What We Are Made Of [Hardcover]

Thomas Hettche (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 2008

It is early September 2002 and Niklas Kalf, a German writer, is in New York for the first time. He has just published a biography of a Jewish-German physicist named Eugen Meerkaz, who emigrated to the USA in the late 1930s. Niklas is accompanied by his wife Liz, who is several months pregnant. The hot NY summer and the first anniversary of the World Trade Center catastrophe weigh heavily on the city. On the morning of their third day, Liz is kidnapped. In return for her release her anonymous captor demands information on secret experiments that Meerkaz has supposedly conducted—information Niklas does not have. In desperation, he re-examines every fact about the scientist and every document in his possession and comes up with one faint lead—a letter addressed to Meerkaz's widow Elsa by a German soldier and postmarked in Marfa, TX. Niklas embarks on a tumultuous journey to this reclusive part of Texas, where he discovers secret links to an occultist group. Fearless, the young writer digs deeper and deeper, but nothing can prepare him for what he is going to find and the real identity of his enemies—who know no mercy.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Hettche's enigmatic suspense novel gets off to a promising start with the arrival of German biographer Niklas Kalf and his pregnant wife, Liz, in New York City on the eve of the first anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. At a dinner hosted by Kalf's American editor, the editor relates a cryptic story about a 13-year-old girl from a well-to-do family imprisoned for slashing a man to death in Central Park. A few days after the dinner, Liz disappears from their Manhattan hotel room. The writer subsequently learns that Liz's continued well-being hinges on his providing information about the subject of his latest project, an obscure German physicist who immigrated to the U.S. in 1941. As Kalf becomes strangely unengaged from his wife's plight, the narrative loses its intensity, never to regain it.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

From Booklist

This exciting thriller, nicely translated from German, concerns writer Niklas Kalf, whose wife goes missing while he is touring the U.S. to promote his biography of a relatively obscure physicist. Soon Niklas learns that the kidnappers want certain information about the physicist, but they assume Niklas already knows what information they’re after, and he’s certain he has no idea. In order to save his wife’s life, Niklas must reexplore the physicist’s life, along the way turning up some surprises not just about the subject of his biography, but about himself, too. A fast-moving story full of suspense and finely drawn characters. --David Pitt --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Macmillan UK (July 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 033045207X
• ISBN-13: 978-0330452076
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.5 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars A strange,weird story, March 30, 2011

By 

George S. Dean (Kittrell, North Carolina United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: What We Are Made Of (Paperback)

What a strange weird book. It reads like something David Lynch might have written. I don't think I liked this book, but I sure I won't forget it. This is not your average mystery. Very strange.