Oliver Sacks meets Patricia Highsmith in this psychologically taut tale about a virtuoso pianist plagued by unwanted music in his head

Jan, an experienced virtuoso pianist, is about to go on stage to perform his solo. But, once again, the music he hears in his head is not what he is supposed to be playing. Will it go away in time, or will it sabotage his performance?

As he struggles with this hidden condition, he thinks about his high school friend Dirk - a magnetic, eccentric personality. It began like a game, with Dirk playfully stealing Jan's first girlfriend. And it continued like a game - a very close friendship with an undertone of danger.

They go their separate ways after high school, but when they reunite as adults, Jan wonders: is Dirk really the strong character he appeared to be, and was their friendship in fact real, life-long love?

The final game Jan plays - a blind ride on a dark country road - is the most dangerous of all. In this powerful debut, Eric Beck Rubin conjures up a moving tale full of music and raw human emotion, with a virtuoso touch.

Eric Beck Rubin is a cultural historian who writes on architecture, literature and psychology, and this novel is his first foray into fiction. He is currently at work on a second: a family saga spanning several generations, from pre-World War II Germany to present-day Los Angeles and Western Canada. He lives in Toronto, Canada.