would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this fast paced action (was it really only a book) thought it was a movie at one point...no it was a book and what a ride it was

action from the get go and it continued throughout right up to the last page

someone has taken over a radio station and is holding them hostage, after each hour he is ringing out to anyone in the city and if they dont say the correct thing one of the hostages dies

his demands are simple

find out where is fiancee is...

if you start this book you wont be able to put it down, its fast paced and gritty at times and you wont see what is going to happen next...

read it at your peril as you will lose yourself in this one, have snacks beside you and plenty of water...

going to be keeping an eye out for more of this authors books

So we have a hostage situation with a psychopath at the helm in a radio station threatening to kill a hostage every hour if his demands are not dealt with but this is no straight forward kind of a plot at and not everything is as it first seems. I must admit this was no easy read as at times so much was going on and with all the twists I had to reread some parts a few times to get things straight in my head.
The writing was spot on and the characters were excellent, interesting and flawed.

Well, I didn't see that twist.

I really thought I'd got it all figured out, but this isn't my first Sebastian Fitzek books so I should have known better.

Each time I read another one of his, I think they're getting better and better.

If you like psychologically gory and dark, then go and read any of Sebastian Fitzek's books. You won't be disappointed.

Tense gripping and nervewracking - I was gripped for the first half of the book, though slightly confused in the second half, possibly because i was trying to speed through. Well worth a read

Wow ! This had me hooked right from the start. Fast paced and brilliantly written. I will be looking for more by this author.

Interrupted from her desire to end her life, hostage negotiator Ira is dragged into a situation where a deranged man is holding a group of people hostage in a radio station, and threatening to kill one of them every hour unless his demands are met. There is one chance: if he calls a random member of the public and they answer with the radio's catchphrase, then the hostage will go free.

It's adrenaline-fuelled, fast-paced and full of action, with numerous twists and turns in the plot. Ultimately I was disappointed with the route that the plot took, and the explanation for what had happened, but it's a well executed story that is definitely worth reading.

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

A psychopath has taken over Berlin's most popular radio station and is holding everyone inside the building hostage, Every hour a phone will ring in Berlin and then it will be your turn to play the game; if you can't a hostage will die.

This is the second Sebastian Fitzek book that I've read and I'm yet again blown away by the writing and the twists and turns that occur; an exciting thriller that i would recommend to anyone, exciting and gripping.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the novel in exchange for an honest review

This thriller is breathtaking from the first page. For a long time, I did not read a book like this, fast and very intriguing. I did not like Ira much (too American for. me) but Jan had lots of courage to do this.
Thanks to Netgalley for this book.

What a fabulous book. I was completely hooked from the very start and never had that “I think I know where this is going” feel. Instead I was intrigued and brilliantly fooled to the end.
This is my second Sebastian Fitzek book and by far the best. I’m so glad the description drew me in to read it.

Holy cow, what a read! Intense, well written, fast paced, unputdownable! What can I say, but read it and expect to be blown away! Intense is an understatement, but I’m sure you’ll feel much tension when reading! Highly recommend this twisted, tense tale!

This is the first novel I have read by this author and I don’t think it will be the last, my attention was grabbed from the first page and all the characters are all well written, definitely worth reading.

This is my first time reading this author but it most certainly will not be the last
I enjoyed the characters, the twisting plots and the fast pace of this psychological thriller
I would definitely recommend this page turning novel

Good morning, Berlin. It’s 7.35 AM. And you’re listening to your biggest nightmare.

This morning a dangerous psychopath is playing an old game with new rules. He’s taken six people hostage at Berlin’s leading radio station.

Every hour, a telephone will ring somewhere in Berlin. Maybe it will be in your house. Or your office. And if you can’t play the game, a hostage will die.

Renowned police psychologist Ira Samin is rushed to the scene, where she is forced to negotiate live on air.

With the nation listening, the kidnapper makes his sole demand: find his fiancee and bring her to the station.

But she is dead. Burnt to a crisp in a devastating car accident eight months ago.

Facing an impossible demand and a police commander who seems hell-bent on keeping secrets, Ira must race against the clock to resolve one of the hardest negotiations of her career.

All the while, somewhere in Berlin… a telephone is ringing.

From the outside, there is something mesmeric about a hostage situation. It feels almost voyeuristic. We’re repelled but transfixed in the same breath. Classic movies like The Taking of Pelham 123, Dog Day Afternoon and Inside Man capture that rabbit in the headlights reaction we all have. We don’t want to look but we’re powerless to resist. Amok by Sebastian Fitzek manages exactly the same feat.

Every good thriller deserves a jaded, washed-out protagonist who, though an expert in their field, they are a complete dumpster fire as a human being. Amok has Ira Samin. I should probably add a bit of a trigger warning at this point. Ira’s backstory revolves around an inexplicable suicide and this does feature quite heavily in the plot. The personal trauma Ira is trying to deal with haunts her at every turn. Being thrust back into the high-pressured environment of a siege is most definitely not the best way to heal mental scars. Trying to save lives while pondering her own mortality does make Ira a fascinating character to follow. Her nervous energy, sometimes bordering on mania, means you’re never sure which way the character is going to jump. Troubled characters are always far more interesting than their flawless counterparts. Ira is living right on the edge of her own existence. It makes Amok feel like we are experiencing hostage negotiation without the aid of a metaphorical safety net. Talk about a riveting narrative.

The scenes where Ira and the kidnapper interact are particularly effective. You can almost feel as the power shifts from one side of the conversation to the other and then back again. Like a game of chess where the two players are trying to out manoeuvre one another seven or eight turns ahead.

If a tense standoff between the kidnapper and the authorities isn’t enough action for you, then fear not. Expertly woven throughout events a larger conspiracy begins to reveal itself. Who is trying to stop Ira from doing her job? Why is it so important the outcome of the siege has to end a certain way? These extra puzzles add a welcome additional depth to what is already a deliciously taut story.

I really enjoyed Amok. This is a lean, white-knuckle action thriller that grabs you by the throat and steadfastly refused to let go. I hope there will be more Ira Samin novels in the future. I’d happily read them all and still demand more.

Amok is published by Head of Zeus and is available now.

My musical recommendation to accompany Amok is the soundtrack to the action movie Triple 9 by Atticus Ross. It has just the right amount of tension and urgency that pairs perfectly with the tone of the novel.

3.5stars rounded up to 4

This was supposed to be the last day of her life. Renowned criminal psychologist Ira Samin can no longer bare the feeling of guilt inspired by her oldest daughters death and had decided to commit suicide. The preparations are all in place when Samin is stationed to a radio station where people have been taken by a violent psychopath. A macabre game will decide the fate of the victims, From the studio, the hostage-taker dials numbers at random: if the phone is answered "correctly", a hostage is released; if not, the hostage wil be shot.

This is a twist filled, tense and thrilling read. The pace is fast from the beginning. The police summon Ira to help with a hostage situation playing a terrifying game with people's lives. The plotline is multi-layered. with a few surprises along the way.

I would like to thank #NetGalley #HeadOfZeus and the author #SebastianFitzek for my ARC of #Amok in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. This book is a rollercoaster of high octane twists and turns. Great characters and well written it kept me glued to it right to the end. A brilliant, action-packed read that I highly enjoyed!

I’ve enjoyed a number of books by Sebastian Fitzek but that was the bomb! Jan May has tried everything to get answers about the fate of his fiancée, Leoni Gregor, to no avail. Authorities are trying to tell him she is dead, burned up in a car accident and here are the photos that prove it. But - she rang him about an hour after her apparent time of death. The line was bad and he couldn’t understand much but he clearly heard the word “dead” and the phrase “don’t believe what they tell you”. What is one to think?

In desperation he storms Berlin radio station 101 point 5 and takes hostages. The cash call game is to continue but listeners must answer the phone with a specific phrase. If they do that a hostage will be released. If they get it wrong, a hostage will die. All he wants is for Leoni to be brought to him. Simple really….

Ira Samin, hostage negotiator starts her day thinking about how best to kill herself. Her elder daughter, Sara, had recently committed suicide and her younger daughter Katharina won’t talk to her. What is the point off going on? She decides she needs Diet Coke with lemon to wash down the poison oleander seeds she has in the freezer and goes out to buy a bottle. But her quest is sidetracked when Oliver Götz, a tactical officer with the police finds her and insists she accompany him to the Berlin Media Centre in Potsdamer Platz to negotiate with the hostage taker. Sure, she thinks, I can always kill myself later!

What a rush, a thrill ride, an adrenaline fuelled trip! Every time you think you know what’s happening in this story the ground shifts under your feet. You don’t know who to believe as the authorities argue and bicker over how to deal with this situation. Some of them want to storm the studio and shoot the hostage taker and others urge caution, after all he said he is strapped with explosives. My head was spinning with all the twists. And I know I’ve criticised some books for having too many twists but somehow, in this book, it all worked!

This was not about the characters although we did get a deep dive into Ira and Jan’s minds. They are are both psychiatrists, they have both lost someone and Ira starts to sympathise with Jan because of their shared experiences. He makes her tell him, on air, about Sara’s death before he will reveal his motivations. It was gut wrenching in parts. I had no idea how this would end and I’m not giving any clues but I can tell you this is one of the best and most different thrillers I have read. Many thanks to Netgalley and Head of Zeus and Sebastian Fitzek for the much appreciated arc which I reviewed voluntarily and honestly.

First and foremost, a large thank you to NetGalley, Sebastian Fitzek, and Head of Zeus for providing me with a copy of this publication, which allows me to provide you with an unbiased review.

Sebastian Fitzek is a master of the sharp psychological thriller, pulling the reader into the middle of something, only to provide a massive twist to discombobulate anyone trying to following along. In this piece, there are layers of intrigue set against a fast-paced plot and a time limited narrative, where a killer has a handful of hostages and is broadcasting live over Berlin’s radio waves. With a criminal psychologist tasked with diffusing things, she has her own issues and finds the added pressure all too much. Explosive and chilling at the same time. Perhaps Fitzek’s best novel to date!

During the morning show on one of Berlin’s most popular radio programmes, a tour for winning listeners goes sideways when one among them decides to take the group hostage. He wants his demands broadcast live, on-air and is willing to use the show’s popular games to get what he wants. Listeners must answer when called and recite a precise phrase or someone will die.

All the while, renowned criminal psychologist, Ira Samin, is preparing to die. She can no longer handle the pain that has befallen her, but wants things done a certain way. When she is called into work as a hostage negotiator, her suicide plan must be temporarily shelved. Ira works to get to know the hostage taker a little better and takes his one demand very seriously, ‘find my fiancée and bring her to me’.

While Ira works to unravel a tense situation, she must also wrestle with some troubling news. It would seem the aforementioned fiancée has died months ago in an automobile accident. However, the hostage-taker will hear none of it. He knows she is alive and demands that she be brought to him. Ira does all she can, only to realise that there is another reason that she must end the hostage taking right away. While Ira works through her own issues, all of Germany is on high alert, awaiting the next call and hoping someone will pick up and say the right thing. If not, things could get much worse, live for all to hear.

While I only recently discovered the magic of Sebastian Fitzek, I cannot get enough of his writing. Twisted and highly entertaining, one can never decipher what twists await the reader as the story progresses. He is surely a master at his craft and has pulled me in with each of the novels I’ve read. There are so many layers to the stories that the reader must pay close attention, or risk being left behind.

Ira Samin is a well-developed and troubled protagonist, perfectly cast for this story. Her personal issues almost drown out the need for professionalism throughout the piece, but this only adds depth to an already intense story. Ira has come to terms with the end of her life, but seems almost put out that she cannot do what she wants most, to die, until she stops a madman from killing others. There is much the reader discovers about Ira as the story progresses, all of which is essential to her own larger narrative.

Fitzek opens the novel with a seemingly odd tangent, only to force the reader to realise that this is the crux of the novel. The narrative pushes forward and offers deceptive twists almost from the outset, keeping the reader guessing what is to come and how it will all play out. Using short chapters, Fitzek teases the reader to ‘read just a little more’ and captures their attention with ease. Chilling and not quite what it all seems, Fitzek delivers yet again, with an English translation that is as smooth as ever, not distrusting the flow whatsoever. I can only hope there are more stories like this to come, as I am ready and eager to see what’s next.

Kudos, Mr. Fitzek, for another winner. Where you get all these ideas is beyond me, but I am not complaining in the least.

Ira Samin, a police negotiator, has decided that today will be her last on earth. She has the pills but wants a Cola Light Lemonade to wash them down. On her way to the convenience store she is waylaid by her colleague, Gotz, who needs her help. Hostages have been taken at a radio station and the kidnapper is threatening to shoot one hostage each hour if, when he makes a random phone call the person answering doesn't say the correct sentence.

This is a frenetic read which does verge on the implausible in parts. The plot does grab your attention and the characters are interesting. There is a lot going on. I did enjoy Amok but it does go a little over the top.

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

More High Octane Thrills…
More high octane thrills than you can shake a stick at in this ingeniously plotted, tightly woven psychological suspense. A very cleverly paced narrative and a tense, electrifying plot, populated with a wholly credible cast, which will have the reader on the edge of seat throughout its’ execution. Brilliant.

I am a big fan of this author - his ingenuity and plot creation never ceases to amaze me so, although I had already listened to the Audible dramatisation of this book, when I heard that the book had finally been translated I jumped at the chance to read it.
As with all his books, the plotting is tight and very convoluted. Also very very clever, so I am going to try and not even hint at anything that might spoil things.
We start with Ira Samin, a criminal psychologist who is still shaken over the death of one of her daughters. The fallout from which is still very raw. She is on the brink of joining her daughter when she gets a call... She is called out to assist the police with a hostage situation. An armed man has taken a bunch of people hostage in a radio station and will kill a hostage every hour unless someone he randomly calls answers their phone with the radio station competition slogan, bastardised for this situation... Samin is a well respected trained negotiator but when the man explains what he wants, it becomes clear that this might not be ending well...
As already mentioned I love the way this author creates both a cracking plot and plays that out with some very well crafted characters and this book does not buck that trend. This is especially tricky in this book as, well, to try and be careful, there's quite a lot of interconnection, secrets, lies and more than a healthy slice of duplicitous behaviour. The whole truth, when it eventually comes out, is also rather shocking and clever and I just had to sit back and applaud the author for a job well done.
I hope that now, as more of his books are translated (oh and that is seamless once again) and his popularity gains (fingers crossed) that the publisher will do similar with his entire back catalogue. I've now caught up with all the translated books and, well, my German is only O'Level standard so I have to try and be patient.
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.