Andrea Maria Schenkel

You could not, ever, accuse Andrea Maria Schenkel of wordiness. Her books are masterpieces of succinct, pointed fiction, leaving a lot to the readers imagination, conclusion or simply confusion. Which is part of what I love about these books - that feeling, when finished reading, that you might just not have the whole picture. That there are things that you may have to think about, that not everything is black and white, and that the grey is often very dark, very cloudy, very textured grey.

BUNKER is a particular example of that wonderful act of leaving the reader to decide, to extrapolate, to conjecture, to muddle through. We're given the details of a kidnapping (or is it), we're given multiple viewpoints, and we're given precious little detail. In exchange the reader does have to work, there's a lot of different possible interpretations in here - unreliable narrator perhaps? In which case which one? Past catching up with the present? Mistaken identity? Pointless act? Act of revenge? You decide.

Hard work undoubtedly. Not a book for fans of the carefully laid out plot, or for a clear who / what / when / why type resolution. But I've personally been a fan of Schenkel's writing from the very first book, although to be honest, they aren't books I recommend to others easily. I find their obtuseness rewarding, the amount of work I have to put in to considering what just happened an exciting part of the overall experience... but they aren't straightforward. There are hidden depths in BUNKER that you might find you have to work for.

Whilst ICE COLD is the second book from German writer Andrea Maria Schenkel, it's the first book - THE MURDER FARM - that I have to start out mentioning.  I still remember my reaction to that book - mesmerised, enthralled, vaguely stunned.  Needless to say, trying not to set expectations for ICE COLD was a tricky undertaking.

Set in 1930's Munich, ICE COLD is the progression of a rapist serial killer.  Various viewpoints are told chapter by chapter, each voice eerily intimate, and personal, distinguished by a change in font to give the reader a visual queue, as well as a clear change in voice.  The killer moves aimlessly, passively through a life punctuated suddenly by extreme violence and depravity.  ICE COLD tells a story that is brutal, hopeless, stark, bleak and extremely discomforting.  It's dark, intense and extremely uncomfortable reading.  It's also jarringly different in that there is no discernible plot, heading for a resolution or at the least, an explanation.  This is a series of short, sharp punches to the readers sensibility, finalising in no resolution, no closure, no analysis, no neat ends and no explanations.  

There are a lot of similarities to THE MURDER FARM, in the style, the structure and the tone of ICE COLD.  But there's something much bleaker and more confrontational about ICE COLD.  Just in case it sounds like this is a book that I hated, exactly the opposite is true.  It's short, sharp, tight as hell, uncomfortable, strange, brutal, and extremely memorable.