After a very confronting opening chapter the story begins in the present day. A Professor of psychiatry is conducting an experiment with some students who will be paid €200 for participating. All they have to do is read a transcript of some actual case notes. Simple yes? No!

The case notes refer to the past, to a diabolical perpetrator referred to as the soul-breaker. Three women had disappeared only to be found some time later, physically unharmed but catatonic - dead inside. They all have pieces of paper with obscure riddles clutched in their hands. The attacks stopped suddenly after three victims were found. Then, three months later, the action moves to an exclusive psychiatric facility. A man is found close by, near death through exposure so he is brought to the clinic. He is fine but suffers amnesia. Since they don’t know his name, the man is referred to as Caspar.

One night a few weeks later an ambulance carrying a man who stabbed himself in the throat crashes into the phone box near the gates of the clinic. Of course a blizzard is underway. The patient and the paramedic are brought to the clinic by snowmobile. And that’s when it all starts to blow up. The psychiatrist treating Caspar, Dr Sophia Dorn, is found in a bathtub, in a catatonic state clutching a piece of paper with a riddle on it in her hand. It seems the soul-breaker is back!

This was dark, very dark. From the time Sophia is found things get crazy at the clinic. There are few residents as it is Christmas Eve. But those that remain and the staff on duty are subjected to an increasingly terrifying experience. It turns into a bit of a locked room mystery with a dose of madness thrown in. It was actually quite creepy and scary and I don’t say that often!

The setting, the isolated clinic, lent itself to this story very well. The blizzard highlighted it’s remoteness. The characters were well portrayed although you didn’t get to know any of them particularly well. This story was all about the Fear (with a capital F). It was almost a character in itself and it was superbly done. I was afraid! Although definitely a bit creepy and very suspenseful I enjoyed this book a lot.

The book was originally published some years ago but, I think, only recently translated and re-released in English. I have read a few books by the author and find them all very different and all having a sense of creeping menace. This book certainly amped up that factor! Thanks to Netgalley and Head of Zeus for my free ARC copy which I have reviewed voluntarily and honestly.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for this ARC of 'the soul breaker'

Sebastian Fitzek is a new to me author and despite this review I would be keen to read other works by him. The book begins with a woman who appears physically undamaged but is catatonic. She keeps reliving a nightmarish experience which she cannot wake up from. This is our introduction to the soul breaker. The book then jumps to a professor with students who are conducting an experiment, of which they are told very little. This sets the scene for the main thrust of the book which jumps back and forth between a document the students are reading and the students themselves.

I really wanted to like this book. The idea for the story was deliciously creepy and the author clearly has the ability to write but the entire book was let down by it confusing time hopping and narrators and locations. I suspect it could have done with a much more heavy handed approach from the editor.

In short, excellent premise, bad execution.

Thanks to Netgalley and Head of Zeus for allowing me to read this in return for an honest review.
Wow, well what can I say? Each book of Sebastian fitzek I read is better than the last. This gripped me from the start and I didn't want to stop. I'm glad I no longer have a heart problem as this definitely kept it beating quicker! I would love to know what happened after the last page!
Lastly, does anybody know what the answer to the last riddle is???

Mixed feelings about this one really, on the one hand there were parts of it that had me utterly gripped, and then other parts felt a little drawn out and unrealistic, and for all the animal lovers out there, you’ll very likely find some references to animal abuse upsetting.

There’s someone at large, who leaves their victims catatonic, very much a living death, and absolutely terrifying. It’s a clever and atmospheric plot, that takes place within a snow bound psychiatric hospital, and I certainly didn’t guess who was responsible for inducing this catatonic state in their victims, but unfortunately I had no empathy with the characters, and that made it difficult for me, so will settle on 3 stars.

Liked the sound of this book but unfortunately I struggled with it and couldn't finish it.

I seem to be in the minority though as it has already received some fabulous reviews.

Just not my cup of tea I'm afraid!

Thank you to Netgalley, Head of Zeus, and the author for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was captivating and addictive I couldn't stop reading, the pacing and atmosphere created a thrilling story which kept me hooked until the last page. The structure of this book was unique, reading a book within a book, I just couldn't get enough of it.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for providing an ARC of this book.

I loved Passenger 23 but felt like there may have been something that was lost in translation with this book as I struggled with it and didn’t see the point of the experiment.

A fast paced terrifying rollercoaster of a book.

Taut plot with many twists and turns. And a horrific sense of dread which quickly builds.

DARK and TWISTED-what did I just read?

A Professor is offering 200 EUROS to any student who will take part in his experiment. It involves reading the transcripts of an authentic factual account, which reads like a thriller. The original is an old paperback with a greenish cover, and the title “The Soul Breaker” in red lettering. The shadowy figure of a man hurrying through a snowstorm toward a dark building adorns the cover.

The factual account: The Soul Breaker destroyed three women, by leaving them alive but unable to communicate with the outside world, clutching a riddle in their hands-but then suddenly stopped.

A Man is found outside of a psychiatric clinic in the snow, with no recollection of his name, his career or how he arrived. The nurses call him Casper. But, who is he really?

And, now at this same clinic, many days later, another snowstorm cuts the clinic off from the rest of the world just after an ambulance crashes, and arrives with another patient, and the only snowmobile is deliberately disabled.
The staff and patients are stranded.

And, then the lead psychiatrist is found naked, trembling and traumatized with a slip of paper containing a riddle in her hand…..

Has the Soul Breaker returned to strike again? Why now?!

As the bodies piled up, I made my guess as to WHO the Soul Breaker was.
I was wrong.

As the students read the transcript, I tried to figure out what the experiment was.
I was clueless.

I can definitely see why this “new to me” author has so many fans!
Very Clever!

See if you can figure any of this out on August 5th-abroad and September 1st, US

I would like to thank the Head of Zeus for my gifted copy provided through NetGalley! It was my pleasure to offer a candid review!

I did not enjoy this book sadly, and found it a struggle to read.
I felt like it had so much promise but didn't deliver in my opinion.
Not for me

Loved it loved it loved it!
I read this book very quickly, gulping it down as though I’d been deprived of good thriller/fiction for months (which isn’t true at all, I’ve read plenty of great books this year so far, but I have been starved of this level). I’ve been cursing the miserable weather lately, yet I was glad of a gloomy day on which to curl up with this book. I do want, and need, to read it again, though, to properly get under the skin of the story and discover the nuances I may have missed. I give this book a sure fire 5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐️ it is extremely well written, clever and has a lot of mystery and intrigue. Love this author!

Wow!

The Soul Breaker is an incredible, terrifying and twisting thriller. I couldn’t bear to put it down. Absolutely perfect. This book needs to be read cold, don’t google it or get an idea of it. Sebastian Fitzek is a hugely skilled writer who can make you feel claustrophobic and scared while reading in the middle of the day.

Incredible!

4.5 rounded up.

Holy Moly what a start!! Two students are asked by a professor to study the transcripts of The Soul Breaker in order to conduct an experiment. The Soul Breaker leaves victims catatonic, their minds destroyed, all possessing a note which makes little sense and then the perpetrator seems to stop. About three months later a man with amnesia is found in the snow outside the exclusive Teufelsberg Clinic, they name him Caspar. As the weather deteriorates what unfolds is an exceptionally dark and gritty ‘locked in’ mystery which will keep you guessing and guessing!

I’ve read several books by Sebastian Fitzek and find his novels absorbing and most certainly showing the jet black side of humanity. This one is terrifying in places, mind numbing and utterly chilling as the perpetrator is beyond devious, ice cold and the book becomes impossible to put down. At times the scary narrative seems surreal, it has a dreamlike, nightmarish under the influence of mind altering drugs quality to it and I wonder what dark world I’ve stepped into!! The plot is an enigma, trapped in a puzzle and sealed with a code you can’t interpret - think JJ Abrams!!! It keeps you absolutely hooked from beginning to end. How the author manages to pull together all the complex themes and threads is extremely clever. There are multiple twists which keep you guessing (mostly wrong in my case!) and it jogs along at a fair old pace and you need to keep up! This is a really compelling page turner, it’s very different, you could even argue it’s a bit weird but did I like it? Oh yes! The plot turns keep on coming right until the very end.

Overall, if you like complex thrillers and don’t mind a dark theme then this one is for you!

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Head of Zeus for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

Less is more going into this book - well as it is with all Fitzek's books to be honest. He is the master of suspense and leading the reader down the wrong path...!
We start with a bunch of students conducting an experiment - their only task is to read the account of something that happened way back in the past. But they must carry on if they start...
Then we switch to seeing what is happening in the account they are reading. We meet the Soul Breaker. A tormentor who does not kill, but who does leave his victims in a deep sleep. The only clue is a note found in their hands containing of all things a riddle.
The main action is set in a psychiatric clinic where a man has been found half dead in the snow with no memory of who he is. The weather takes a worse turn and the clinic is cut off. And then the head psychiatrist is found in a deep sleep... with a note... The Soul Breaker is among them, locked in...
I love Fitzek's books - I have read every one that has been translated so far. I have also listened to several dramatisations - including of this one - so, for full disclosure I did know the story and how it ended before I started reading this book. I don't think that mattered as there was quite a bit cut from the dramatisation that was contained in the book and it had also been a fair while since I listened so I had forgotten a fair whack.
I have to add here that obviously this has been translated from the original German but, to be honest, there was never a point where it felt like that. It read just like it was written in English - so fluent and containing the right amount of colloquial English to feel real. So if you have qualms about reading translations - I wouldn't worry.
As with all Fitzek's books he doesn't pull his punches herein. It's gritty and brutal and quite graphic in places. It's not quite as nasty as some of his books but he does have his moments along the way.
Characters are well drawn and all play their parts well within their storylines.
Plotting is tight and extremely well executed. It kept me on my toes throughout and wasn't obfuscated by any padding or waffle. Which also meant that it went along at a fair lick.
All in all, another winner from one of my favourite authors. I see that there are a couple more of his books being translated soon. They can't come soon enough for me...
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

A frightening thriller telling the story of those harmed by a deranged villain at a psychiatric clinic - a location terrifying by itself! A good solid read!

A man found outside in the snow outside a psychiatric hospital has no memory of who he is or how he came to be there. Nurses at the facility nickname him “Casper”. At the same time, police are looking for a monster the press has dubbed “The Soul Breaker”, a man who does something so terrible to the women he kidnaps that they are left in a catatonic state, with a note in their hands from the Soul Breaker. Then a huge snowstorm cuts the hospital off from the rest of the world and a psychiatrist is found, trembling and catatonic with a note in his hands. Has Casper finally remembered who he is? Edgy and claustrophobic