The Sins of Others

1993. The war-torn Bosnian countryside. Jane Abbott, a seasoned English conflict zone photographer who is no longer easily surprised, is surprised. Stunned, in fact, to’ve come across the son of THE notorious Ingrid Heimlich—who, until her traceless disappearance twenty years ago, had been the world’s most infamous leftist terrorist. Ben Heimlich, the stranded German kid and wannabe reporter she has picked up by the roadside, is either fearless or incredibly naïve—though probably naïve—and were it not for the platoon of Serbian partisans who intercept them on their way, she’d pestered him incessantly with questions of his mother’s whereabouts.

1994. Still reeling from the horror he had seen in Bosnia—and, as ever, wondering where in the world his mother is—Ben Heimlich moves to the United States and settles in the sparkling local neighborhood and global allegory known as Hollywood. As he gets older and, eventually, more affluent, Ben realizes that, no matter how ostensibly successful he’s become, he can’t escape his lingering despair. When he meets Isabel, who’s left her own traumatic early life in Mexico behind to make a new beginning in Los Angeles, his life takes a dramatic upward turn.

Chapter after chapter, Ben and his mother’s backgrounds and personae are illuminated from a multitude of angles by, among others, a former student activist aboard a hijacked airplane on a dusty stretch of tarmac in the capital of Libya in 1971; an aging homeless actor in Los Angeles still waiting for his break in 1994; a young girl who stumbles through the smoldering ruins of Berlin in 1945; a US State Department operative who interferes with sovereign states all over South America; the involuntary teenage wife of an imperious Sinaloan drug lord who attempts to flee her gilded cage; and the ninety-something-year-old son of German immigrants who’d fought for the United States against his parents’ onetime countrymen in World War II.


Meet Florian Schneider

Born and raised in Germany, Florian Schneider is a former small-time photo journalist turned marginally less small-time advertising photographer. He lives in Southern California with his unbelievably impressive Mexican-American wife.

His latest novel, The Auctioneers, was featured on Reedsy’s Best New Book list with a five star-review in December 2020. In January 2021, Manybooks(dot)net featured The Auctioneers as Best Literary Fiction book of the month. In January 2022, his second novel, The Sins of Others, was named Best Literary Fiction book of the month by Manybooks(dot)net.

Don’t Kill Me Because I’m Beautiful

Brooklyn Petitjean is young, hot, rich, and hunted in post-pandemic Los Angeles, 2023, a city that’s cracking with tension, tent cities, roving Neo-Nazis, and a nasty gang of unemployed salesgirls. In this helter-skelter landscape, Brooklyn clashes with her fading movie star mother, finds love with a celibate ex-child star, and glimpses a terrifying future through a young psychic who tells her, “Something’s chasing you and it’s not done with you yet.” 

Reader’s Favorite Book Reviews ***** 
“What an excellent read for psychological thriller fans who are also curious about what goes on behind the beautiful faces and places, the glitz, gloom, and glamour of Hollywood… Readers follow Brooklyn’s thoughts and movements with increasing tension, and when she comes face to face with the real monsters of her childhood, she can barely breathe, and neither can we!… The complex plot is thoroughly engaging and full of twists.”

IndieReader—
“Gewirtz writes with an enjoyable poison-pen tone… “…an engrossing story with a dizzying array of complicated plot lines, many of which speak to timely topics like ageism, cancel culture, and even… the Coronavirus pandemic. It’s a thrilling, engaging read that will keep readers in suspense until the last page.” 

Foreword/Clarion Reviews— 
“Fascinating descriptions of the machinations of the movie industry also come through… Ending on a note of grace, Don’t Kill Me Because I’m Beautiful is a dark thriller in which Hollywood’s beauty belies its true evil.” 

Online Book Club —
“Don’t Kill Me Because I’m Beautiful is an intriguing story with an array of complicated plots and twists in a storyline that examines human behavior.” 


“The book is a page-turner, full of terrors and compassion, with the sense that some of the events happened or came damned near close to happening.” —Amazon Customer

“Every plot twist (and there are many) had me guessing — and then surprised. Perfect, escapist entertainment…”
— Amazon Customer 

“An array of fascinating, funny, and freaky characters. I highly recommend.” — Amazon Customer


Meet H. Gewirtz

H. Gewirtz is a twice Emmy-nominated and three-time Writer’s Guild of America Award nominee for such television shows as The Simpsons, The Larry Sanders Show, Everybody Hates Chris, and many more. DON’T KILL ME BECAUSE I’M BEAUTIFUL is his debut novel and he says it’s the best and most satisfying writing he’s ever done. H. Gewirtz lives in Los Angeles with his artist wife, Karen. His son Connor, a RISD graduate created the cover art for the novel.