Written between September 29, 2011 and October 15, 2012. Revised twice and submitted to at least two dozen publishers, but never received any promise of publication. The last time I worked on it was in October 2012, when I submitted it to the Ab Ovo Publishing House’s manuscript competition, where it received no placement or distinction.
Short plot summary:
The Deadline Rats tells the story of two corrupt mayors, Erhardt Abacil and Péter Lyukrafut, who struggle to cling to power in the grotesque world of Árvafa and Tizennegyediklajosd. The two towns are soon to be visited by ministry inspectors, forcing the mayors to cooperate in order to avoid downfall. The novel is filled with absurd situations as the mayors’ ideas repeatedly fail, while they encounter grotesque characters along the way.
In the first chapter, they attempt to improve the villages’ education system, but their choice of teachers turns out to be more ridiculous than effective. In the second, they open a brewery involving the locals to create a peculiar drink, but events quickly take another unexpected turn. The two mayors desperately try to find solutions to save their positions, yet constantly face their own incompetence and the eccentric ideas of the townspeople.
As the story unfolds, Abacil and Lyukrafut come up with increasingly absurd plans, including an attempt to boost rural tourism with a “musical well,” which only brings further complications. The two mayors continually try to repair their mistakes, but each step breeds new chaos as time runs out and the inspectors draw near. |
