The Slovenian writer Aleš Šteger talks to poet and translator, Stephen Watts about his debut novel, Absolution. In the tradition of Bulgakov and Gogol, Šteger lets the forces of good and evil collide in this grandiose literary thriller. This is a debut novel filled with striking personae, haunting images and a grotesque plot. It proves, in the end, to be a journey into the heart of a European darkness.