Synopses & Reviews
No witnesses, no evidence, no body: Star psychologist Viktor Larenzs twelve-year-old daughter, Josy, who had suffered from an inexplicable illness, has vanished under mysterious circumstances during a visit to her doctor, and the investigation into her disappearance has brought no results. Four years later, Viktor remains a man shattered by this tragedy. He has retreated to a remote vacation cottage on a North Sea island, where a beautiful stranger named Anna Glass pays him a visit. She claims to be a novelist who suffers from an unusual form of schizophrenia: all the characters she creates for her books become real. While writing her most recent novel, Anna has been tortured by visions of a little girl with an unknown illness who has vanished without a trace, and she asks Dr. Larenz to treat her. Viktor reluctantly begins therapy sessions with the stranger, but very soon these sessions take a dramatic turn as the past is dragged back into the light. What really happened to Josy? Do Annas delusions describe Josys last days? And is Larenz a danger to himself and others?
Therapy is an absolutely gripping psychological thriller, an intelligent, fast and furious read that will stay with you for a long time after you have followed Viktor into the depths of his own psyche, and have figured out who Anna Glass really is.
Review
"Extreme grief permeates Fitzek's brilliant psychological thriller, a bestseller in his native Germany. When TV psychiatrist Viktor Larenz's 12-year-old daughter, Josy, who suffers from a number of unexplainable illnesses, vanishes without a trace from her doctor's office, Larenz's subsequent search for even the smallest clue to the girl's disappearance costs him his career and marriage. Four years later, Larenz has retreated to an isolated, storm-prone island, where he's visited by children's novelist Anna Glass, a schizophrenic who believes the characters she creates become real. One of those characters bears a striking resemblance to Josy and may have the answer to what happened to her. Unbalanced by his mourning, Larenz emerges as an unreliable but sympathetic character. Is he really losing his mind or is he being gaslighted? Undertones of gothic suspense imbue an unpredictable plot that will remind many of Shutter Island and A Beautiful Mind." -- Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Dr. Larzek, a highly respected German psychiatrist, is devastated by first his daughters mysterious illness and then her disappearance. Falling into the bottle and away from his wife, he hires a private investigator to continue the search. Later, unable to work, Larzek retreats to the remote North Sea island of Parkum, where he encounters Anna Glass, a young woman who demands that Larzek treat her severe schizophrenia. We learn much of the story through flashbacks, as the doctor is now a patient in a high-security mental hospital, speaking with his psychiatrist, relating the events that led to his collapse. With an attention-grabbing opener, short chapters with headers that count down the days, and an overwhelming sense of doom looming over every page, Therapy is a one-sitting page-turner that never disappoints. When the full story is eventually revealed, it is both shocking and confusing: Who is real, and who is telling the truth? Suggest this gripping thriller to fans of Tana French, Inger Frimansson, Karin Alvtegen, and, especially, to anyone who knows Petra Hammesfahrs The Sinner (2008), another fast-paced German crime novel rich with psychological suspense." -- Booklist (starred review) "---[a] clever, original whodunit."-- L.A. Times
"Sebastian Fitzek's Therapy is an immensely sophisticated literary thriller that finds great tension in the interior worlds of its characters and the interplay between plot and pace. It is written in a direct, harrowing and lucid style, well suited for readers who enjoy curling up with an intricate mystery and those seeking even greater depths of understanding. So often, in the realm of psychological thrillers, authors settle for gimmicks and cliché -- but that is categorically not the case with Therapy. It is compelling from the opening scene -- a truly wondrous set-piece in a doctor's office -- and will continue to resonate long after the final page has been read and re-read."-John Katzenbach, author of The Analyst and The Madmans Tale
“Therapy is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma. Its a thriller that keeps the reader hooked and guessing right to the end. An enthralling mix of medicine and mystery.”--Paul Carson, author of Betrayal and Ambush
About the Author
Sebastian Fitzek is the head of entertainment at a popular Berlin radio station. Therapy is his first thriller. It was an overwhelming success in Germany and has been translated into twenty-two languages. Fitzek is also the author of Mindbreaker, Amok, and The Child. He lives in Berlin with his girlfriend and several animals. Visit his Web site at www.sebastianfitzek.de.