Good read
Not read any of Sebastian’s books before but will after reading this one.
A great plot and characters
You will totally be hooked
Thanks NetGalley

The Soul Breaker is an eerie psychological thriller set in an exclusive psychiatric hospital in Berlin. A severe snowstorm rages outside. A man is found outside, nearly frozen to death and with no memory of who he was and how he got there.

The Soul Breaker doesn't kill his victims. Much worse, he leaves them paralysed and completely catatonic. The only thing he leaves is a riddle clasped in their hands. After three victims the abductions stop, until now.

The hospital goes into lockdown during the snowstorm. No one can go in or out and the clinic is completely cut off from the world outside. The head psychiatrist is found trembling and distraught, a note clutched in her hands. It seems The Soul Breaker has returned and with no way in or out he can feed on souls one at a time.

This is an atmospheric and thrilling read that will keep you turning the pages until the end. The patients and staff in the hospital need to find a way out before it is too late, but they do not know who is doing this. They need to race to find a way out before it is too late. If you are looking for a gripping read with an unexpected twist, this is well worth a read.

As I began reading this book, it started a bit slow and I was concerned if I would enjoy it. I soon became very engrossed in the story of Caspar, an amnesiac at an us upscale mental hospital. Soon the action was intense and the storyline thrilling. I enjoyed reading the novel of suspense, mystery and action.

This closed-door thriller takes place in a psychiatric facility where someone is torturing and murdering patients, and our main character fears that he may be the one inflicting harm. The sadist harms patients by forcing them to face their deepest fears in a way that they can't escape.

I found this to be a highly disturbing, suspenseful read. In fact, I nearly gave up on it within the first few pages because the opening scene was so graphically sadistic. If that appeals to you, then you will love this book.

3/5 stars.

She is unable to speak, she hears the police barge through the door and she's sure she's answering their questions out loud but she's not; she's locked in and catatonic. The soul breaker doesn't leave a mark on his victims but breaks their souls so they're unable to communicate; trapped in their own bodies with their worst nightmares. Who is this serial killer that's terrorising women? Will he ever be caught.

I loved the premise of this book and the flashbacks between the past and present day time lines kept me absorbed as just as I thought I knew what was going on another event occurred to make me question what was actually going on. This felt a bit like an Agatha Christie novel with the locked room where all the suspects are together and they all seem suspicious and I was completely hooked. The pace was very quick and the twists and turns were gripping; this was 5 star read.

Thank you to Netgalley and Head of Zeus for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review

Thankyou to NetGalley, Head of Zeus and the author, Sebastian Fitzek, for the opportunity to read The Soul Breaker in exchange for an honest and unbiased opinion.
Sucu a good read.
Realistic characters, a well written storyline and a creepy mental institution all provide a compelling read.
Worth a read for fans of the genre.

Fitzek’s novels are always a wild ride and this one is no different! Set in the creepy backdrop of a mental institution, a serial killer roams the halls. An utterly twisted tale that keeps the reader on their toes; I was completely absorbed by it and was left reading long into the night. Fitzek is definitely an author to watch out for.

I really enjoyed this book. It was a great storyline with excellent characters. I would highly recommend this book as it was a great read.

The Soul-Breaker by Sebastian Fitzek was really hard to get into.......and I had to put it down several times and start again.........However, I am glad I did not give up with this book......WoW.......once I got to grips with the way Sebastian writes, everything clicked in place and I found The soul Breaker was addictive and full of twists and turns throughout! especially terrifying in places!!!! I couldn't stop reading, This will not be the last book I will read by this new author for me..........This book was Brilliant!!!!!!

I highly recommend The Soul Breaker - but don't give up on it.............You will be surprised!

Thanks to Netgalley and Head of Zeus for allowing me to read this in return for an honest review.

My gods this book had me gripped right from the start, it’s creepy and weird in all the best ways for a thriller book.

A Professor is offering €200 to any student who is willing to take part in his experiment. It seems like a simple enough experiment, all they have to do is read transcripts of a thriller called “The Soul Breaker”. What they don’t know, however, is that The Soul Breaker ruined three women by leaving them alive but catatonic, they could not even nod their heads or blink, and they were all clutching a riddle in their hands. After this, The Soul Breaker VANISHED.

Fast forward some years, and a man is found by a psychiatric clinic in a snowstorm with no memory of who he is. Not his name, his family, or how he got there. A while after the mystery man’s arrival another snowstorm cuts the clinic off from its surrounding areas and yet another patient arrives after the ambulance crashes nearby.

THEN the head psychiatrist is found traumatized, naked, and guess what, she's clutching a goddamn riddle. The Soul Breaker is back, and even worse, they’re at the clinic where everyone has now been stranded with no way out.

Who is The Soul Breaker? Why are they doing this? Who makes it out alive? You’ll have to read and find out.

Thank you Head of Zeus and Netgalley for the arc in exchange for my review.

In my opinion, this novel is trying to do a bit too much. I was thrilled but also confused and sometimes a little bit bored which isn't the greatest combination in a suspenseful thriller.

SEBASTIAN FITZEK has written and published this book back in 2008 in German. It has now been translated to English. I think that's a clever call, because it's essentially a good book, about a topic I've not seen in thrillers very often.

The story is about the Soul Breaker. A serial "killer" who doesn't kill their victims. They paralyse their victim leaving them stuck in their own body. They have a note in their hand. Then one day a man shows up in a remote clinic with no memory of his past and who he is. Then due to bad weather, the clinic becomes shut off from the world and when a woman ends up paralysed in the bath tub with a note in her hand, it's very likely the Soul Breaker in in there with them.

There's a bit of a story in a story narrative which I liked. The main story is read by students who are participating in a psychology trial. This give the story a bit more of a twist. In the end though, I was left wanting more and at the same time less.

The last thirty or so pages are dedicated to explaining everything that happened. I didn't think that was necessary. Also, the scenes inside the clinic became a bit confusing at times.

All-in-all I enjoyed myself and I'm curious to read more of Fitzek's more recent work.

A serial killer known as The Soul Breaker has been killing women, locking them inside themselves in a state of psychological terror from which they are unable to escape.

A man is found wandering outside a private psychiatric hospital with amnesia and no idea who he is. He is taken in and treated to try and recover his memories and sense of who he is, but while he is at the clinic, it becomes apparent that the Soul Breaker is present at the hospital and seems intent on making at least one of the staff his next victim.

I liked the "story within a story" approach to the novel, where students are taking part in research - it added an extra layer to what otherwise was more of a complex slasher horror film where the killer stalks the halls of a psychiatric hospital, killing at will. The author builds and maintains the tension well, but I found a lot of it quite confusing, particularly when new people were brought it and it was difficult to keep track of who they were and where they were, or what condition they were in. The plot was full of twists and shocks, which kept my interest to the end, and just in case you were left too baffled about what the heck had been going on, it's all neatly explained for you in the last chapter.

With thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in return for an honest review.

This will go live at the first link below on 20 August, it's already live on Goodreads and Amazon:

Hi and welcome to my review of The Soul Breaker!

Sebastian Fitzek is a new-to-me author who was on my radar with another book of his that came out this summer: Seat 7a, one of this summer’s plane thrillers. After reading The Soul Breaker, I’m eager to read more Fitzek and I’ve already added Passenger 23 to my TBR (set on a cruise ship instead of a plane, perfect!).

The Soul Breaker intrigued me from the get-go but initially I did find it a tad bizarre. The story opens with patient’s records, but the weirdest, least medical patient’s records ever, more thriller or horror novel than medical records. The opening scene is gruesome, leaving no doubt that the person nicknamed “the Soul Breaker” is a highly disturbed maniac, it is NOT for the faint of heart, let me tell you!

For the other string of this dual storyline, we join a professor and his students, who apparently have just read our opening scene as well, those shocking patient’s records, and appear just as appalled – and confused – by the lack of medical professionalism as I was. The students are invited to join an experiment, which will consist of reading the rest of the records.

And so the experiment kicks off, with the students – and the reader – continuing to read the records, by means of which we are transported to a psychiatric institution, where one of the patients suffers from retrograde amnesia and one of the doctors seems to have been attacked by the Soul Breaker. The clinic goes in lockdown but what if the madman is on the wrong side of the shutters?

I have to admit I felt like one of the students, part of the experiment. When the professor tells his students they can’t terminate the experiment unilaterally, that for it to succeed they must concentrate and read without taking long breaks, I felt like he was addressing me. Not gonna lie, it was a little bit creepy and quite Inception-esque but I decided to embrace the weirdness and roll with it.

Who was the Soul Breaker, who was the professor, what happened in the clinic and what’s up with that experiment? Sebastian Fitzek made me wait for answers until the end and in the meantime, I was spouting all sorts of theories. Yup, me, myself and I had a great time puzzling this one out 😅 And in the end, some of my theories had actually come to fruition, imagine that!

Overall, I had a great time with The Soul Breaker. It is such an original take on the serial killer novel and the locked room trope, and all the initial weirdness makes perfect sense in the end. If you’re looking for an entertaining, one-of-a-kind psychothriller that keeps you on your toes, The Soul Breaker should be at the top of your list!

A word to the wise: be sure to read the acknowledgements, and to read them last. They’re brilliant. And reassuring… Read the book, read the acknowledgements, you’ll know what I mean.

The Soul Breaker is out now in digital formats (only 99p on Amazon UK at the moment, here’s your chance to give it a whirl!), hardcover and audio, with the paperback to follow in November.

Massive thanks to Head of Zeus and NetGalley for the eARC. All opinions are my own.

It did take ma a little while to get into this book but I’m so glad I did. It’s chilling, horrifying and a real page Turner. Crime and horror fiction at its best. It is a brutal read

What a dark, sinister and disturbing read. The Soul Breaker has left three women in a catatonic state holding a slip of paper containing a nonsensical message. These incidents then stop. A few months later a man is found outside an exclusive clinic which treats psychological disorders. He is suffering from complete amnesia so the clinic staff call him Caspar. A sudden snow storm cuts the clinic off completely and violent acts begin to take place. The lead psychologist is found in a similar state to the previous victims and it seems that the Soul Breaker has returned; so begins a really unsettling 'locked-in' thriller.

The plot is very eerie, chilling and compelling. The very well created setting of the isolated clinic is a perfect backdrop to the story. The characters are decidedly creepy and totally unpredictable. The ending was unexpected and rather clever.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Head of Zeus for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Another gripping psychological action thriller from the German master - this time, with a touch of horror. I can’t call it anything else, when we begin with a psychologist telling his students the story of the Soul-Breaker, a serial killer who did not rape or mutilate his victims, but instead broke their minds, locking them in a waking stasis where they could neither move nor communicate.

The story is told as the students read the patient record of Caspar, an amnesiac being treated at the exclusive Teufelsberg clinic. There are a few things that don’t quite add up about Caspar’s account from the beginning - why wouldn’t the police have been alerted? - but these are actually explained by the villain reveal, making perfect sense in context. Yes, Caspar’s amnesia is convenient for the villain, but it also pushed them into making a move much earlier than they obviously planned.

I was really bemused and looking in the wrong direction for the villain the whole time, I have to admit. The author throws in some really clever twists and turns. And yes, just enough horror that you’re left at the end with your skin crawling, wondering if there’s one more, final twist still to come.

Tended a little too much towards horror for my tastes, but it’s so clever and well written, I can’t give it any lower than 5 stars.

The Soul Breaker was first published in 2008 in German (as Der Seelenbrecher) and its popularity has since seen it published in several languages and now in English, very ably translated by John Brownjohn. It’s a very dark and gothic thriller set inside a sealed psychological hospital, with the maniac known as the Soul Breaker on the loose.

The Soul Breaker doesn’t kill his victims. He destroys them. Leaving them paralysed and catatonic, reliving their worst nightmares over and over again, in a state from which they will never recover. So far, he has abducted and destroyed three victims, his calling card, a note containing a riddle, left in each victim’s hand.

‘Caspar’ is a man who was found lying in the snow outside the psychiatric hospital. Suffering amnesia, with no recollection of who he is or how he got there, he was named Caspar by the staff. He’s started to have some flashbacks and is convinced he must leave the clinic to get back to his life and someone he feels is waiting for him, but a brutal storm is closing in and the hospital becomes totally cut off from the rest of the world. Things take an even more sinister turn when Sophia, the head psychiatrist is found naked, distraught and unable to communicate, clutching a note in her hand. Another victim of the Soul Breaker.

With the Soul Breaker now locked inside with the handful of patients and staff left before at the hospital before Christmas, they must battle to protect each other, find out which of them is the Soul Breaker and prevent even more deaths. Caspar must also work out who he really is and why he was found outside the hospital. He also needs to work out who he can trust and there are those who are suspicious of him and his apparent loss of memory.

The setting of a near empty psychiatric hospital creates the perfect dark and creepy atmosphere for this gripping and at times graphic read. The characters are all well drawn, although none are ones you can empathise with as the fear and danger brings out the worst in them. The plot is clever and fast paced, with the action and suspense become relentless, with the feeling of a dark and twisted hellish nightmare where no one is safe. Definitely one for those readers who enjoy a chilling tale with more than a touch of horror

This is definitely not going to be a book for everyone, as it’s quite brutal, but I love brutal and disturbing, so of course I loved this! If you’re not one that likes brutal, disturbing stories, I suggest you turn away from this book, because it’s quite soul crushing and demented! It’s quite intense, but also phenomenally written, with superb character development! Very dark, intense, and fast paced! Highly recommend to those who enjoy dark stories!

It's creepy, terrifying and highly addictive. A page turner I couldn't put down as I was hooked since the first pages.
Great storytelling, a complex plot full of twists, excellent character development.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

The Soulbreaker destroys their victims without even laying a finger on them. No one knows what happens to the victims except they are left catatonic with a riddle in their hands.

Casper finds himself at a psychiatric clinic having lost his memory with no idea who he is. An incident means that he becomes locked in the remote clinic and it seems he has the soul breaker for company.

Years later, a professor takes his students to abandoned building to read the patient files from that night.

What I like about the soul breaker - it’s a curious premise for a book - how are they doing this when there are no signs of physical harm in the victims? I also liked the element of the story within the story and the dual timelines.

Reading the blurb, I was expecting a chilling tale that had me on edge but actually I became quite disinterested in the plot. I liked the twists and I was surprised by them but I thought they were far fetched and not credible. It required was a real leap for the reader and a fair amount of poetic license.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to review an advanced copy of the book in exchange for an honest opinion.