The Gift

By: Sebastian Fitzek

Narrated by: Ari Fliakos

Length: 7 hrs and 8 mins

Publisher's summary

Please note: This title contains mature themes, including physical and sexual violence, that some listeners may find unsettling. Listener discretion is advised.

The Gift is an exciting edge-of-your-seat psychological thriller by international best-selling author Sebastian Fitzek, performed by listener favorite Ari Fliakos.

Con man Milan Berg has a photographic memory. But he’s hiding a secret: He can’t read. Unable to interpret the world around him, Milan finds increasingly crafty ways to navigate it. That is, until he comes across a car in traffic with a girl in the back seat. She desperately holds a written note up to the window, but what does it say?

Fearing the girl is in mortal danger, Milan determines to search for her. As he follows a series of clues, each darker and scarier than the next, he’s thrust into a nightmarish odyssey with a deepening, disturbing progression: The clues are tied to his past. Lost in a web of lies, his world is upended as he lands in prison for a crime he claims he didn’t commit. Under the threat of death by his cellmates, Milan recounts his entire story to them from the beginning.

Will Milan save himself and the girl? Is he innocent and telling the truth? Or is he a master manipulator delivering one huge con?

©2019 Sebastian Fitzek and Verlagsgruppe Droemer Knaur GmbH & Co. KG (P)2023 Audible Originals, LLC.

Who’s the bigger psycho?

Overall, an entertaining thriller, especially at the Daily Deal price. It’s a listen that requires focus, because there are time jumps, multiple POVs, and lost memories that jumble the story something fierce. There’s also a lot of focus on psychopaths, torture and sexual abuse, most of which is integral to the overall plot. While some of the science is far fetched, the scenarios contrived, and certain villains are obvious,
I forgave these slights in favor of the taught, twisty nature vs nurture intrigue.

One thing not so easily forgiven was the opening scene; the beginning prison assault was entirely unnecessary, in my opinion. This story could just as easily have been told sitting in the prison yard and relaying the events from two years before. If you’d prefer not to hear about a violent buggering, skip the 4.5 minute chapter 1 and you will lose absolutely nothing.

Waste of time.

Narrator was okay, but the story was so confusing. It was difficult to keep up with what was going on. I gave up 42 chapters in, but really wish I hadn't wasted that much time on it. I won't be trying this author again.

Story was awful

Story was awful! Glad I only paid 1.99 it. But also dismayed that I paid for it at all.
The reader did very well.

Great for a daily deal! Somewhat intense

with only one review before me, I wasn't quite sure if I wanted to get this book. I read a little bit about the author. listen to the sample a couple times and decided to give it a try, especially for the price.

I love stories that have the different narratives for the main characters. jumping back and forth through time and through character. had me rewinding a couple times. but I like that sort of thing. The end did not disappoint me and I recommend this book.

Unexpected Twists

I thought book was very well written with many surprises. There was a lot of humor, as well.

Too hard to suspend disbelief for insufficient reward.

I felt like with every new plot point I had to shut down more of my brain to keep going. If you can ignore the bad science, the bad psychology, the bad philosophy, and the bad criminology, your reward will be a tangled lot with one-dimensional characters behaving in ways that defy logic for motivations that are unclear at best, because when they are clarified they’re garbage. Trauma sprinkled in for dramatic effect with no meaningful exploration of how it might affect a person’s character development, because all the ways this might be explored are sabotaged by aforementioned pseudoscientific hogwash. An education in low bars.

Very slow, hard to follow

I stuck with it for a couple of hours, just couldn’t finish. Very slow story, didn’t enjoy it at all

What a surprise

By chance I purchased this as a daily deal & I am shocked & how much I loved this story! Twists turns & great writing.

Thought provoking

This book took a little getting used to for me. It's set in Berlin and translated, so the culture and street names were very unfamiliar. The book starts with a prison rape and beating, which was a bad start, then gets confusing with different POV's, time jumps and the protagonist's missing memories. However, it does come together at the end and I won't soon forget it. There is some violence and torture, and a lot of general unfairness. I was impressed with the translation. The language is descriptive and flowing to be translated. Like another reviewer said, it would be more authentic with a less American-sounding accent reading it.

Best book I’ve heard in a long time

I have been finding it very difficult to find a book that is able to hold my attention. Even my favorite authors, while still great, have not. This book, however had me glued from beginning to end.

Mind blowing

Mind blowing I’m still not sure what the heck happened here very fragmented story that comes together but if it came together well or not

Um final magnífico

Um final inesperado adorei !…o Sebastian não desilude ….personagens bem construídas…a narração poderia ter voz feminina acho que daria uma melhor audição versus compreensão

Confused . Com!

The story was intense .. lots of characters and lots of twists.
I think I lost the plot a few times. I ploughed on but I’m not sure if I would recommend.

Just ok

I have read, and very much enjoyed other of Sebastian Fitzek’s books. His trade mark complex plots and twists and turns make his books addictive reading/listening. HOWEVER, the narration of this book wasn’t great, and I did find, as other reviewers have mentioned, that some plot lines were hard to follow because it jumped around. Wasn’t really prepared for the twist in the tail though!

Nasty!

Lots of twists and turns which were good but also confusing….some nasty characters in it!
Narration was so-so. Had to really work out what the hell was happening

The story is Ok and I like the twists

I did like the story with all its twists. However I think the narrator sounds robotic and I absolutely hate that he can’t pronounce German words. It’s the bare minimum that place names are pronounced correctly, no matter the accent.

The plot is extremely twisted (which I like), so you really need to pay attention to get it. The terrible narration makes it really hard to follow the plot

So fragmented I’m totally lost on the plot!

I absolutely love Fitzek’s books and am a huge fan of his writing but this book missed the mark for me. I listened to the end thinking it would all come together but I have more questions than answers - and not in a good way. I was left (unsuccessfully!) to google the plot to get some closure but sadly nothing is out there. Really disappointed in the story but narrator is great!