People are abducted, disappear, are imprisoned, or tortured. Amy works for a private security service and can only sense the corruption and violence that loom like a chasm behind the secret operations. When she decides to quit, she ultimately falls into the clutches of an opaque yet brutal organization. Amy's sense of being lost corresponds with the struggle to perceive reality. What can she believe? Who is she? And above all: What happened on the day she cannot remember? Marlene Streeruwitz crafts a haunting and unforgettable scenario in her masterful novel, questioning the place of the individual in an increasingly privatized public sphere. 'The Painmaker' was awarded the Bremen Literature Prize and was shortlisted for the German Book Prize.