The Reflection - Softcover

HUGO WILCKEN is the author of the novel The Execution, and the nonfiction book David Bowie's Low, part of the 33 1/3 series. Both books were critically acclaimed in both the US and the UK. After residing for many years in Paris, he now divides his time between London and Sydney.

“Hitchcock meets Dostoevsky . . . The Talented Mr Ripley with psychiatrists . . . A strange and clever book. It will leave you looking over your shoulder long after you've put it down.” 
—The Times

“An experimental novel disguised as a thriller . . . It is a roller coaster, a helter skelter, a whole literary fairground . . . F Scott Fitzgerald said that the test of a first-rate intelligence was the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind and still be able to function. We might say the same for first-rate novels.” 
—John Self, The Guardian

“'Hitchcock meets Camus'' is the unusually apt shoutline for this atmospheric exercise in retro literary noir, and Patricia Highsmith, Vladimir Nabokov, Miles Davis's cool jazz and Mad Men's Don Draper could be added to the list of influences or echoes . . . seductively ambiguous.” 
—The Sunday Times

“[A] twisted and cerebral tale of fluid identity and government conspiracy. It is without a doubt one of the most clever, perplexing and challenging books I’ve encountered this year . . . The backdrop of 50’s New York is perfectly realised throughout, and it’s a cracking slice of hardboiled noir to boot.”
—Raven Crime Reads

“The Reflection has all the hallmarks of a classic noir novel: a narrator in crisis, a psychological drama, a femme fatale (or two) . . . cleverly done with some panache.”
—Shiny New Books

“The Reflection is a remarkable novel that blends elements of Alfred Hitchcock's paranoiac identity crises with David Lynch's oblique gaze. Unsettlingly powerful and beautifully written, this book will echo within you long after you finish reading it.”
—James Smythe, author of The Explorer

“This exceptional psychological thriller will remind readers of the works of Patricia Highsmith and Ruth Rendell at their creepiest... For discerning suspense lovers.”
—Library Journal

“A fine stylist, Wilcken captures a noirish, postwar New York.”
—Publishers Weekly

Praise for The Execution
 
“An exciting, nervy thriller that fulfills the demands of the genre while resonating on deeper frequencies.”
—The New York Times Book Review
 
“While Camus’s specter looms large throughout The Execution, Wilcken ultimately pulls it off on his own with an engrossing, twisting narrative. His is an important new voice in philosophy wrapped up in literate storytelling.”
—The Boston Globe
 
“A diabolical thriller that echoes the best suspense of Patricia Highsmith with a cheeky nod to Dostoyevski . . . This is a remarkably accomplished debut heralding the arrival of a noteworthy talent. Wilcken’s literary career may take as many fascinating twists as this brilliant book.”
—Publishers Weekly
 
“In this stunning debut, Wilcken creates a beautifully written, intricately crafted, multilayered story that can be read as a psychological thriller, a commentary on the superficiality of modern life, an Everyman story, or a modern morality tale. On whatever level, the book is both moving and mesmerizing.”
—Booklist (starred review)
 
“Nuanced, compelling, and fresh . . . an exceptionally well-done debut.”
—Kirkus Reviews
 
“Unnervingly cool prose . . . an entertainingly urbane thriller [whose] suspense lies not in the whodunit, but in watching a perfect life unravel.”
—The Daily Telegraph