K.U.K

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Review: K.u.K. is a tale of suspense and romance set in Vienna in 1906: suspense because the hero, army captain Ernst von Falkenburg, has just one week in which to clear himself of false charges of treason; romance, because of the relationship he develops during that week with a beautiful woman, Princess Helena, "the perfect partner and companion, one could almost say the perfect co-conspiritor in a conspiracy on behalf of right and justice." Helena not only provides von Falkenburg with invaluable assistance, but shows him for the first time that he is capable of love. The action moves across the whole panorama of turn-of-the-century Vienna, from an army barracks to the city's most elegant restaurants and its finest brothel; from the backstage of vaudeville theater to the crypt where the Emperors of Austria-Hungary are buried; from the duelling ground to an epilogue set in the Emperor's study and the Central Cemetary. All the while the clock is ticking towards the forced suicide that awaits von Falkenburg if he does not prove his innocence, and his enemies decide the best way to stop him is to strike at Helena.