Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Harried German defense attorney Björn Diemel's life spirals out of control in Dusse's witty and inspired debut. Urged by his wife, Katharina, to become "mindful" as a means of dealing with his anxiety, Björn hires self-help coach Joschka Breitner, whose teachings usher him uneasily toward peace of mind. Meanwhile, Björn takes a case defending Dragan Sergowicz, whose pimping, drug dealing, and other criminal operations stretch Björn's questionable ethics to their breaking point. Then Dragan starts encroaching on Björn's personal life, causing a father-daughter weekend with Björn's toddler, Emily, to go awry. Afterward, Dragan vanishes, and Björn takes over leadership of the gang as his proxy. As Björn reckons with betrayals, executions, and a criminal takeover of Emily's preschool, he clings to his newfound mindfulness--including breathing exercises and meditations suggested by Breitner--even as his efforts to protect his daughter and reclaim control of his life grow darker. Dusse pairs brisk plotting with a sardonic send-up of self-help culture, keeping the suspense taut while supplying plenty of laughs. The result is an inventive, endlessly surprising comic thriller. (Apr.)
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Review by Library Journal Review
In this first humorous crime novel from German lawyer and television writer Dusse, Björn Diemel, an overworked and burnt-out mafia lawyer with a crumbling marriage, seeks help from a mindfulness coach. He needs to improve his sense of presence and create a work-life balance in order to maintain custody of his toddler daughter. His adoption of the coach's practices, such as single-tasking and creating time islands, improves his relationships but also results in him becoming a murderer. Björn's mindfulness and serenity only increases as he has to manage the complicated aftermath of his killings. He must negotiate to avoid a mafia war, root out a traitor to the organization, and, perhaps most stressful to Björn, secure a place for his daughter in the competitive German preschool application process. Each chapter starts with a mindfulness technique that Björn then implements in his problem-solving and strategy. The book has a lightly sardonic tone that at times jars with depictions of horrific violence, but Dusse lands an ending that ties all the strands together elegantly. VERDICT Ozark as if written by Fredrik Backman, this crime novel that's already a Netflix series will appeal to readers who appreciate action-packed plots mixed with gentle satire.--Jon Jeffryes
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
A German lawyer who's already involved with the mob also gets involved with a mindfulness regimen. It's hard to say which of these two is lethal. When Katharina Diemel, unhappy with her husband Björn's workaholism; neglect of her and their 2-year-old, Emily; and subservience to his principal client, violent criminal Dragan Sergowicz, insists that he step away from the rat race, Björn consults mindfulness counselor Joschka Breitner. Their months of sessions are so rewarding that they leave two indelible legacies. One is Dragan's death after he pushes Björn just a little too far. The other is the brief excerpts from Breitner's magnum opus,Slowing Down in the Fast Lane, that head each chapter of Dusse's first novel. It turns out that mindfulness offers Björn a path to inner peace, stronger relationships with his wife and daughter, the guts to tell his bosses in the most mindful way possible that he's not going to take any more from them, and the ability to come up with a remarkable series of strategies to persuade driver and personal assistant Sasha Ivanov, narcotics sales manager Toni, ex-friend and present competitor Boris, and the rest of Dragan's associates that the boss has gone into hiding and appointed Björn as his spokesperson and chief deputy. It's obviously a very temporary arrangement, but one that allows Björn not only to engineer several more homicides but to focus on what's most important in his life: getting Emily into a good preschool. Readers with a taste for unpunished violence may also emerge with a more mindful perspective on their own lives. A one-joke suspenser whose marvelously rich joke is worth every one of its 416 pages. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
