The book opens with its unnamed narrator en route to Berlin to be by his former friend Schmidt’s deathbed. The two, as art critics, had their bond solidified by their mutual obsession with Saint Sebastian’s Abyss, a painting …

Fictional retellings of true-to-life events have so much potential. This method of storytelling is, for me, fresh and exciting. You have the freedom of fiction, with the constraints of the real life series of events being retold. …

I went into this expecting an edge-of-your-seat thriller. Instead, I got a fully fleshed-out literary slow-burner that offered more than meets the eye. With a story made plausible, and in some way realistic, solely by sheer convenience, …