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''The Hitman's Guide to Housecleaning'' is a novel by Hallgrímur Helgason. His first novel to be composed in English, it was actually first published in Icelandic, in the author's own translation, as ''10 ráð til að hætta að drepa fólk og byrja að vaska upp''.〔Hallgrimur Helgason, ''The Hitman's Guide to Housecleaning'' (Las Vegas: AmazonCrossing, 2012), p. 249; Hallgrímur Helgason, ''10 ráð til að hætta að drepa fólk og byrja að vaska upp'' (Reykjavík: JPV, 2008).〕 It has also been translated into Dutch, German, Czech, Russian, Polish, Danish, and Italian.〔https://gegnir.is/, under the title search ''10 ráð til að hætta að drepa fólk og byrja að vaska upp''.〕 ==Plot summary== The action of the novel takes place from May 15 2006 to May 12 2007. The novel's protagonist and narrator is Tomislav Bokšić, nicknamed Toxic. After fighting on the Croatian side in the Croatian War of Independence, he has moved to New York and become a successful hitman for the Croatian Mafia. However, his 67th victim turns out to have been an undercover policeman and he has to flee the country. At the airport, he avoids detection by murdering a priest (who turns out to be a homophobic televangelist called Rev. David Friendly) and taking his identity. Toxic uses Friendly's boarding pass, which takes him to Reykjavík. In Reykjavík, Toxic is met by two small-time Icelandic televangelists, Guðmundur and his wife Sigríður (whose names Toxic Anglicises as Goodmoondoor and Sickreader). He does his best to pass for Reverend Friendly until the Icelandic police come looking for him. He flees and seeks refuge with his hosts' daughter Gunnhildur (Anglicised as Gun), who dislikes her parents' religiosity, likes music and partying, and is rather pleased to harbour a wanted criminal. Toxic hides in her attic, begins to reflect regretfully on his life of violence, and the two begin a relationship. Toxic later discovers that his girlfriend in New York, Munita, has been brutally murdered. In grief, he attempts to kill himself by throwing himself off a bridge. Accidentally surviving, he makes his way to Guðmundur and Sigríður's house, where he begs forgiveness and assistance. The two decide to take him in, wrap him in bandages, and get their friend Þorður (Anglicised as Torture), a fire-and-brimstone preacher, to purge Toxic's soul through a programme of bodily mortification and spiritual reflection. Guðmundur uses his underworld and political connections to get Toxic an Icelandic identity as Tómas Leifur Ólafsson, a job, and a room in an illegal boarding-house for East European immigrant workers. Toxic's relationship with Gunnhildur develops. Discovering that some of his Lithuanian neighbours are gangsters, he steals a pistol owned by one of them, and moves out to Gunnhildur's house. He settles into Icelandic life, keeping the pistol hidden in the sole of his shoe. While watching the 2007 Eurovision Song Contest with Gunnhildur, her parents, and their friends, Toxic (now referring to himself as Tómas) receives a visit from his old mafia colleagues Niko and Radovan. They drive him to the lava-fields of the Reykjanes Peninsula to kill him. Toxic succeeds in disabling them, leaves them alive, and drives back, injured, to the Eurovision party; no-one has noticed his absence. The novel ends with him falling through the front door, and discovering that Serbia has won. The novel ends with the words 'then I'm not sure what happens'.〔Hallgrimur Helgason, ''The Hitman's Guide to Housecleaning'' (Las Vegas: AmazonCrossing, 2012).〕 The novel includes numerous flashbacks to Toxic's experiences in the Croatian War of Independence. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「The Hitman's Guide to Housecleaning」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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