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Book Summary and Reviews of Vienna Blood by Frank Tallis

Vienna Blood by Frank Tallis

Vienna Blood

by Frank Tallis

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  • Published:
  • Jan 2008, 496 pages
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Book Summary

Paperback original. In the grip of a Siberian winter in 1902, a serial killer in Vienna embarks upon a bizarre campaign of murder. Vicious mutilation, a penchant for arcane symbols, and a seemingly random choice of victim are his most distinctive peculiarities. Detective Inspector Oskar Rheinhardt summons a young disciple of Freud - his friend Dr. Max Liebermann — to assist him with the case. The investigation draws them into the sphere of Vienna’s secret societies — a murky underworld of German literary scholars, race theorists, and scientists inspired by the new evolutionary theories coming out of England. At first, the killer’s mind seems impenetrable — his behavior and cryptic clues impervious to psychoanalytic interpretation; however, gradually, it becomes apparent that an extraordinary and shocking rationale underlies his actions.

Against this backdrop of mystery and terror, Liebermann struggles with his own demons. The treatment of a patient suffering from paranoia erotica (a delusion of love) and his own fascination with the enigmatic Englishwoman Amelia Lydgate raises doubts concerning the propriety of his imminent marriage. To resolve the dilemma, he must entertain the unthinkable — risking opprobrium and accusations of cowardice.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"Starred Review" - Kirkus Reviews.

"Starred Review. [A] gripping sequel to a superior debut" - Publishers Weekly.

This information about Vienna Blood was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

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Author Information

Frank Tallis Author Biography

Dr. Frank Tallis is a writer and clinical psychologist. He has held lecturing posts in clinical psychology and neuroscience at the Institute of Psychiatry and King's College, London.

He has written self help manuals (How to Stop Worrying, Understanding Obsessions and Compulsions) non-fiction for the general reader (Changing Minds, Hidden Minds, Love Sick), academic text books and over thirty academic papers in international journals.

Dr. Tallis' novels are: The Forbidden, The Sleep Room, Killing Time, Sensing Others, Mortal Mischief (published in the USA as A Death in Vienna), Vienna Blood, Fatal Lies and Darkness Rising.  The last four form the first four volumes of the Liebermann Papers series.

In 1999 he received a Writers' Award from the Arts Council of ...

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Link to Frank Tallis's Website

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