The Child
Sebastian Fitzek
(Little Brown)
Robert Stern is a criminal defence lawyer at the top of his game, so when an old girlfriend asks him to take on a client for her, he’s not that keen – particularly when he meets him and finds out that he’s a 10-year-old boy who is convinced he’s a serial killer.
Stern scoffs at his claim – until the boy, Simon Sachs, shows him where the body is.
It is one of several bodies Simon believes he has killed in a previous life and he wants to go to the police to confess, with Stern at his side. Simon also has an inoperable brain tumour, which adds urgency to his efforts to solve his past – he doesn’t have long to live.
But someone will go to any lengths to prevent this from happening.
Against his will, Stern is drawn into the case, which sees him coming face to face with the memory that destroyed his marriage and nearly drove him to suicide: the death of his infant son, at two days old, from cot death. And, somehow, someone he knows only as a digitally altered voice on the other end of the phone wants him to believe his son has been reincarnated into another boy’s body.
And he’ll only tell him where the boy is if Stern helps Simon, because not only does Simon believe he has killed in the past, he’s terrified he’s going to kill again – and soon.
The Child is a brilliantly crafted thriller, with twists and turns drawing the reader into a maelstrom of child porn, drug abuse, kidnapping and the possibility that reincarnation really exists, and the idea that life is not nearly as simple as it seems.
Close the door, let the dog out, pour a drink and get ready to immerse yourself in this tale of horror and redemption. It’s a page-turning thriller you won’t want anyone to interrupt or distract you from.
Originally published in German under the title Das Kind in 2008, this is an author whose titles I shall look out for.