The Nightwalker

Wow what a lurid thriller. A book that plays with your mind. I don’t know if the ending was real. A physcological experiment

You'll be second guessing about what's real and what isn't. However I suggest skipping chapters 42 and 43 or just forgetting them since they hurt the overall story and make it less interesting

Plenty of twists and turns and surprises but it may have been a tad too much. Great premise and I was intrigued to know how it would all end and what was really going on, but it all felt a bit unrealistic. Not to give anything away but the further I got into thr book the more unbelievable it became. The ending tied it all up nicely but still, it was highly unrealistic. It was entertaining yes, but it was still too much going on to make it feel solid.

On time, as expected.

Son loves the book. The book did come with the back cover and probably around the last 25 pages folded.

I hesitate to give this even one star, given how badly disappointed I was by this.If you're considering this book, I'd recommend turning around and checking out this author's novel Therapy; which is light-years better both in presentation and execution of its story.I have to give this one credit for having an interesting idea. Leon Nader is an architect, married to the beautiful photographer Natalie. Then, one morning; he wakes up to find her battered and bruised and packing to leave him without any explanation.Leon concludes that he must have begun sleepwalking again, since as a child he did so after his parents' deaths and once was involved in an incident which could have ended tragically. After speaking with the psychiatrist who treated him then, he buys a motion-activated camera to see what he does while asleep and then finds out various strange and terrible things.Part of my problem with this story is the odd jumps in time from one scene to another within the same chapter. Some of things described, such as one conversation between Leon and Natalie's father in a bathroom; make you wonder if any of what's being related is real or whether it is all in his head. It doesn't help that there are segments which are clearly intended to be dreams, but not indicated as such in the story or that Leon himself is not always sure of the difference.There's also a lot of disgusting and disturbing imagery, even in the first few pages. Just as an example, in the first chapter Leon described a waking nightmare he has of a large cockroach climbing over him. This imaginary creature shows up in his thoughts way too often, as does references to other things which are even worse.In fact, by the time that a police officer shows up to question Leon about an unstated crime where his phone was found, I just skipped ahead to the end to see whether or not the story was even worth my time going further. As it turns out, it is never entirely made clear whether what you've read was supposed to be real or a delusion; whether Leon actually hurt his wife in his sleep or not. Even whether she lives or if Leon ends up in an asylum isn't clear.And that doesn't even touch on the "twist" of the story. Which, suffice it to say; is completely outlandish. If you still haven't made up your mind about whether you'd want to read this story, maybe this will help you.===Spoilers===Everything which Leon goes through in the story is part of an experiment conducted by some rather unscrupulous researchers.==End Spoilers==In conclusion, I'd recommend the much superior novel Therapy by this same author; which has none of the problems that this one does.

I do love Psychological Thrillers but they can get a little samey after a while. This description however can never be said of a Fitzek book. Every one I have read has been bursting with originality right the way through. He is also the master of deceptive sleight of hands in his books. In several books I have read of his, I am lulled into believing the impossible, the incredible, the unimaginable, only to find that what I believed all along isn't necessarily fact. Yes, I know this sounds like the description of most psychological thrillers about today but Mr Fitzek just has something that sets his work apart from the others. Every single reveal in every single Fitzek book I have read has left me with jaw dropping speechlessness. Can you guess I'm a bit of a fan?!So, Leon is a bit of a troubled soul. Lost his parents at an early age, rejected by foster families/system he finally finds love with Natalie. They move into this lovely apartment and appear to be doing well until, one morning, Leon wakes to find Natalie beaten, bloodied and bruised and packing to leave him. He remembers a condition he had as a child where he sleep walked and did rather strange things whilst doing so. Has this condition returned and, if so, has it escalated? Leon contacts his old psychologist and remembers an experiment they did on him with a mounted camera. He quickly purchases one and sets it up for when he sleeps that night. What he discovers on waking is shocking and his life soon spirals down a long, deep, dark alley into a veritable abyss.Oh, this was deliciously dark, convoluted, twisted and confusing. I love it when, as a reader, I know the same information as the main character because I find that I can empathise better because quite simply I am just a confused as he is!Things go missing, things turn up where they aren't supposed to be, people tell him things that didn't happen, things happen that he can't remember. Boy is this a mind-bend or what! Every time I though I'd got it under some level of control, wham! along comes another bolt from the blue to knock me sideways.Characterisation as always in these books must be a challenge due to their nature but Mr Fitzek always gets this spot on. I would love to harp on more, waxing lyrical about why I think the characterisation is clever and brilliant but, due to their nature in this book, doing so would give spoilers and that's just not done. Needless to say, if you have ever read a Fitzek book before, you'll understand what I mean. To say they are character driven would be an understatement.Storyline was... and that's all I can say about it specifically. Generically, it was interesting enough to grab my attention, convoluted enough to hold it. The ending completely blew my mind. Never saw that coming! I had my own ideas yes, but no, just no. I've never second guessed this guy. I don't know why I bothered to try this time. But, the ending, as WOW! as it was, works. It just does. Well, for me anyway. Maybe it's cos I am tuned to the Fitzek way, maybe it's just cos it's my wavelength. I don't know and I don't care, I just accept it and embrace it!As far as the whole topic of sleepwalking is concerned, I assume the author has done his research. I am not about to check as I believe in "poetic license" anyway, but I have to say that reading this book has piqued my interest in the subject somewhat!Anyway, another great book by someone who is now one of my favourite authors. Roll on the next one, I'm ready.I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

The Nightwalker starts off well. It had the makings of a compelling psychological thriller. But then it just becomes tedious and repetitive. By the time I got to the reveal at the end, which is ludicrous, I no longer cared.

Bought as a gift

Gut erhaltenes, gebrauchtes Buch. Versand dauerte etwas länger, sonst alles reibungslos.Fesselnd und packend, wie jede Fitzek Storry!

Alles in Ordnung!

Fitzek's work is in a different class from other psychological thriller writers as he truly examines his protagonists' minds and explores psycological science in ways that are astonishingly and frighteningly believable. Therapy is a truly disturbing book as are his other earlier works. The Nightwalker is not quite up to the standard of the earlier works but is nevertheless a compelling read. I think what let it down a little for me was the repetitiveness of the events described, rather too much wandering around in tunnels, but the overriding psycological concept is again fascinating, well researched and original. Finally, huge appreciation for the translators of all his works who make the prose flow as though English was the original language of the writer. Can't wait for Fitzek's next works.

Leider kann ich das Buch nicht empfehlen, auch wenn sehr viele Leser dieses anscheind anders beurteilen.Für mich war das Buch zu verworren, stellenweise langweilig und irgendwie zu weit hergeholt.Schade.