THE TYHOON FIRM
The beginning of the novel:
The flowing roof of Utrecht Central station looked from a distance like the dropped shell of a huge animal. Illuminated by a cool northern light streams of people marched through the concourse. One of them was Alex Stanovsky, a dark blond young man with serious green eyes and high cheekbones dressed in a light gray woolen suit. He looked quite out of step: he ran around like a headless chicken. Did he supposed to be at platform 5 or 6? 7 or 8? Suddenly he knew. Like an arrow he ran quickly to the escalator leading to platform 8. His way however, was barred by a group of people. They looked stoically ahead. His attempts to pass them were fruitless. They ignored him. He clutched one of them, a balding middle-aged man in a blue bomber jacket. He looked at Alex in surprise.
"Don't worry man, it's just a train," he said. However, through the tumult Alex did not hear what he said. He only saw his moving lips. When he tried to come forward, he was pushed back without mercy. Alex swallowed his annoyance: it would take a few moments before he finally arrived down on the platform. Unfortunately, when he looked into the distance his fears seemed to come true: he saw his train leaving at full speed. As he stepped onto the platform, he heaved a deep sigh and hung his head in dismay. But when he looked up he saw to his surprise the train standing right in front of him. Alex blinked a few times. The train was still there. Hearing the sound of the starting signal he didn't wonder anymore and jumped inside. The doors closed and the journey began.
