Dear Mr. M - Tapa dura

Compelling and strange * Lady * The calm, sour vigour with which Koch motors along during these verbal slashings is something to behold . . . Bold, provocative, regularly hilarious. * Irish Sunday Independent * Herman Koch is rapidly becoming one of my favorite writers. His three novels, taken together, are like a killer EP where every track kicks ass. -- Stephen King Gripped from page one . . . I was on the edge of my sofa. * Grazia * Koch's [novel] is one of exceptional ingenuity, with two equally compelling threads . . . An absolute page-turner. * Mail on Sunday * The strands come blackly and brilliantly together . . . The climax is unexpected and very pleasing. * Sunday Times * A riveting but disturbing [novel] from the richly talented Dutch author who sprang to prominence with his gripping The Dinner . . . Delicately told, in spare, haunting prose, there are echoes of Stephen King's Misery, but this is even more subtle, with a denouement to send shivers down the spine. * Daily Mail *

'An absolute page-turner' Mail on Sunday Dear Mr. M, I'd like to start by telling you that I'm doing better now. I do so because you probably have no idea that I was ever doing worse. Much worse, in fact, but I'll get to that later on. Mr. M is being watched. As a famous writer, he is no stranger to the limelight, although interest in his work has been dwindling of late. His print runs are smaller than they used to be, as are the crowds at his bookshop signings . . . Our narrator clearly takes a keen interest in M.'s work, and indeed in every aspect of his life. But what exactly are his intentions? And to what does Mr. M owe the honour of his undivided attention? Our narrator seems to be no stranger to murder, while his own story appears to bear more than a passing resemblance to the plot of Mr. M's most famous novel: a teacher has an affair with a student, only to be brutally murdered by the girl and her teenage boyfriend. The body is never found. That's the problem with fiction: in real life, bodies have an awkward habit of turning up. Mr. M has used some artistic licence, and our narrator is not pleased, not pleased at all. And just before he fades into obscurity, he's prepared to give Mr. M one last review. And it's unlikely to be a rave. Dear Mr. M is an unsettling and irresistibly readable novel, set in the world of writing and bookselling, by Herman Koch, the author of the international bestseller, The Dinner.