The Soul Breaker by German author Sebastian Fitzek is an enthralling, edge of your seat, psychological action thriller.
The story is set in dual timelines and begins in the present day. A professor is offering payment for students who wish to be involved in examining a patient’s records named “The Soul Breaker”
As the students read the transcripts of factual events they are horrified. Three women had gone missing and when discovered they were alive but in a catatonic state. The Soul Breaker had left a note in their hands containing a riddle.
Abruptly the offender stops, is he / she waiting in the shadows to strike again?
Three months later at the exclusive Teufelsberg Clinic for psychiatric help a man is found outside laying in the snow. He is taken into the clinic by staff, when questioned who he was and how did he end up there he has no recollection, suffering from amnesia. The staff call him Caspar.
A few weeks later an ambulance is transporting a man that has stabbed himself, with bad weather and dangerous road conditions the ambulance crashes into a phone box near the clinic, a snowmobile is sent out to retrieve the paramedics and patient.
A violent storm closes in causing a massive loss of connectivity, the clinic is cut off from the rest of the world and circumstances worsen when Sophia Dorn, the head psychiatrist is found naked in a bathtub in a catatonic state clutching a piece of paper with a riddle in her hand. Staff and patients are terrified, wanting to band together, but who can they trust one another. Who is the identity of the Soul Breaker?
With a talent for scene-setting, descriptions, and tension-building, Sebastian takes his readers and sets them right down inside the world and minds of his characters. The vivid imagery also solidifies the believability of the story, and you find yourself caring so much for what has happened to the victims and what the outcome will be.
There is an edginess to the characters and writing, the pace is unnerving, and the plot has enough mystery, suspense, and intricacies to keep you invested all the way through. I like the full-bodied, imperfect characters. The strongest part of The Soul Breaker, for me, apart from the initial plot concept and the excellent use of dialogue, is the cinematic presentation of scenes. You can just envision all of this action on a large movie screen.
This isn’t a gloss-over, lightweight novel. It is bordering on horror, the realism and details make this an absorbing, convincing story. Once again, the author has created a nail-biter which is more than satisfying.
Thank you, Beauty and Lace and Head of Zeus for the opportunity to read and review.
Footnote: The Soul Breaker was first published in 2008 in German as Der Seelenbrecher due to its popularity it has since seen it published in several languages around the world.
Author: Sebastian Fitzek
Translated by: John Brownjohn
ISBN: 9781838935849
Copy courtesy of publisher: Head of Zeus
A selection of our Beauty and Lace Club Members are reading The Soul Breaker by Sebastian Fitzek. You can read their comments below, or add your own review.
My love of books started at a very young age. My mum has always been a reader and encouraged me to read, buying me endless book from classic fairy tales advancing to the world of Enid Blyton, CS Lewis, Louisa May Alcott, Kathryn Kenny, Carolyn Keene, Francine Pascal. In my adult years the list of authors is endless and every room in my house is filled with books.
One of my favourite novels is Narnia which has always has a special place in my heart. I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes in 1978 and when I was given this book to read it let me escape to another world where I felt like I was in the book with all the characters, it wasfun and exciting to escape from reality and eased the ups and downs of the disease at such a young age.
In books nothing is impossible and there is endless potential and hundreds of places to explore or being taken to places that are only made up from the authors’ great minds, the past and future to navigate, characters lives you step into taking you on an emotional rollercoaster ride or being scared out of your wits. I can experience things that I can’t in real life because they’re not possible or real. It challenges my perspective and mindset expanding my worldview.
I find joy, comfort and peace with books, many people may not get it, but I know bookworms like me truly understand. Reading makes my heart happy.
The Soul Breaker by Sebastian Fitzek is a thriller with a villain intent on revenge.
The Soul Breaker doesn’t actually kill his victims, but leaves them paralysed and catatonic, reliving their nightmares.
Each victim is found with a note, a riddle which is a clue .
A man is found lying in the snow outside a psychiatric hospital, he has no recollection of who he is. The staff name him “Casper”.
The head nurse is found paralysed and catatonic, obviously a new victim.
The hospital goes into lock down, believing the “Soul Breaker “ is trapped outside. Unfortunately, the “Soul Breaker” is actually inside.
Casper desperately tries to remember who he is and why he is there. He tries to work out which one of the staff or patients is the Soul Breaker.
A terrible storm, a crashed ambulance, no phone reception.
Who will be the next victim, and who is Casper ?
A wonderfully dark story, which keeps you guessing right until the end.
A brilliant read!
This book by Sebastian Fitzek is a dark psychological thriller
A psychopath kidnaps women and totally destroys them, he is labelled the “Soul Breaker” he also leaves a clue with each of the women who he doesn’t kill just leaves them unable to talk and traumatised
At a psychiatric clinic a man is found in the snow he has no idea if his name or where he has come from so the staff decide to call him Casper
A massive snow storm hits the center leaving staff and patients trapped
No more spoilers
This book will have readers turning pages after page to the finish with the reader trying to guess who the “Soul Breaker” is
The Soul Breaker written by Sebastian Fitzek is
The Soul Breaker doesn’t actually kill his victims, but leaves them paralysed and catatonic, reliving their nightmares.
Each victim is found with a note, a thriller. I actually found this book quite difficult to follow at first with al of the different characters and time hopping.
It starts with a woman who has been kidnapped and tortured, leaving her traumatised, then it jumps to a Uni setting then to a psychiatric hospital.
Snow, an ambulance crash and no phone reception create a perfect storm for the Soul Breaker to strike again. Throw in a mystery identity and a new victim.
If you like dark mysteries. This is for you.
Thank you Beauty and Lace.
The Soul Breaker by Sebastian Fitzek is a dark phychological thriller,
across 2 different timelines.
The victims of the so called Soul Breaker are left in a catatonic state,
each with a clue written on a piece of paper left in their hand.
A remote Phychiatric Clinic that is snowed in due to a blizzard
is the setting for the horror that unfolds.
Present day has Students in a Trial reading the Memoirs of what occurred.
This story will have you on the edge of your seat,
there are horrendous twists that you won’t see coming.
Thank you to Beauty and Lace and Head of Zeus for the opportunity to read and review this story.
I didn’t think I would enjoy this book when I first started it but once I got into it, I was hooked. It was full of twists and turns and kept me on the edge of my seat.
The Soul Breaker is a trippy, psychological thriller by German writer Sebastian Fitzek.
This is the dark story of someone who kidnaps women and leaves them catatonic but alive with a note in their hand with clues and riddles on it.
This book is written in a way that you really feel immersed in the story. It had me on the edge of my seat trying to figure out what was going to happen next. It’s certainly a dark read with some horrific moments.
Thanks to Beauty and Lace and Head of Zeus for the opportunity to read this book.