Book reviews: fiction from Sebastian Fitzek, Francesca Kay and JK Rowling
Get on board with one of Germany’s biggest writers, investigate the fine line between love and obsession in a new literary thriller, and watch an unknown writer find her feet
by Sebastian Fitzek (read by Marc Thompson)
Random House (audiobook)
Sebastian Fitzek is becoming a major star of the audiobook world. If the name doesn’t ring any bells, that’s possibly because his international profile is yet to match that in his German homeland. English translations of Fitzek’s thrillers have already attracted some major audiobook performers: Robert Glenister has read two Fitzek books, while The Child was dramatised with an all-star cast including Andy Serkis. Passenger 23 sounds like it was inspired by a statistic: apparently an estimated 20 people vanish each year from cruise ships.
In this novel, it is Martin Schwartz’s wife and young son who disappear without trace from The Sultan. Five years after vowing never to set foot on a boat again, Schwartz, a police psychologist, does just that – and on The Sultan no less – in pursuit of answers to his family’s destruction. Max Beesley makes a believably damaged Schwartz, and is more than ably assisted by a supporting cast of Anthony Head and Rebecca Hall. Passenger 23 is full of surprises, not all of them earned, and quite a lot of chills. This engrossing production is perhaps slightly better than the story itself.