al Bogu ne mogu…”
    “What’s the song?” I manage to whisper.
    “It’s the winning song. From Serbia. Serbia’s the winner,” Gunnhildur says.
    “Oh? They won? Good for them.” I say.
    Then I’m not sure what happens.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
    Hallgrimur Helgason began as an artist, showing his work in galleries in New York and Paris. He made his debut as a novelist in 1990 and gained international attention with his third novel, 101 Reykjavik , with praise including an apt description by novelist/critic Tim Sandlin: “Imagine if Henry Miller had written Tropic of Cancer on crack instead of wine.” It was subsequently made into a film starring Victoria Abril. In 2001 he received the Icelandic Literary Prize for The Author of Iceland and has twice been nominated for the Nordic Council Literature Prize: first with 101 Reykjavik in 1999 and then Stormland in 2007. A film based on the latter was released in early 2011. The Hitman’s Guide to Housecleaning is his only novel written in English. The author’s own translation was published in Iceland in 2008 and became a bestseller in Germany in 2010. A father of three, Hallgrimur divides his time between Reykjavik and Hrísey Island.