Petao u prozoru

The story takes place in post-war Yugoslavia (probably the 1950s), where a mysterious stranger – an alleged tourist – appears, attracting suspicion due to unusual details. The key motif is a rooster (or a picture of a rooster) in the window of a house, which serves as a signal, symbol or trace from the past. The stranger turns out to be a former member of the Gestapo or a Nazi collaborator who is hiding or returning to retrieve something from the wartime.

Nikolić builds tension through classic crime novel elements: an investigation (perhaps by the police or ordinary people), secret connections, false identities, conflicts of interest and moral dilemmas. The novel has an adventurous flow, with elements of espionage and pursuit, and the rooster in the window becomes a metaphor for a hidden danger or a past that does not pass. The work is known for its record-breaking circulation for that time and inspired ideas for a film adaptation (e.g. Saša Petrović considered a film about a Gestapo tourist).

The style is simple, dynamic, typical of Nikolić's crime novels (similar to "Four Dead Sheriffs", "Ticket to Hell", "Spy X Reports"): fast pace, unexpected twists, criticism of fascism and war crimes through an entertaining form. There is no deep psychology, but action and a moral message about justice and memory of the past. The novel was very popular, translated in the spirit of Yugoslav entertainment literature of the 1950s-1960s, and recently republished (Vedis, 2025). One of the classic works of domestic crime fiction of that period.