Sebastian Fitzek

psychological thriller

Fitzek is regarded as the pioneer and figurehead of the German psychological thriller.

💡 Did you know? His books often unfold in claustrophobic places: a psychiatric ward, a plane, a cruise ship.

Therapy

The novel became a surprise bestseller and launched Fitzek’s career.

💡 Did you know? A father searches for his daughter who vanished without a trace: nothing is as it seems.

radio journalist

He worked for several Berlin radio stations before turning fully to writing.

💡 Did you know? The sense of timing from radio still shapes his punchy chapter endings today.

cruise ship

The thriller picks up a real phenomenon: people who vanish without trace on the open sea.

💡 Did you know? Dozens of passengers really do disappear from cruise ships each year.

European crime-writing prize

He was the first German author to receive this honour.

💡 Did you know? His readings fill entire arenas: often staged like a show with music and lights.

The Eye Collector

The novel launched a whole series revolving around the same culprit.

💡 Did you know? Fitzek loves keeping the reader on the wrong track until the very last page.

The Child

A ten-year-old boy confesses to murders committed decades ago; a lawyer is drawn into the maelstrom.

💡 Did you know? The novel was also adapted as a graphic novel and for the cinema.

Vincent Kliesch

Fitzek supplied the idea, Kliesch wrote it out; the hero is a forensic expert who identifies people by their voice.

💡 Did you know? „Auris“ began as an audio drama before the novels appeared.

the most successful

His books have repeatedly spent weeks at number one on the bestseller lists.

💡 Did you know? Almost every new Fitzek appears immediately in a print run of millions.

like a show

Rather than simply reading aloud, he turns his appearances into a spectacle for whole arenas.

💡 Did you know? In doing so he brought crime reading out of the bookshop and into the concert hall.

Sebastian Fitzek