Sebastian David Fitzek (born 13 October 1971 in

West Berlin West Berlin ( or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin from 1948 until 1990, during the Cold War. Although West Berlin lacked any sovereignty and was under military occupation until German reunification in 1 ...

) is a German writer and journalist. His first book, ''

Therapy A therapy or medical treatment is the attempted remediation of a health problem, usually following a medical diagnosis. Both words, ''treatment'' and ''therapy'', are often abbreviated tx, Tx, or Tx. As a rule, each therapy has indications a ...

'' ('' dt.'' ), was a bestseller in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

in 2006, toppling ''

The Da Vinci Code ''The Da Vinci Code'' is a 2003 mystery thriller novel by Dan Brown. It is “the best-selling American novel of all time.” Brown's second novel to include the character Robert Langdon—the first was his 2000 novel '' Angels & Demons''� ...

'' from the first position. Fitzek is currently one of the most successful writers of Germany.

Biography

Sebastian Fitzek was born in

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

and grew up with his father, headmaster of the Lilienthal-Gymnasium in

Berlin-Lichterfelde Lichterfelde () is a locality in the Boroughs of Berlin, borough of Steglitz-Zehlendorf in Berlin, Germany. Until 2001 it was part of the former borough of Steglitz, along with Steglitz and Lankwitz. Lichterfelde is home to institutions like the Be ...

, and his mother, a teacher. After High school in Charlottenburger Wald-Gymnasium, Fitzek started studying

veterinary Veterinary medicine is the branch of medicine that deals with the prevention, management, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, disorder, and injury in non-human animals. The scope of veterinary medicine is wide, covering all animal species, both ...

, but stopped after 3 months. He attended

law school A law school (also known as a law centre/center, college of law, or faculty of law) is an institution, professional school, or department of a college or university specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for b ...

until the first state examination, earned his doctorate degree in

copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive legal right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, ...

and worked then as editor-in-chief and program director for different radio stations in Germany. He wrote his first book titled ''Professor Udolphs Buch der Namen'' with Jürgen Udolph, which came out in 2005. Since 2006, Fitzek started to write psycho-thriller novels, which all became a best-seller. His very first novel was ''

'' ('' dt.'' ). He got his idea for ''Therapy'' in 2000 while waiting for a girlfriend in the waiting room of an

orthopedist Orthopedic surgery or orthopedics ( alternative spelling orthopaedics) is the branch of surgery concerned with conditions involving the musculoskeletal system. Orthopedic surgeons use both surgical and nonsurgical means to treat musculoskeletal ...

's office. It contains similar themes to the

urban legend Urban legend (sometimes modern legend, urban myth, or simply legend) is a genre of folklore concerning stories about an unusual (usually scary) or humorous event that many people believe to be true but largely are not. These legends can be e ...

the '' Vanishing Hotel Room'' (also known as The ''Vanishing Lady''), however, inspiration from the story has not been officially confirmed. After 13 cancellations from different editors, he finally released his book in July, 2006 under Droemer Knaur Verlag. The Odeon Film AG bought the movie rights for ''Therapy'' and it was subsequently turned into a

TV series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming platf ...

in 2023. In 2007, ''Therapy'' was nominated for best crime-debut for the Friedrich-Glauser-Award. His next novel, ''Amok game.'' ('' dt.'' ), was released in 2007 and Goldkind Film AG bought the movie rights for it. In 2012, his very first film version of ''The Child'' ('' dt.'' ) came out. On 29 October 2016, he published his book ''The Package'' ('' dt.'' ). In 2017, he published ''EightNight.'' ('' dt.'' ) and his first children's book called ''Pupsi & Stinki'' together with illustrator Jörn Stollmann. In 2017, ''EightNight'' was the bestselling work of fiction in Germany. In 2018, ''The Package'' was the bestselling work of fiction in Germany. ''The Inmate'' ('' dt.'' ) peaked at number 3. Near the end of February 2018, he created the ''Viktor Crime Awards'', where ''a new voice for thriller and crime literature'' would be awarded. The first winner was

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles, genres and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings and emotions, or to entertain. Writers may develop different forms of writing such as novels, short sto ...

Michaela Kastel with ''So Dark the Forest'' ('' dt.'' ). In November, 2020 ''The Package'' was published in English by Head of Zeus, translated by Jamie Bulloch.

Influences

According to Fitzek himself, he was inspired by

Enid Blyton Enid Mary Blyton (11 August 1897 – 28 November 1968) was an English children's writer, whose books have been worldwide bestsellers since the 1930s, selling more than 600 million copies. Her books are still enormously popular and have been tra ...

Michael Ende Michael Andreas Helmuth Ende (12 November 1929 – 28 August 1995) was a German writer of fantasy and children's fiction. He is known for his epic fantasy '' The Neverending Story'' (with its 1980s film adaptation and a 1995 animated television ...

and Alfred Weidemann during his childhood and later by

Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author. Dubbed the "King of Horror", he is widely known for his horror novels and has also explored other genres, among them Thriller (genre), suspense, crime fiction, crime, scienc ...

Michael Crichton John Michael Crichton (; October 23, 1942 – November 4, 2008) was an American author, screenwriter and filmmaker. His books have sold over 200 million copies worldwide, and over a dozen have been adapted into films. His literary works heavil ...

and

John Grisham John Ray Grisham Jr. (; born February 8, 1955) is an American novelist, lawyer, and former politician, known for his best-selling legal thrillers. According to the Academy of Achievement, American Academy of Achievement, Grisham has written 37 ...

. Today, he reads everything written by

Harlan Coben Harlan Coben (born January 4, 1962) is an American writer of mystery novels and thrillers. The plots of his novels often involve the resurfacing of unresolved or misinterpreted events in the past, murders, or fatal accidents and have multiple ...

Personal life

Sebastian Fitzek lives in Berlin. He married his wife in 2010. In August 2019, he announced his separation from his wife via

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

. Fitzek has 3 children.

Works

Fiction (Psychothriller)

Fiction (Collaboration)

Non-Fiction

Audio books

Film versions

Film

Theater shows

Board and card games

Awards and nominations

References

External links

Sebastian Fitzek Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fitzek, Sebastian Living people 1971 births German male writers !