Former mayor Krnáčová pens a political thriller about a crusading Prague mayor

The publisher
describes the book as a thriller from behind the scenes thriller
about Prague politics. The story starts with two charred bodies being
found in a former industrial area in Prague. The unidentified victims
are at first thought to be homeless, and don’t match any missing
persons reports. “

“Against the
background of an investigation into a brutal murder, a story unfolds
revealing practices from municipal politics, where elected
representatives are closely connected to entrepreneurs and where
prosecutors can be influenced by an appropriate amount,” the book
description states.

“When an anonymous
investigation of long-term corrupt practices in the largest city firm
is launched, everything gets a different dimension. But no one
counted on a stubborn and uncompromising mayor. He is a thorn in
everyone’s eyes: his club, his party, and the criminals,” the
description concludes.

The book, to be
published only in Czech, has 230 pages and retails for 349 CZK.

How much the story
is rooted in fact is up to the reader, according to Mladá fronta
book division editor Tomáš Dimter. “In literature – and this
also applies to genre literature – it is never clear to what extent
the story blends with fiction. To what extent reality enters into
literature is a matter of the author’s license and reader’s ability
to read between the lines,” he said, according to the Czech News
Agency.

It is not clear of
the tough mayor is based on Krnáčová. All that is known so far is
that the mayor is described with male grammar in the book descrition.

Krnáčová herself
has not commented on the book, but some of her former colleagues have
said they planto read the book. Former city councilor Petr Dolínek
(ČSSD), who was also in charge of the largest city-run firm, said
he hopes he won’t be the main villain. “Of course I would like to
read the book,” he added.

Parliamentary Deputy
Patrik Nacher, who also served in City Hall during the Krnáčová,
referred to the novel on Twitter as a “page turner for long winter
evenings” and later added it has references to real politics and is
“unafraid.”

Krnáčová, born in
Bratislava, was Prague’s first female mayor and served from
November 2014 until November 2018. Before her term as mayor, she was
head of the Czech branch of Transparency International, and also
served as deputy interior minister.

During her term as
mayor, the Blanka tunnel finally opened, after years of delays and
controversy.

She did not run for re-election in the October 5–6, 2018, elections, and said she wanted to devote more time to her family. In October 2019, she announced a return to politics and became the deputy chairwoman of ANO in the Prague 6 district.