Book: Fear
Author: Dirk Kurbjuweit
An excellent psychological thriller, Fear is the first novel by Dirk Kurbjuweit to be translated to English.
The author is a German native who has published numerous popular books in his own language that have been adapted for television and film.
Fear is a nail-biting account of how a law-abiding family is let down by the legal system, when their disturbed neighbour Dieter begins harassing them.
The first-person narrative of the novel is Randolph Tiefenthaler, an architect, with a wife named Rebecca and two children.
He hastens to tell the reader that his childhood was ordinary, before the story of his upbringing is dropped in breadcrumb fashion through the narrative.
It is apparent that Randolph was fearful of his father’s extensive gun collection and his temper.
The correlation between the issues Randolph is experiencing and his father’s gun collection is that the narrative opens with his 77-year-old father named Herman in jail for manslaughter.
Herman admitted to shooting dead the neighbour that had been causing his son so much grief.
Randolph’s family meet Dieter shortly after they move into their ground floor apartment and initially everything seemed fine.
Before long, Dieter who lives in the basement of the building begins making inappropriate comments to Rebecca and accusing the couple of child abuse.
Despite Randolph’s attempts to get the law involved, Dieter knows just how far to push before ceasing his behaviour so not to cross the legal system.
Though Randolph and his father are somewhat distant, he speaks to his father about the issues, which ultimately leads to Dieter’s demise.
The author touches on a number of topical issues in this book that will likely resonate with readers.
A little research told me that this book is also loosely based on Kurbjuweit’s personal experience.
There are many facets to this story and it makes for an intriguing read.
The author is very talented and I will certainly be looking out for further English translations from his collection.
Fear by Dirk Kurbjuweit is available from Jashanmal in City Centre Bahrain and Seef Mall.
It is also available on all online bookstores including www.amazon.com and www.kobo.com.