The Enigma (1997)

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The riddle (in the English original: State of Mind ) is a psychological thriller by the American writer John Katzenbach . The original English-language edition was published by Ballantine Books in 1997 . This was followed in 2007 by a German translation by Anke Kreutzer , which was published by Droemer Knaur . It was also published by Argon Verlag as an audio book that was read by Simon Jäger and lasts 399 minutes on six CDs.

action

In the 51st state , newly established in the USA , in which absolute security is promised due to stricter entry conditions and total surveillance by the state authorities, young girls are repeatedly murdered.

Psychology professor and profiler Jeffrey Clayton, dubbed “Professor Death” by his students, is called in to solve the murders kept secret by the 51st state government. Clayton soon realizes that the patterns typical of the murders seem very familiar to him. 25 years ago there was a murder of a young student in his neighborhood, in which his father was one of the closest suspects. At these events, his family broke up, so that Jeffrey, his sister Susan and their seriously ill mother Diana have since lived separated from their father and hidden from him in the Florida Keys .

In the course of his investigation, Jeffrey can no longer believe that his father has actually died, as more and more leads point to him as a perpetrator in the current murder cases. He then called in his sister to the case, who professionally created puzzles for Miami magazine under the pseudonym Mata Hari . Jeffery, Susan and Diana are smuggled into the 51st state by its government under a false identity.

It turns out that Jeffrey's father is actually up to mischief in the 51st state, where he has apparently started a new family with Caril Ann Curtin and Geoffrey Curtin under the name Peter Curtin. His wife, whose code name is based on Caril Ann Fugate , and her son are his accomplices. Jeffrey's father, who chose his alias based on Peter Kürten , had made money, which is why he had an expensive property built in the new state with a soundproof music room with a secret escape door.

In the course of his cat-and-mouse game with his own son, Peter Curtin leaves specific clues about his whereabouts. As expected of him, Jeffrey makes his way to his father's estate to kill him. However, he is assisted in this endeavor by his sister Susan, who is an excellent shooter. While Jeffrey enters the building through the front door and is overwhelmed by his father, Susan penetrates through the hidden escape door, in front of which her mother Diana waits under the protection of the bushes in the garden, into the music room, where she recently heard about it girl kidnapped by Peter Curtin meets Kimberley Lewis. Jeffrey is forced by his father to enter the music room from the living area in order to kill Kimberley himself. Upon entering the music room, the waiting Susan opens fire, kills Caril Ann Curtin and injures Peter Curtin. Nevertheless, Jeffrey and Susan are shot in the course of the firefight.

Peter Curtin manages to escape through the escape door. When he tries to make his way through the night in the direction of a hidden escape vehicle, he is caught by his ex-wife Diana with a gun drawn. She forces him to get into the car and drive a few kilometers to a ravine. There she shoots him so that he falls into the depths. Then she sits in front of a rock, leans back, waits for sunrise, and takes a fatal overdose of her pills. She is found by the authorities days later.

After they are released from the hospital, Jeffrey and Susan return to their normal lives, according to the circumstances. Jeffrey resumes his work at the university. After the first exam he has his students write, he realizes that one exam sheet has been handed in too many. When looking through the examination papers, he finds a form that has no name. He reads the text and concludes that the killing is not over yet. Geoffrey Curtin, who had a good teacher in his stepfather Peter Curtin, has found him and wants to kill him - if Jeffrey does not manage to find his stepbrother first.

Reviews

USA Today editors rate the work as " creepy ... irresistible ... you want to lock the door and pull the covers over your head. " According to the Washington Post , the book is “ a well-written thriller with an equally good plot. Katzenbach knows very well how to create his own world, and his imaginary 51st state is terrifyingly believable. "The Nordwest-Zeitung of March 14, 2008 judged:" In his thriller, Katzenbach skillfully plays with the primeval American fears and the idealization of a surveillance state . "The rock magazine Eclipsed writes in its March 2008 issue:" As with his last novels, John Katzenbach can convince with sophisticated undertones, with which he creates an atmosphere of subtle tension. "

expenditure

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c "Press Reviews"

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