Dirk WittenbornRezensionen

I received an advance copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review. The book will be published on July 7, 2020. Also please note a Trigger Warning that there are scenes and themes of sexual violence in this book.

This book had a lot going on - mostly in a good way. It's a story of revenge intertwined with drama, suspense, dark comedy, and in the end, what it means to get justice. With dark history behind these characters, you closely follow the story of one woman, Evie, partially in her past and partially in the present. The first half of the novel ping pongs between Evie's story of growing up in the Adirondack Mountains, and how she got into the positions that changed her life forever, to present day as she tells her daughter her story. The second half of the book then dives into the revenge saga and seeking justice for who and what did her wrong all those years ago. It is filled with fascinating characters, vivid settings, and an itch to know the truth.

What makes this book a 5 to a 4 star for me is the way it was formatted. I felt it was choppy at times, and that it ultimately could have been cut down to 400 pages or less (rather than the 458 pages).

Overall, I was hooked by the story, and recommend it. I grew to truly care about the characters with the author's vivid descriptions and story telling throughout the book - which to me says it all.

Yale, Anfang der Fünfziger Jahre. Assistenzprofessor Dr. William Friedrich ist ehrgeizig, kinderreich und unterbezahlt, als er einem exotischen Wirkstoff auf die Spur kommt, in dem er eine pharmazeutische Sensation wittert. Das ideale Versuchskaninchen scheint Casper zu sein, ein kontaktgestörter, lebensmüder Überflieger - Physikstudent und Freund von Friedrichs großer, glücklicher Familie. Das Mittel verwandelt Casper in einen spektakulär erfolgreichen Aufsteiger - bis er eines Tages zum Killer wird. Fortan prägt Casper als wiederkehrender Alptraum das Leben der Friedrichs - und insbesondere das Leben von Zach, dem Sohn, der erst nach der Katastrophe geboren wurde. Furios und mitreißend entfaltet sich der turbulente tragikomische Roman einer Familie in jener pharmagläubigen Zeit, als die Lifestyledrogen weltweit laufen lernten und Selbstfindung Pillenform anzunehmen schien.

A story whose ending cannot quite live up to the promise the great beginning makes.

Well written, with brilliant characters; the story just needed to be a little fuller in the last 1/3 of the book.½

I liked this book a lot. I'm very stingy with five-star ratings, but I considered giving it five stars. Consider this a 4.5 star. There are probably enough page-turning, what-happens-next moments here for two or three different books. It strikes a pretty good balance on the predictable/unpredictable scale, the characters are interesting and sad and a little funny, and the narrator is appealing and believable. If each of those elements were kicked up just a notch further, and if the book had a bigger "wow" factor in terms of a life lesson/new way of thinking, I could go for the 5 stars.

I made the mistake of reading this novel after watching the failure of a film. Don't do it! If you've seen the movie already, there's nothing in the novel for you. Most of the narration is taken directly from the text, and the revisions made for the screenplay don't detract anything important from the story as a whole.

If you haven't seen the movie yet, I suppose it's worth a read. But whatever this book does has been done better and with more style in The Catcher in the Rye, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, etc.

Really well done. Effortless. Ending a bit week½

In the endi I thought this book wandered too much as if it lost its way

Pharmakon is an intricate novel of good intentions gone wrong. William Friedrich is blinded by the possible granduer of a succesful depression drug when he allows the sucidal Casper Gedsic to join the drug trials. Friedrich's ambition coupled with Gedsic's insanity leads to the down fall of both men and Friedrich's family. Wittenborn's novel paints how a drug test in the 1950s haunts the Friedrich family for the following forty years.½

I thought this book was really good. I saw a preview for the movie and wanted to read the book first before seeing the movie because the books always better I've found!! I would highly recommend it. I read it within 2 days! Couldnt put it down!!