“Good morning. It’s 7.35 AM. And you’re listening to your biggest nightmare”
- Book: AMOK
- Location: Berlin
- Author: Sebastian Fitzek
Even though the plotlines of Sebastian Fitzek’s books might sometimes appear overly complicated, I always enjoy his dark storylines, brooding characters and lugubrious narrative and dialogue. However for me personally, despite not being one of Sebastian’s most recent publications, AMOK takes edge-of-the-seat thriller writing, to a whole new level.
Whilst there have been several films made over the years, which have taken the same name, none would appear to have been based on this particular premise. Although not a totally unique or unconventional storyline, I have no doubt that this is a potential hit movie in the making and it really needs to be optioned, as I have an entire cast list in mind, who I am certain could turn it into an overnight success.
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At this stage, I like to offer a short resume of the storyline, just to whet the appetite for what’s to come. However, to feature even a potted overview of this book, runs the risk of giving away too many spoilers, so I am going to keep this short piece deliberately vague, but believe me when I say that it barely scratches the surface of this gripping story. We are in Berlin, where following a strange and troubling phone call from his fiance, Leoni, followed by an even more worrying subsequent visit and less than satisfactory investigation by the police, psychologist Jan May’s world implodes spectacularly. Refusing to accept the evidence and information being presented to him as the truth, the balance of his mind becomes so disturbed that he can only see one option to prove his theory of corruption and wrongdoing and draw out the perpetrator who has taken away his reason for living.
Ira Samin, a police criminal psychologist negotiator, is only hanging on to her job by the skin of her teeth. An alcoholic mother with suicidal tendencies, she can only see one way out from the dark cloud she lives under, and it isn’t going to be pretty! Two unrelated people, who don’t know each other, it would seem that Ira and Jan have both have ‘opted’ for the same day on which to complete their individual self-fulfilling missions. But does fate play a deciding hand in events which now unfold, or are there much more tangible, darker forces at work, which ensure that their final game is actually played out together, very publicly, in front of an entire city.
Two psychologists; one trapped inside a radio station and about to play a whole new style of Russian roulette with his listeners and the hostages he has taken; the other surrounded by colleagues who no longer have trust or faith in her judgement, but reluctantly accept that she is the best person to negotiate in this scenario, so long as they can keep her sober and focussed. However, it soon becomes apparent that not all is as straightforward as it would seem. Jan is playing a much more devious and dangerous game than anyone realises and he definitely isn’t abiding by the rule book. Ira soon uncovers an additional and more pressing personal reason for needing to keep herself on the case and using all the tools in her kitbag, to bring the negotiations to a successful conclusion, although she is soon convinced that not only is Jan playing a potentially lethal game with all their lives, but that someone on her own team is playing both ends against the middle and is a mole not to be trusted – but who?
By the end of the day the bodies have started to pile up; national security is at risk; Jan has realised that once he has set it free, he can’t get the genie back in the bottle; and a sober Ira is left to question her judgement of the colleagues she thought she knew so well, although the dark cloud questioning her love and commitment as a mother has been somewhat lifted from her shoulders. Whilst the signs are definitely positive and although the threads are still tenuous, can there possibly be hope for the future for both Jan and Ira, when the dust settles on a day which should never have happened.
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This well structured, multi-layered storyline is powerful, highly textured and intense. Fast paced and told in seamless, short chapters, with crisp no nonsense narrative and dialogue, the atmosphere for the most part is desperately tense, claustrophobic and totally immersive; eerily complimenting the relatively small and confined physical footprint of the action, which is well enhanced, given depth and made very visual by some excellent descriptive writing and a keen attention to detail. The plot had so many twists and double twists, that I fast became tied up in knots about who did what, to whom, where, why and when. In this well constructed and infinitely tangled web of lies, deception, manipulation and control, everyone seemed to be double-crossing someone else and there were so many dirty little secrets being uncovered, that I wouldn’t have wanted to turn my back on any of this motley, malevolent crew, for fear of being stabbed in the back, metaphorically speaking.
It was definitely all in the detail and whilst I did manage to correctly work out the general direction I thought the story was heading in, I was completely off the grid with working out who the ‘bad guys’ really were. So by the time Sebastian had thrown in a few red herrings to confuse me a little more, I quite honestly didn’t stand a chance and I did also miss a couple of whopping obvious clues. There was just no let up until the very final chapter, when a hitherto hidden letter, written from the heart, delivers a gut wrenching confession, which does perversely pave the way for the release of that long held breath and a lifting of the all-pervading sense of guilt and grief, as a relatively gentle sigh brings the book to a close.
The relatively large and sprawling cast of characters, really had a strong and forceful presence, often threatening to overwhelm the plot, as they manipulated my thoughts and drained my energy. There wasn’t one amongst them with whom I even began to empathise or connect with, let alone invest in. Individually, they were all well defined and developed, however their often complex and raw volatility made them totally unreliable, duplicitous and manipulative. I genuinely wanted to believe in them, especially Ira and Jan, however they were both such an emotional mess, that uncovering and exposing their true motives and feelings, or finding any authenticity about them, was almost impossible.
What always makes reading such a wonderful experience for me, is that with each and every new book, I am taken on a unique and individual journey, by authors who fire my imagination, stir my emotions and stimulate my senses. This story was definitely one of a kind, having the power to evoke so many feelings, that I’m sure I won’t have felt the same way about it as the last reader, nor the next, so I can only recommend that you read Amok for yourself and see where your journey leads you, but make sure you keep your wits about you!
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