by Sebastian Fitzek

Head of Zeus, out 12 November

Emma’s life is turned upside down after she is attacked by “the Hairdresser”. Paranoid and afraid, she reluctantly takes in a package for a neighbour…

This is the first of Sebastian Fitzek’s thrillers that I’ve read and the German author is one that I’ll add to the reading list based on this novel. It’s not light reading by any stretch of the imagination – it’s one of those books that you need to try to read through in as few sittings as possible, given the framing of the narrative and the headspace of its central character.

The timeframe jumps about quite a bit, particularly in the earlier sections, with Emma as a child, then moving to the attack, and then jumping around over the next few months. It helps add to the alienation that she feels, particularly since she’s been seen as the kid who cries wolf, who’s not believed when something bad really does happen. But was she actually crying wolf in the first place?

Fitzek creates a central character that you may not care for too deeply, but whose predicament you feel, partly because he draws you into her world of fear and trembling. There are multiple twists which will change your perspective on events, and I suspect a reread will reveal how well Fitzek foreshadows these.

Verdict: An intriguing puzzle makes for a sometimes torturous read. 7/10

Paul Simpson

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