In Takis Wurger's The Club, we first meet our protagonist Hans as a young boy, solitary at heart but happy, living with his parents in a small town in Germany. But when both of those loving parents die in quick succession, his only living relative is his strange aunt Alex, a professor at Cambridge University. She sends him off to boarding school, where one of the teachers helps him to channel his depression into athletics and he becomes a skilled boxer. When he graduates, his aunt approaches him with an offer: she will get him into Cambridge, in exchange for his agreement to infiltrate the Pitt Club, one of the campus's private social groups.

Once Hans reaches England, Alex arranges for him to meet up with Charlotte, one of her graduate students. At first, Charlotte is necessary for Hans to gain entry to the Pitt Club's world, through her wealthy and well-connected father, but the two form a genuine connection. Hans gets drawn deeper into the Club as his pugilistic talents cement his place inside of it. But Alex didn't ask him to become one of them for his own enjoyment...she has plans to expose a secret and revenge a wrong in a way that could bring it all crashing down.

Look away if you're not interested in spoilers! Though it hardly feels fair to talk about it as such. The secrets here are not too difficult to guess at: there's no surprise that groups of young, privileged men engage in drug use and sexual assault, and then manage largely to escape consequences for it. What makes this particular account of this phenomenon more interesting than many is its air of reality: Wurger himself attended Cambridge and was a member of the Pitt Club before leaving the university. And the book is lucky that it has that additional angle, because as a mystery/thriller it isn't really successful...the plot development is straightforward and goes pretty much exactly where you expect it to go.

Which isn't to say that it doesn't do some things well! Wurger's technique of narrating the story through multiple perspectives (Hans is the most prominent, but Charlotte, Alex, fellow Club member Josh, and a Chinese student desperate to be accepted are heard from, among others) is effective and keeps the story moving forward briskly. Hans, drawn as a self-sufficient introvert, is a refreshing character to spend time with...while he certainly does appreciate the finer things in life he's able to access once he's inside, we don't get the dazzled-then-disillusioned arc typical in this kind of work. The subject matters feels timely and relevant. If you like these kinds of books, you'll likely find this solid yet unremarkable. If you're looking for something to take you somewhere unexpected, though, look elsewhere. ( )

First line: In the south of Lower Saxony is a forest called the Deister, and in that forest there was a sandstone house where the forest ranger used to live.

The club in the title is the Pitt Club at Cambridge. How we end up there from the opening sentence is honestly not that interesting. The main character, Hans, is orphaned and although he has an aunt named Alex who lives in England, she does not step in to raise him. In fact, he doesn't hear from her until he's of an age to start college and she contacts him to tell him that she would like him to attend Cambridge and help her solve a crime by getting into this Pitt Club.

Hans of course goes and wiggles his way into the club with the help of the father of a young woman he's met. There's boxing, and

Look, I'm getting bored all over again writing this. Don't read this book. It is the typical bullshit about an exclusive club for privileged, obnoxious boys and keeping secrets for bro code and mistreating women. There was nothing about Hans getting into this world and being accepted that was believable. The woman he gets involved with, Charlotte, was not believable as a female human being. There were shifts to points of view that added literally nothing to the story, including multiple times to one student who desperately wants to get into the club and I guess maybe he does? I don't know, it was unimportant whether he did or not. I guess the author just wanted to put in a character who would list his breakfast, time and location of masturbation, and aphorism every day. There is the egregious, repeated use of the r-slur, not just by the mustache-twirling villain. Avoid. ( )

Liked the story and the overall atmosphere. Nice little book you can enjoy in finish in a nice afternoon. Sometimes it felt a little overconscientious regarding the descriptions and inner views of the snobs but if you like boxing and secret societies you won´t be disappointed. ( )

Hans Stichler stammt aus einfachen Verhältnissen. Er bekommt ein Stipendium für die Universität in Cambridge - als Gegenleistung soll er dort ein Verbrechen aufklären. Er schafft es, Mitglied im elitären Pitt Club zu werden - dem Club mit dem Schmetterlingssiegel -, und verliebt sich in Charlotte, die ihn in die Bräuche der Snobs einweiht. Bald merkt er, dass hinter den alten Mauern der britischen Oberschicht Geheimnisse lauern, über die keiner spricht. Was ist Hans bereit zu geben, um dazuzugehören? Muss er das Falsche tun, um das Richtige zu erreichen? ( )

Ein Buch über einen Eliteclub der Universität Cambridge, in dem allerhand Missbrauch stattfindet. Mein Geschmack trifft der Roman nicht, da die Spannung nicht überbordend ist. ( )