The action takes place on June 7, 2042, at 20:42. During that endless minute, all sorts of characters will bump into each other in the streets of a small town in France after a flying saucer shows up and extra-terrestrials try to kidnap one of the townspeople. We will find out more about some of the characters, especially: Lucas, a refugee from Monaco who never should have gone to a costume party full of bodybuilders’with his future ex-fiancée; Alex, a science-fiction novelist with writer’s block who never should have opened his door for Marilyn Monroe; Big Joel, the author of The Incredible Revelation, a modest essay that provides definitive answers to the world’s great mysteries; Madeleine, the mayor, a woman who has come up with an unbeatable method for eliminating existential anguish; Bob and Douglas, the philosophers of the town’s one bar, who comment on the action with the lyrical grandeur of a Greek chorus (or nearly, anyway)... and Alain Delon guest-starring in a role where he plays against type …

In J.M. Erre’s exciting new novel, science fiction is the playing field. Here, for your reading pleasure, are the adventures of off-beat characters in a story involving quantum mechanics and fear of one’s fellow men, the temporal paradox and swallowing octopi whole… All in the interest of a mystery that won’t be resolved until the very last page. 2016 is a very good year for Erre!

7 June 2042. 20 hours and 42 minutes past midnight. A small town in France is stunned by the appearance of a flying saucer and by the extra-terrestrials’ attempt to kidnap one of the townspeople. The hilarious new novel by J.M. Erre!