Following a violent outburst at an awards ceremony, Vidor Kiraly, a prize-winning neuroscientist and Cambridge don, is sent to an isolated psychiatric clinic in the Swiss Alps. When the clinic's director, Dr Anton Gessen, tries in vain to unearth the missing pieces of Vidor's life, he suspects his reluctant patient is not who he appears to be.
After one of the patients at the clinic goes missing, Gessen has reason to doubt Vidor's self-proclaimed innocence.
But what is he hiding, and who might be next?
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When a man in ceremonial dress announced his name, Vidor rose from his seat and approached the stage. 1
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(@Legend_Times_, 16 February 2021, 200 pages, ebook, #ARC from the publisher and voluntarily reviewed, #BlogTour 21 February, #Legend100)
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I thought the author's debut, The Shadow Bird was great when I read it last year. I couldn't wait to read The Double. The premise intrigued me, something a bit different. I loved how the book's driving force is psychology with Gessen trying to find out the reason for the outburst and if his patient acted with intent or is suffering from a psychological condition which meant he was not in his right mind. The chapters set in the clinic were fascinating as Gessen tries to get his patient to open up and becomes inpatient with his insistence that he's fine and is seemingly unaware of the precarious situation he's in by taking everything is his stride. There are flashbacks set in Paris and it's never clear if these are from Vidor's life. I loved the way the author slowly reveals one piece of the puzzle at a time. I loved this book.
