Sebastian Fitzek was born in Berlin in 1971. After going to law school and being promoted to LL.D., he decided against a juridical profession for a creative occupation in the media. After the traineeship at a private radio station he switched to the competition as head of entertainment and became chief editor later on, thereafter becoming an independent executive consultant and format developer for numerous media companies in Europe. He lives in Berlin and is currently working in the programme management of a major capital radio station.
this book felt like it was directed by christopher nolan or martin scorsese, honestly.
take inception or shutter island for example: if you've seen these movies, you probably can relate to how i'm feeling right now. i'm in a whole other universe, i don't know what year it is, my head is spinning at 60 mph and my last two brain cells are working on overdrive tryna catch on to what the fuck just happened. and i fucking i love that shit, man.
i feel like that tiny exploding head emoji. poor lil guy is so confused and i can #relate.
this book truly makes me want to get out of my comfort zone more and reach for thrillers every once in a while. well done, mr. fitzek.
Dr. Viktor Larenz鈥檚 twelve-year-old girl, Josy, was ill, had mysterious symptoms and doctors didn鈥檛 know what was her illness. One day, he left her in the waiting room of the doc鈥檚 office to fetch her some water and when he came back Josy wasn鈥檛 there. He thought she went to the doc鈥檚 office but she had vanished into the thin air...
Four years later Josy is still missing. A mental patient (suffers from schizophrenia) turned up on his doorstep. She is a novelist for children and she is convinced that she鈥檚 being hounded by characters of her books. She is sure each character she writes, they come alive in real life. And one of the stories is so much like Josy鈥檚鈥�
Who is she? How does she know about Josy? What鈥檚 taking her so long? Can Anna's delusions describe Josy's last days? Where is his daughter?
Told in mostly single POV, 3rd person. It鈥檚 a standalone novel, well-written and fast-paced with short chapters, unreliable characters and with a satisfactory ending. It was a good engaging thriller. It was my first read by this author and it won鈥檛 be my last. Overall, I had a good time reading this and hope you enjoy it as well!
No me gusta que me enga帽en. Respeto mucho la decisi贸n del autor de hacer lo que le parezca con la trama, pero no me gusta acabar una novela y comprobar que, de todo lo que se ha le铆do, s贸lo el final es verdaderamente real. Que lo que se ha le铆do es la fuente de la imaginaci贸n del protagonista. Una lectura muy emocionante, eso s铆, pero a la mitad del libro ya se empieza a intuir que todo es una farsa. Y luego, el otro final acaba por estropear totalmente la novela.
I do not like to be fooled. I highly respect the author's decision to do what he likes with the plot, but I do not like to finish a novel and check that, of everything that has been read, only the end is truly real. That what has been read is the source of the protagonist's imagination. A very exciting read, yes, but halfway through the book you already begin to intuit that everything is a farce. And then the other ending ends up totally spoiling the novel.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
I鈥檝e read a few books written by this German author 鈥� all translated into English from his mother tongue. Fitzeck seems to specialise in creating scenes of tortuous intrigue and suspense before landing a twisting finish that gives the lie to the readers' understanding of events previously described. In this story, we first meet Dr Viktor Larenz, a renowned psychiatrist who is in a state of panic at what he perceives to be the disappearance of his twelve-year-old daughter, Josy He鈥檇 left her in the offices of another doctor for a few minutes, during which time she appears to have been abducted. In the months and years that follow, struggling to deal with this devastating event, Larenz takes to the drink, and in time, his wife leaves him. His life in tatters, he closes down his professional practice.
The scene then shifts to a psychosomatic clinic where Lorenz, under restraint, is talking to a fellow psychiatrist who is trying to dig the back story out of him. Why exactly is he here? And why under restraint? Is Larenz, in fact, accused of killing his own daughter? It鈥檚 not clear. In fact, nothing is clear. As the scene continues, we start to hear Larenz鈥檚 account of recent events 鈥� now, it鈥檚 promised, we鈥檒l learn of Josy鈥檚 fate.
As Larenz starts to speak, we hear that some years after Josy鈥檚 disappearance, he had secreted himself away away on an isolated island. Here he was visited by a young woman, Anna Glass, who persuaded him to hear her story, promising him that he鈥檇 want to treat her when he鈥檚 heard her out. Reluctant as he is to entertain this intrusion, and adamant that he is that he is no longer a practising doctor, he does eventually find himself hooked by Anna鈥檚 story.
The whole tale is told in a breathless style somewhat reminiscent of a Dan Brown novel, and, in truth, I found this rather overblown and tiresome. But despite this, I was intrigued 鈥� how was all this going to play out? It鈥檚 a pacy psychological thriller with my only real gripe (apart from the hyperbole, that is) being that I found the twists at the end to be at first clever but then veering sharply toward the unbelievable. It鈥檚 a pity, as I think a bit more of a risk could have been taken to produce a more memorable climax.
It鈥檚 an entertaining tale, though, and one certainly worth catching if you enjoy tantalising psychological thrillers.
Muy buen libro de misterio, tremendamente adictivo, ligero y con un caso que, si bien est谩 bien logrado, creo que podr铆a haberse desarrollado un poco mejor. Me fue imposible soltarlo hasta el final.
Mi pensamiento constante mientras le铆a era "qu茅 intenso todo". De momentos muy turbio, y eso me encant贸, esperaba ese grado de tensi贸n, pero super贸 mis expectativas. Es uno de los mejores thrillers que he le铆do. En definitiva una vez que se inicia su lectura es casi imposible parar. Le voy a estar haciendo una video rese帽a muy pronto en mi canal, por si les interesa conocer mi opini贸n en mayor detalle:
Eins muss man dem Herren lassen, die Seiten fliegen nur so dahin. Aber abgesehen davon, sind seine Geschichten einfach nichts f眉r mich. Seine Enden sind zu abgedreht, es kommen zu viele Wendungen, die er (meiner Meinung nach) nur aneinanderreiht, damit die Leute denken "oh wow damit hab ich nicht gerechnet, er ist grandios, wie kommt er auf so etwas, etc" Und trotzdem war mir bei diesem Buch eigentlich relativ schnell klar, in welche Richtung das geht.
This books was recommended to me as 鈥� you have to read this鈥�. I鈥檇 been looking for a good, 鈥渘o nonsense鈥� thriller for a road trip to listen to and this came highly recommended.
I can honestly say that it was one of the worst books I have read in years. It鈥檚 so far fetched, over dramatic and confusing. I only stayed with it just to see would the ending redeem the what had gone before and I can honestly say it didn鈥檛.
The story was extremely repetitive and went round in circles that by the end I was totally confused and bored by the story. I can鈥檛 recommend this one.
This won't be much of a review because this wasn't much of a book. I started reading this book months ago but couldn't get into it. On this second try, I read much further before considering quitting but I stuck with it.
This was mostly a history of Dr. Viktor Larenz and his missing daughter. Confusing first half to two-thirds. There was nothing to believe; everything was suspicious. Characters were stiff and dialogue was stilted. Then the final few chapters explained everything. I could have saved time and just read the last third. There wasn't enough suspense for me.
Si quieres que el cerebro se te quede como acabante de salir de un spa, 茅ste es tu autor 馃槀馃槀馃槀
Y as铆 me vuelve a dejar este buen se帽or. Da igual que lea la sinopsis para saber de qu茅 trata 驴para qu茅? Va a jugar contigo del derecho y del rev茅s y a煤n as铆 (como no le parece suficiente) da otro giro m谩s para que te vuelvas a煤n m谩s loco si cabe. As铆 es Fitzek 馃ぉ
En esta ocasi贸n nos presenta a un reputado psiquiatra cuya hija desaparece en extra帽as circunstancias. Y ya...desde la primera hoja empieza lo bueno. Los cap铆tulos son cortos y he elucubrado mil teor铆as 驴he acertado alguna? Puuues no...s贸lo un atisbo de media cosa que ocurre 馃槀馃槀 Llegados a este punto mi cabeza ya no puede seguirle el ritmo y me dejo llevar mientras sonr铆o y arrugo el entrecejo continuamente por los giros tan inesperados. Aunque si bien es cierto que algunas cosas que suceden y explicaciones son un poco convenientes, la historia es tan buena y tan intrigante que s贸lo me sumerjo en ella, la visualizo (porque es muy descriptivo) y vuelo con Fitzek a donde sea que quiera llevarme.
Un autor que no defrauda y una apuesta m谩s que segura 馃挌
Un buen misterio siempre es atrapante y aunque muchas veces las historias en si pueden ser interesantes pero con una ejecuci贸n que deja con la sensaci贸n de que falta algo este libro no cae en esa bolsa, la historia es tremenda, si bien usa los t贸picos comunes al g茅nero no se siente como la historia que has visto mil veces y eso es gracias a la manera en que esta contada: atrapa desde la primera p谩gina y el autor hace un manejo de los personajes que logra que el lector desee saber m谩s de ellos, crear teor铆as conspirativas acerca de su pasado y de su futuro y entenderlos m谩s all谩 del papel que juegan en esta historia.
Fitzek hace un trabajo buen铆simo en crear el trasfondo de los personajes y en llevarno de un lado a otro en lo que va pasando, cuando terminas la narraci贸n una parte de ti quiere gritar(te) por no haberlo sospechado despde el princoipio, otra quiere golpear al autor por haberte enga帽ado mientras que al mismo tiempo quieres darle un chocolate de felicitaci贸n...es decir deja con muchas sensaciones, vas de lo catat贸nico a lo fren茅tico y pasar de uno a otro conlleva un subidon de adrenalina. El 煤nico detalle que podr铆a decir es que la resoluci贸n del misterio no es tan explosiva como podr铆amos esperar pero las migajas que te llevan a 茅l...:OOOO
Ten铆a este autor en el radar, pero nunca me hab铆a dado porleerle, y eso que tengo 2 o 3 libros suyos en las estanter铆as!
Hace poco me contaron que cuando saca un libro en Alemania hace una gira por el pa铆s y sus entradas rondan los 25鈧�!! Fuerte 驴no? As铆 que reconozco que me entro curiosidad y cuadr茅 Terapia para febrero ya que cubr铆a la premisa del reto #DH2023 Thriller m茅dico organizado por @_descubriendohistorias.
驴Me ha gustado? S铆, es muy entretenido, se lee rapid铆simo y da lugar a varias teor铆as. No acert茅 el final, estuve cerca, pero en las 煤ltimas p谩ginas da un giro que 隆zas! Te pone la cabeza del rev茅s. Durante la primera mitad del libro estuve bastante desconcertada, aunque elabor茅 una teor铆a que en parte era cierta, esto me permiti贸 seguirlo mejor porque ya os digo que es un poco lioso.
La historia comienza cuando un reputado psiquiatra acude con su hija a la consulta de un especialista con su hija Josy de 12 a帽os y de repente esta desaparece, a partir de aqu铆 el doctor comenzar谩 una alocada b煤squeda de su hija por diferentes escenarios. Y hasta aqu铆 puedo leer.
No es el libro que os recomendar铆a con los ojos cerrados pero ha estado entretenido. Por cierto鈥� 驴Por qu茅 autor/a pagar铆as 25鈧� por estar en un evento de presentaci贸n y firma?
Me qued茅 toda la noche despierto leyendo este libro...
Tremendo thriller psicol贸gico, no aburre en ning煤n momento y es muy impredecible. Justo cuando pensaba que ten铆a todo m谩s o menos resuelto la trama dio un giro completamente diferente a lo que uno pod铆a esperar, me encant贸. Seguramente lea algo m谩s de Fitzek pr贸ximamente, me dej贸 una muy buena impresi贸n.
Si est谩s buscando un buen thriller, de esos que son imposibles de dejar de leer y que se puedan terminar en un solo d铆a, entonces 茅ste libro es ideal para ti.
OMG! Grandios. Dieses Verwirrspiel bis hin zu allerletzten Seite hat mich den ein oder anderen Nerv gekostet. Nichts ist wie es scheint oder wie man es beim Lesen immer wieder vermuten mag. absolut empfehlenswert. Fitzek ist einfach der unumstrittene Meister seines Fachs!
Mano smegenai i拧臈jo i拧 proto馃檲 Kadangi ne pirma Fitzek istorija, bandai i拧likt budri, netgi 啪inai kur link visa pasisuks, bet tas ra拧ytojo polinkis atidaryti tavo kau拧膮, ir giliai su diiideliu 拧auk拧tu pamai拧yti, visk膮 sujaukti, pribarstyti realyb臈s-fantazijos prieskoni懦 ir palikti tave kunkuliuojant寞...ufff u啪 tai a拧 ir sergu juo馃槂
*** My brain went crazy馃檲 Since it's not Fitzek's first story, you try to stay alert, you even know where it's going to go, but that writer's tendency to open your head, and stir deep with a big spoon, mix everything up, sprinkle reality-fantasy spices and leave you seething...ufff therefore I'm sick of him 馃槂
A ver c贸mo comenzar; siempre he sido fans de los thrillers y libros de suspenso, incluso mucho antes de gustarme la fantas铆a.
En s铆 la sinopsis promete mucho, de hecho lo que me imagine de c贸mo iba el libro fue totalmente distinto a lo que result贸; aunque el resultado no fue del todo malo.
Mientras ibas internandome en el relato del protagonista, este me fue intrigando, hab铆a muchos plot twist que aligeraban la lectura (y eso que s贸lo tiene 300 p谩ginas); torn谩ndola menos mon贸tona.
El final, bastante rebuscado e impredecible; no es un mal libro, pero tampoco es el mejor thriller que he le铆do; aunque sin duda le dar茅 otra oportunidad al autor.