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The Interview: A Thriller full of Drama and Emotion
Famous author Franka Stone doesn’t give interviews. Ever. Her past is nobody’s business, and nobody needs to know anything about the shameful events that took place while she was in India. Such a beautiful country—so exotic, so romantic, so dangerous. Her secrets must stay hidden there forever.
But cold and calculating Amy will stop at nothing for a good story. She has set her eyes firmly on her journalistic career—and on Franka’s own beloved grandson who is besotted with her.
When Franka finally grants her an interview, she intents to twist the truth enough to throw Amy off track. But Amy is clever, and persistent. She keeps digging into the past, unaware of the horrible consequences of her relentless hounding. Can Franka stop her in time, before her reputation and her family will be destroyed?
But cold and calculating Amy will stop at nothing for a good story. She has set her eyes firmly on her journalistic career—and on Franka’s own beloved grandson who is besotted with her.
When Franka finally grants her an interview, she intents to twist the truth enough to throw Amy off track. But Amy is clever, and persistent. She keeps digging into the past, unaware of the horrible consequences of her relentless hounding. Can Franka stop her in time, before her reputation and her family will be destroyed?
374 pages, Paperback
Published December 6, 2022
About the author
Helga Zeiner
33 books185 followersHelga Zeiner is a German-born Canadian author. She left her home town Augsburg at the age of eighteen to explore the world. For the following fourteen years, she lived and worked in Australia and Asia before she married and settled in Canada.
All her stories have been inspired by her years of extensive travels. The reader can only guess which parts of her dramatic thrillers are based on real-life experiences or might be the product of her imagination.
She now lives on Vancouver Island, unless she is traveling the world again. Aside from writing, Helga loves reading, (anything but preferably dark and twisty), dogs, (all breeds and mixes but preferably Chow Chows), wine (preferably the bubbly kind), cooking and eating (preferably with good friends and family), and last but not least, her hubby Mani (no preference specified there—she loves everything about him).
All her stories have been inspired by her years of extensive travels. The reader can only guess which parts of her dramatic thrillers are based on real-life experiences or might be the product of her imagination.
She now lives on Vancouver Island, unless she is traveling the world again. Aside from writing, Helga loves reading, (anything but preferably dark and twisty), dogs, (all breeds and mixes but preferably Chow Chows), wine (preferably the bubbly kind), cooking and eating (preferably with good friends and family), and last but not least, her hubby Mani (no preference specified there—she loves everything about him).
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
January 29, 2023
Gothic-style page-turning mystery.
There is a gothic quality to this mystery that interested me from the beginning. From a promising start, a soggy middle when we learnt nothing new of consequence, the pace picked up in the last third to deliver a fascinating psychological mystery.
Told in 70-something Franka Stone’s/ Stein’s first person POV, The Interview takes place in Germany, Canada and in Delhi, Mumbai and Agra in India. It also takes place in two timeframes, now and then – some 50 years ago. The main other protagonists are Naresh Desai, Irene Wenger – both Franka’s contemporaries – Irene’s mother, Anna Wenger; Franka’s son, Earl; Amy, the interviewer of the title; Franka’s landlord, Ferdinand Huber; Franka’s grandson, Harry. Other characters appear like Naresh’s mother, Amy’s parents and Earl’s friend, Saanjh.
We don’t really know if Franka or Irene are really beautiful, or just magnetic to Naresh. And Naresh! He is like a man-whore, an homme fatale, utterly unlikeable yet unaccountably bewitching to both Franka and Irene. Is it chemistry? Or is he a Casanova, a killing flame that draws women like moths only to destroy them? All we know is that he is a magnet to these erstwhile best friends, and their romances with him destroy their friendship and Franka’s career aspirations. We don’t find out what the turning point was that led Franka to literary success.
What I liked. Though there is an unlikeable protagonist in Franka, and the plot stretches believability, I found The Interview page-turning and interesting, riveting in parts. An unsympathetic female protagonist can be a heroine the reader can vicariously live through, especially if she’s got a backbone and can kick butt. Franka sometimes lacked this chutzpah, grovelling in self-pity instead. Other times, her spunk showed. The writing style kept a mystery going, waiting to be uncovered. The sparring between Franka and Amy was interesting. I kept reading to see who would win the cat-and-mouse tussle. The love-hate relationship with India – but not about Canada or Germany – both the book’s author and heroine portrayed was like Franka’s feelings towards Naresh; like swallowing a bitter pill that would nevertheless lead to a cure. I read on to learn what mystery did Franka’s time in India concealed.
Similar to Naresh in the women’s eyes, the antagonisms in the novel draws the reader in. Why did Franka hate Irene so much, and why did the latter behave as she did? I wanted to find out what Franka was so determined to conceal from the prying and lying Amy. Was she a criminal? Was she guilty of unintentionally causing someone’s death? Talking of which, this isn’t a murder mystery, rather a psychological thriller as the blurb describes.
There are beautiful people, elegant homes, charming cities. Despite this, Helga Zeiner avoids description – of people’s aspect or features, the scenery in various countries, of beautiful clothes you’d expect in a book of the uber-rich or Indians (other than the despicable Amy’s or of kaftans) – leaving much to the reader’s imagination. This is good in a way as descriptions in crime novels are sometimes interposed to make a book seem literary, which it is not, and draws out the plot unnecessarily. But The Interview lacked some sensory inputs that could have built atmosphere more.
What I didn’t like as much. Despite being a professed Indophile, the author describes India as a third-world country. Wikipedia and many other websites and publications inform readers otherwise; plus, Indians and Indophiles will not like this description of India so early in the book, especially as it was colonisation that brought India to poverty. There is purple prose when Franka describes her feelings towards the traitorous Naresh. There are split infinitives, which make you reread a passage to understand its meaning. There are a few accidents from staircases. Ferdinand does a personality change, perhaps to fit into the convenient plot point of being Franka’s bff, in the absence of any real friends. Also, were Anna’s suspicions correct or not? I didn’t think the book answered this question.
All in all, a great psychological mystery/ read. I would like to read further books by Helga Zeiner.
This review also appears in https://thereadersvault.blogspot.com/... and https://booksirens.com/ and https://www.bookbub.com/reviews/18753...
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
There is a gothic quality to this mystery that interested me from the beginning. From a promising start, a soggy middle when we learnt nothing new of consequence, the pace picked up in the last third to deliver a fascinating psychological mystery.
Told in 70-something Franka Stone’s/ Stein’s first person POV, The Interview takes place in Germany, Canada and in Delhi, Mumbai and Agra in India. It also takes place in two timeframes, now and then – some 50 years ago. The main other protagonists are Naresh Desai, Irene Wenger – both Franka’s contemporaries – Irene’s mother, Anna Wenger; Franka’s son, Earl; Amy, the interviewer of the title; Franka’s landlord, Ferdinand Huber; Franka’s grandson, Harry. Other characters appear like Naresh’s mother, Amy’s parents and Earl’s friend, Saanjh.
We don’t really know if Franka or Irene are really beautiful, or just magnetic to Naresh. And Naresh! He is like a man-whore, an homme fatale, utterly unlikeable yet unaccountably bewitching to both Franka and Irene. Is it chemistry? Or is he a Casanova, a killing flame that draws women like moths only to destroy them? All we know is that he is a magnet to these erstwhile best friends, and their romances with him destroy their friendship and Franka’s career aspirations. We don’t find out what the turning point was that led Franka to literary success.
What I liked. Though there is an unlikeable protagonist in Franka, and the plot stretches believability, I found The Interview page-turning and interesting, riveting in parts. An unsympathetic female protagonist can be a heroine the reader can vicariously live through, especially if she’s got a backbone and can kick butt. Franka sometimes lacked this chutzpah, grovelling in self-pity instead. Other times, her spunk showed. The writing style kept a mystery going, waiting to be uncovered. The sparring between Franka and Amy was interesting. I kept reading to see who would win the cat-and-mouse tussle. The love-hate relationship with India – but not about Canada or Germany – both the book’s author and heroine portrayed was like Franka’s feelings towards Naresh; like swallowing a bitter pill that would nevertheless lead to a cure. I read on to learn what mystery did Franka’s time in India concealed.
Similar to Naresh in the women’s eyes, the antagonisms in the novel draws the reader in. Why did Franka hate Irene so much, and why did the latter behave as she did? I wanted to find out what Franka was so determined to conceal from the prying and lying Amy. Was she a criminal? Was she guilty of unintentionally causing someone’s death? Talking of which, this isn’t a murder mystery, rather a psychological thriller as the blurb describes.
There are beautiful people, elegant homes, charming cities. Despite this, Helga Zeiner avoids description – of people’s aspect or features, the scenery in various countries, of beautiful clothes you’d expect in a book of the uber-rich or Indians (other than the despicable Amy’s or of kaftans) – leaving much to the reader’s imagination. This is good in a way as descriptions in crime novels are sometimes interposed to make a book seem literary, which it is not, and draws out the plot unnecessarily. But The Interview lacked some sensory inputs that could have built atmosphere more.
What I didn’t like as much. Despite being a professed Indophile, the author describes India as a third-world country. Wikipedia and many other websites and publications inform readers otherwise; plus, Indians and Indophiles will not like this description of India so early in the book, especially as it was colonisation that brought India to poverty. There is purple prose when Franka describes her feelings towards the traitorous Naresh. There are split infinitives, which make you reread a passage to understand its meaning. There are a few accidents from staircases. Ferdinand does a personality change, perhaps to fit into the convenient plot point of being Franka’s bff, in the absence of any real friends. Also, were Anna’s suspicions correct or not? I didn’t think the book answered this question.
All in all, a great psychological mystery/ read. I would like to read further books by Helga Zeiner.
This review also appears in https://thereadersvault.blogspot.com/... and https://booksirens.com/ and https://www.bookbub.com/reviews/18753...
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Displaying 1 of 1 review