Occident Express

The year is 2006. Russia and its billionaires promise riches and an auspicious future, for many the country has become the land of the rising sun, not least for German media czars and politicians.

You live and learn, Jack Boulder realizes, but to which purpose? What doesn't kill us makes us stronger, and: The lie is a condition of life (both quotations by Friedrich Nietzsche; and Boulder will find answers to both).

From Basel to the Mediterranean, from Berlin to Istanbul and beyond.

"One never really knows where a story has its beginning or when it's over and done with. This one was simple. It started on a Saturday."

It tries to answer questions such as: Why is a Russian oligarch interested in re-inventing the Berlin-Baghdad railroad of the late 19th century? Why is a leading German media entrepreneur and former East-German journalist deeply interested in the same topic? Is it dangerous to go long-distance biking in Turkey? Question after question.

It begins with an accident in Greece, follows man-hunts along dusty railroad tracks in the Middle East, and finally ends with a furniture truck in Switzerland.