Sebastian Fitzek is a writer of psychological thrillers and a household name in Germany, where his books are phenomenal bestsellers. Ever since his debut, Die Therapie, came out in 2006, all of his thrillers have been on the Spiegel bestseller list, and they regularly stay at the number one spot for weeks after publication. He has had success abroad too: Fitzek’s novels have sold in 37 different countries. Worldwide, this amounts to over 19 million books as well more than 1 million audiobooks. In the UK Sebastian Fitzek is now published by Aries Fiction (Head of Zeus), who have also reissued the titles in English previously published elsewhere. The next two Fitzek thrillers that will appear are Playlist and The Gift.
Jamie Bulloch: Hello Sebastian. I’m delighted to be doing this interview with you. For a number of years you have been Germany’s best-selling author, but I understand that success didn’t come so easily or quickly. Can you tell us something about your beginnings as a writer?
Sebastian Fitzek: Hello and thank you very much for the invitation to this interview. It’s true, my path to success was anything but easy. I sent my first manuscript to 15 publishers. Twelve of them rejected it, and I still haven’t heard back from the remaining three. Not a particularly good rate, as you can see. But these setbacks didn’t discourage me; rather, they motivated me to keep going and to work on myself.
You produce your novels with amazing regularity – one always seems to appear around the time of the Frankfurt Book Fair. Each one is also quite different from the last. You must be a very disciplined writer. Could you tell us something about your working practice?
Discipline definitely plays a major role in my writing process. Writing is partially like sports for me. Often I have to force myself to start, but the best moment is always the phase of “having written.” To organize my thoughts, I always create a detailed synopsis. But after about 80 pages, my characters often take on a life of their own, and I become more of an observer. This sometimes leads to me fearing that my story might not find a logical end. In the end, I am often as surprised by the final twist as my readers are.
The mind-bending plots of your novels are extremely complex. Do you construct a very detailed storyboard before you start writing?
As I said, I always create a synopsis to have a rough direction. But the real magic often happens during the writing itself. The characters take over and steer the plot in directions I hadn’t previously considered. What always makes me smile is when—thankfully, rarely—readers claim they knew the ending from the beginning. I can only say then: I didn’t.
How do you account for the huge popularity of your books? Why, in your opinion, do readers enjoy being shocked, frightened and given glimpses into the darkest recesses of the human soul?
The suspense and unpredictability captivate the readers. It’s a safe way to experience extreme emotions while not leaving their comfort zone. People also love riding roller coasters to have a safe near-death experience. In this sense, my books are like literary roller coaster rides, hopefully leading to a rush of endorphins at the end.
Your e-mail address appears at the end of every book. Could you tell us about the engagement you have with readers?
Including my email address at the end of my books is very important to me. It allows me to get direct feedback from my readers and stay in touch with them. These interactions are often very inspiring and give me new perspectives. It’s amazing how many personal stories and impressions I learn about this way. Just yesterday, I received an email from Ukraine, where a reader thanked me for allowing her to escape the everyday life of war for a moment with my books. Such reactions are worth much more than sales figures.
What do you like to do when you’re not writing or on reading tours?
I annoy my family with my presence. They have to listen to me playing the drums. This helps me relieve stress and clear my head. Music is a wonderful complement to writing and offers me another way to be creative.
Fitzek’s thrillers are breathtaking, full of wild twists.
Harlan Coben, bestselling author
About Sebastian Fitzek
Sebastian Fitzek is the most successful German bestselling author, whose works have sold more than 19 million copies and have been published in more than 36 countries. He began his career in radio, later studying law and gaining a doctorate in copyright law. In 2006, he published his first psychological thriller „Therapy“, which became a bestseller, as did all subsequent books.
Between 2014 and 2021, Sebastian Fitzek was the most successful German author of the year six times. In 2023, his books „The invitation“ and „Parent’s Eve” were the best-selling books of the year. Many of his books have been successfully adapted for film and television series, such as „Therapy“ (Prime Video) as a six-part mini-series, which immediately became the number one most-watched German-language series and TOP 10 hit in thirty countries for several weeks, including the USA. Also, many of his works have been the subject of several theatre adaptations, including „Soulbreaker“, „Therapy“ and „Passenger 23“. Sebastian Fitzek is also known for his spectacular book launches, which he stages as shows and fills Germany’s largest arenas with.
Fitzek has twice been nominated for the Glauser Prize and has been awarded the Golden Lovelybooks Readers’ Prize several times. He also received the Hörkules and won the European Prize for Crime Literature in 2016. He lives with his family in Berlin.
Read on!
Explore Sebastian Fitzek titles in English translation via the publisher’s webiste here.
The author’s own website is also available in English.
Forthcoming title:
A month ago, fifteen-year-old Feline Jagow disappeared, presumed abducted, on her way to school. Her distraught mother asks private investigator Alexander Zorbach, a former police detective, to discover her whereabouts.
Despite a month having elapsed since her disappearance, Feline’s music playlist was changed just a few days ago. Could a seemingly innocuous list of songs contain a hidden clue to where the girl is being held – and how she can be rescued – or is the truth something more sinister?
Zorbach needs Alina Grigoriev’s help, but enlisting the medium will prove difficult given their shared past. The mystery of the playlist plunges Zorbach into a horrifying nightmare, in which the chances of survival for everyone involved are close to zero.
Jamie Bulloch is the translator of almost fifty books from German including works by Daniela Krien, Timur Vermes, Robert Menasse, Arno Geiger, Romy Hausmann and Sebastian Fitzek. His translation of Birgit Vanderbeke’s The Mussel Feast won the Schlegel-Tieck Prize, an award in which he has been runner-up on two further occasions. He is also the author of Karl Renner: Austria. He lives with his family in London.
