Having previously read and enjoyed 'The Package' by this author I knew I wanted to read more of their work.

This started off really strong. The book synopsis and first chapter drew me in instantly.

This main character was a great narrator and enjoyed other characters having chapters dotted in to add different views and perspectives.

'The Gift' had so many twists and turns, many of which I didn't guess! The slow build to some of them was great as it really made me try and connect the dots.

Unfortunately at times I did get a little confused. Some parts felt like far too much was going on and it was hard to keep track of what was happening.

Overall though this was a great twisty book and followed a plot I hadn't really come across before. I enjoyed the authors wiring style and definitely plan to read more in the future!

It's engaging, like all of Fitzek's books, but it's true that it didn't tell me much, although it has many twists and turns and, like all of his books, you don't know if what you're reading is a product of the characters' imagination or paranoia or if it's really happening. It's a book that I recommend to pass the time, but it doesn't have much more to offer, I haven't really gotten along with the characters. However, when I do research after reading, it's surprising to see the number of illiterate people we have in developed countries.

I usually like books by Sebastian Fitzek and was keen to read this. Sadly, I found it disappointing and hard to get into. I persevered only to write the review.
Apart from providing some interesting insights into illiiteracy, I found the main character unlikeable and not easy to relate to. The other characters were extreme versions of the type they portrayed and the whole book seemed to require the reader to 'suspend disbelief' to the point usually reserved for fairy tales.

The Gift is a crude and brutal book that begins with a violent prison rape. It tells the story of Milan Berg, narrated as he lies bleeding from the rape on a prison floor. Like most pathways to prison, Milan’s story is steeped in adversity. Milan’s mother dies horribly in a house fire that sees him also get injured. He’s also illiterate. The plight of the illiterate seems to be the author’s crusade, so it’s a bit perplexing to find Sebastian Fitzek even loosely connect it with psychopathy. I don’t know if this book will change anyone’s perception of illiteracy.

I can’t say I enjoyed reading The Gift. In some part that might be the flow of the book being impacted by being translated from German, as it felt jerky and disjointed in places. It’s hard to know if that is the work of the translation or the author’s style as it is the first book by Fitzek I have read.

Absolutely riveting from the first page to the very last. I thoroughly enjoyed this read - I couldn't have expected anything less from Sebastian Fitzek who time and time again blesses us with these gold nuggets in book form.

This story has great twists and turns right from the very beginning. Getting plot twists in the most unexpected places had me entirely drawn in and I *could not stop* reading! I binged this whole book in one sitting because *I did not know what to expect, I did not know what to believe, and I did not know who to trust* and I just NEEDED the answers to all of my questions!

There is so much going on in this book right from the beginning, normally this would feel overwhelming, confusing, and often times when this happens character development is sacrificed -- that is NOT the case with this read! Sebastian Fitzek has taken the thriller genre, thrown a bucket full of originality into it, turned it into an actual art, and absolutely run with it. The plot is so clearly and well developed, there is not a single point which falls off in terms of interest, action, and thrills! I genuinely love all the Sebastian Fitzek (S.F) books I've read because of this. S.F is absolutely not your typical thriller author. The plots always feel new, original, not overdone, and absolutely unpredictable. S.F goes against the grain of the genre and produces truly outstanding reads! I cannot wait to acquire the published book for my trophy shelf!

I really love how S.F diligently and thoroughly researches the topics, subjects, objects, and so on. that are brought into the stories, and because of this they come absolutely alive. They don't feel absolutely unreal, unrealistic, misunderstood, incorrect, etc. They feel RIGHT. One thing I loved the absolute most was how S.F did not reduce complex psychological and physiological phenomena down to a black and white simplicity, i.e., there are no "clear cut" claims made which occurs in many, MANY books of this genre and often increases stigma or misunderstandings around certain topics. This is really an important thing for me, that that kind of harm is avoided. Thank you S.F for doing this well, AGAIN!

I also appreciated the inclusion of technical terms and plot points which require some brain work to get through - in other more recent reads I have had this kind of feeling that authors don't feel as though the reader is intelligent enough to understand what is going on, nor that they'll be able to figure things out themselves; it feels condescending. S.F does not assume their readers are unintelligent or incapable. Nothing is broken down to a ridiculously blatant point and, honestly, I think that might have been my most favourite thing about this read. I could bring in my own understandings, my own knowledge, my own interpretations, and I felt like I was actually able to use my brain through this read - THANK YOU FOR LEAVING US THAT AGENCY, S.F!

Another thing I enjoyed was how S.F doesn't just simply portray characters as monsters through and through, we are always given a little tidbit of background or insight into the kind of lifestyle they have had which helps to make more sense of the things in life which might drive people to these means - e.g., trauma, abuse, disability, etc. This building of characters into tangible beings with recognition of those life circumstances enhances the experience of 'knowing' and mitigates the potential to increase harm and stigma.

This book elicited all kinds of emotions, too. It was sad at points, heartbreaking at others, funny here and there, anxiety-inducing, heart-racing, empathy-provoking [...]. This one LITERALLY had me at the edge of my seat, on the verge of tears, and so much more!

The only noticeable thing was some grammatical errors here and there, but I do believe this might be an unproofed version. However, if any help is needed with identifying those errors, I am absolutely happy to provide that insight.

I have so much more to say, but I will leave it at this!

This has gone right onto my FAVOURITES shelf. I will be buying the published book. I will be re-reading. And I will be HOPING for more (hint, hint S.F ;] !!!)

Thank you NetGalley, Head of Zeus, and Sebastian Fitzek for offering me the amazing opportunity to read and review this book. I absolutely enjoyed this and am forever grateful. What an absolute blessing.

Reading mystery thrillers is not my forte, but this was pretty engaging and thrilling. The only thing that set me off at the begging was when they mentioned that Milan is Illiterate, which is not true as illiteracy is not a disorder. He has a rear condition, but this is clarified 14% in and until then I was just convinced that the translation was wrong and it made no sense. Milan as a character is the only one that I sympathized with. I also predicted some of the twist but that doesn’t mean that they were badly executed. If you love mystery thrillers you should most definitely give it a try.
Big thanks to NetGalley and Head of Zeus for providing me with the ARC.

I have loved Sebastian Fitzeks previous books but this one never reached the same height that the others did. This had too many twists and it was a bit hard to keep up. It needed a little bit more finesse to reach the same level that the other books by this author.

Having always enjoyed Sebastian Fitzek books I was looking forward to reading this new one.the first page intrigued me so I thought it was going to be my kind of read dark and beguiling but sadly it fell short.The writing is on point as is the character descriptions, but I just found it hard to engage with.
I look forward to reading the authorsnext book.
Thanks to Netgalley and Head of Zeus for the ARC.

A con man who can't read sees a girl holding a sign up and looking distressed. This starts a journey both in travel and into his past. With the help of his girlfriend he sets off on a rescue mission. There were plenty of twists and the ending? (Nearly the ending actually) I did not see coming! The plot has him being attacked in prison and telling the tale of how he came to be there in the hope of survival. This is actually easy to forget as the story unfolds and you learn how events in the past triggered everything

I didn’t quite enjoy this. The very first paragraph was really jarring, and the rest quite skimmable.
Yes, there were some surprising twists and turns, and the main character was actually interesting, but the plot was a little all over the place.

The Gift follows the story of Milan, an ex-conman with a photographic memory that hides a secret: he’s illiterate. Trying to navigate a world that doesn’t accommodate his condition he manages to hide it from almost everyone around him - that is until, stuck in traffic, he comes across a girl holding a note he can’t read sporting an expression of pure fear.

Do you remember the never-ending magic trick? The one where a magician takes an endless amount of scarfs from a hat or a box? Reading this book felt exactly like that. Every page turned gave birth to a new plot-twist until it culminated into a breathtaking crescendo that left me both amazed and exhausted.
I do have to say that there were times when all of the plot twists felt a bit too much. Some of them made me feel lost during certain parts of the book. That is not to say that they weren’t absolutely necessary for the plot - they 100% were. The story was crafted extremely well and every surprise had its reasoning for existing.

I can underhanded these characters were not written to make you like them but i couldn’t help taking a liking towards Milan. He felt like a real breathing person.

I dare say this was probably one of my favorite mystery-thriller books i’ve ever had the pleasure to read. Nowadays i rarely expect much from this genre due to how underwhelming most of my picks have been but i was very pleasantly surprised. I could not put this book down!

I was at first interested in the story but as it went on it became predictable and confusing at the same time. I got a bit bored with the story line and I found myself skimming most of it to get to the end. I found the characters and their actions predictable and knew what was going to happen before it happened.

I enjoyed this story. It is the first Sebastian Fitzek book I have read and it will not be the last. The story begins with Milan Berg in prison and he is telling his story to inmates under threat of death, why? The story moves then backwards and forwards past and present. Milan is making his way through life as a petty criminal. Milan suffers for a form of dyslexia called alexia. He cannot read or write and even with support it does not work. He has managed to keep this secret all his life having it seems a photographic memory and good at drawing. He works in a restaurant and can draw symbols for orders – this gets him through his day. One day he is on his way to work and has stopped at traffic lights when he sees a girl in a car holding up a note to the window. She looks frightened. He cannot read the note but decides to follow the car. Here is where the story really begins. Milan is convinced that the girl has been kidnapped and decides to try and save her. He got the job through his girlfriend Nora. He met Nora when he was trying one of his petty criminal heists. Enough said about that, don’t want to give the story away. Nora gets involved with trying to save the girl. He continues on his quest to find out what has happened and the clues to finding the girl brings up his past in a strange way. The book sets the scene really well and brings Milan some peace about his past which he had been struggling with. A good read

The book had an intriguing atmosphere that drew me in and kept me reading until the end. Unfortunately, I didn't find the book enjoyable for several reasons. Although it was a quick and easy read, it didn't offer anything particularly interesting or new. The plot development was not very compelling, and it became predictable as the story unfolded. The author artfully presents a captivating mind game that blurs the lines between the paranoid musings of a character and the constraints of reality. So you never know with him On his other books. But this one just wasn't for me. Hence the score I give it. Thank you very much to head of Zeus and the author for the access to this arc

I love Sebastian Fitzek and was totally hooked on the book from the first page

I loved this book and would recommend to anyone

Thank you for the opportunity to review

I found this a little too unrealistic to be honest. It did keep me interested, but as I got further into it, it became too predictable and perhaps a little too easy to guess what was going to happen. But I stayed involved right to the end and it was an enjoyable read.

With many thanks to Netgalley and Aria or Aries for this free arc and I am leaving this unbiased review voluntarily .
Although Sebastian Fitzek has been on my radar for a while this is the first book I have read of his. I like a lot of Scandi Noir so this German thriller appealed to me. Opening with a brutal first chapter we follow Milan recounting a story in the format of Now and Then. I found the story a bit disjointed at times whether that was the translation or the authors style of writing I’m not sure, however I still managed to follow the plot. The story has a rapid pace and the characters are really good especially Milan who was very intriguing. It didn’t grab me like a Chris Carter book would but there were parts of this book that were gripping with some good twists. Much stronger in the second half of the book as the plot starts to come together
Would I read another Fitzek book? Yes I think I probably would as this one was worth reading
3.5⭐️

I like this way this book tied together. Milan's character arc throughout was well executed as he struggles to comprehend his past alongside his secret. I think the plot was a little messy at times, but not so much that I lost focus or wanted to stop reading. I enjoyed Andra's contribution to this story, her actions were a little morally grey but the conclusion of the book allowed her to redeem herself. Jakobs characterisation was done very well as I even found myself grimacing whilst reading his chapters/povs which I believe is always the sign of a well-written character.

I found Zoe's plot twist a little random, and a bit of a stretch or last resort shock factor. I was able to predict their relationship from their first interaction which was alright as it added to the intensity of the abduction. Overall, a good book with a bit of a thrill.

The Gift by S. Fitzek, narrated by A. Fliakos, published by Head of Zeus, is a fast paced, complex thriller.
The story deals with some sensitive content, consider you warned.
Milan Berg is a con man with a secret. The man is illiteral but finds clever ways to mask it - til he comes across a girl on the backseat of a car holding up a sign. Only he has no clue what it means.
A fantasic read, 4,5 stars.
Blurb: Con man Milan Berg has a photographic memory. But he’s hiding a secret: He can’t read. Unable to interpret the world around him, Milan finds increasingly crafty ways to navigate it. That is, until he comes across a car in traffic with a girl in the back seat. She desperately holds a written note up to the window, but what does it say?
Fearing the girl is in mortal danger, Milan determines to search for her. As he follows a series of clues, each darker and scarier than the next, he’s thrust into a nightmarish odyssey with a deepening, disturbing progression: The clues are tied to his past. Lost in a web of lies, his world is upended as he lands in prison for a crime he claims he didn’t commit. Under the threat of death by his cellmates, Milan recounts his entire story to them from the beginning.