Pressure Chamber

by Nir Hezroni

Four babies have been kidnapped from four different maternity wards in Tel Aviv. With not a single lead to follow, all investigators can do is wait patiently for the suspect they call ‘The Babysitter’ to make their next move. Four weeks earlier, on a quiet street, a medical student went out for a run and was killed by a hit and run driver. Then a second student went out and never returned. Daphne Dagan, a young, talented police officer, is first to realize that the hit and run and the kidnappings are related. But she's also in the middle of her own battle - a recurring nightmare that's been haunting her for years. The strain of dealing with a real-life killer and kidnapper during the day, and the man who murders her in her sleep each night drive her into a place of darkness and despair from which she must escape if she is to catch "The Babysitter." PRAISE FOR NIR HEZRONI ‘This book has a clever plot and plays upon the fear that there are hidden persons out there prepared to do us harm for obscure reasons... There are passages that make you gasp in horror.’ Crime Review ‘Hezroni’s superior thriller debut will send chills up the spines of even jaded genre fans.’ Publishers Weekly ‘Thriller fans will be enthralled as well as disturbed.’ Washington Post ‘Clever, compelling, dark, twisted and disturbing - this highly original novel packs a punch!’ Sam Carrington

Genres: Thriller, Crime, Fiction

412 pages, Paperback

Published July 1, 2022

About the author

Black coffee. No sugar.

Reviews

[Bookread2day · Rating 5 out of 5]

My review is on my website www.bookread2day.wordpress.com
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With my hand on my heart as soon as I started reading Pressure Chamber, I knew I was going to enjoy my ride throughout this thriller story. It had me totally gripped from the first page, so much that it was just impossible to put the book down.

As I started to delve into each chapter, I must have gone very pale as it started to unnerve me.

Pressure Chamber, should certainly be thriller of the year, with a nicely build up of tension on every page. The best part that I loved about the style of the chapters is that they are very short leaving each chapter on cliff hangers. This book is perfect for any reader who doesn’t like long chapters.

I strongly think Pressure Chamber by Nir Hezroni should be made into a film as the setting of this page- turning story so nicely played out.

In Tel Aviv Daphne Dugan a young police officer who works in forensic and other police are involved in a special operation. The Babysitter, has been responsible for killing women over the time frame of three years, and Daphne is desperate to find him.

The Babysitter is without question mentality insane as he follows medical student, Lee Ben-Ami , he knows her running schedule, days and times. He kidnaps her, taking her to his secret unground location, that it will be impossible for Lee to escape from. This is when I went pale when I found out why he had captured Lee.

He is known as Israel’s first psycho , He’s always one step ahead with his creative skills leading him to find a system of taking four babies from four different hospitals, back to his secret unground, where he has held Lee.

Daphne Nathan and the all the police force fear for Lee Ben-Ami’s life who was abducted and for the four babies that have been stolen from four different hospitals. Time is running out and the police need to find them all before the Babysister kills them.

I need to warn all you thriller fans you are all truly going to gasp reading this disturbing thriller! Its simply the best!

[Marko Jovanović · Rating 4 out of 5]

Krajni utisak je... pa neka bude, za jedan kriminalistički triler - zadovoljavajući. Nikako ne mogu reći da sam se pokajao što sam je pročitao, zaista sam uživao od prve do poslednje stranice, ali sam tokom čitanja imao utisak "da nešto još fali", kao da autor nije iskoristio maksimalni potencijal i priče i likova (posebno njihovih backup priča).
Možda sam ja imao previsoka očekivanja zbog senzacionalističkog naslova, zaista efektnih Selinih korica i sinopsisa koji je najavljivao jezivu i šokantnu priču, a možda je i delom taj osećaj da je moglo još bolje i zbog toga što sam u poslednje vreme čitao zaista vrhunske trilere koji su me ZAISTA ostavljali bez teksta svakim svojim elementom, svakim preokretom, svakim novim likom i njihovom sudbinom.

Komora mi je, na primer, pružila jako intrigantnog antagonistu čiji sam lik vrlo zainteresovano i analitički proučavao. Religiozno-mesijanska psihoza uzrokovana traumama iz detinjstva je uvek dobar temelj za građenje zanimljivog kriminalnog uma, i autor je (skoro) iskoristio njen pun potencijal i pružio nam priču iz ugla zločinca što čitaocima omogućuje da prodru u njegov um.

Sa druge strane, Dafni kao protagonistkinja mi je bila malo površnije dočarana, iako je bilo prostora za građenje njenog karaktera. Nadam se da će autor malo temeljnije poraditi na njenom liku ukoliko nastavi serijal. Priča o svesnim snovima je informativno interesantna i podstakla me je malo na istraživanje o toj temi, ali mislim da je mogla malo mudrije biti iskorišćena za upoznavanje sa Dafninom prošlošću.

Još jedna zamerka ide i na minimalističko dočaravanje lokacije dešavanja radnje. Falilo mi je malo opisa Jerusalima, čisto da osetim da se radnja dešava u Izraelu... možda nekih specifičnosti organizacije izraelske policije, možda i nekih specifičnosti životne svakodnevnice u Izraelu...

Neću ocenom previše da oštetim Komoru užasa, jer ogrešio bih se s obzirom da sam zaista sa uživanjem čitao. Ipak, zbog onog osećaja da "tu još nešto fali", naročito kada su u pitanju likovi, ne mogu dati peticu, tako da će knjiga biti ocenjena četvorkom.

[Jadranka · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nisam sigurna ni sama šta da mislim o ovoj knjizi, tema je zanimljiva (svesni snovi), ali u isto vreme i pomalo istripovana.
Glavna junakinja mi je s jedne strane ok, a opet nešto me žulja, jer je i pored izgrađene pozadinske priče ipak nekako šuplja, bez emocija, a isto važi i za negativca oko kojeg se vrti radnja.
Definitivno je mogla da bude manje obimna, u srpskom prevodu ima 460 strana, nema potrebe za tolikim razvlačenjem priče.
Mesto dešavanja je Tel Aviv i Jerusalim, pa je to kao zanimljivo, i malo je drugačija atmosfera od većine trilera koje sam čitala do sada.

[Anagard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Zanimljivo, brzo i napeto. Jako mi se sviđa glavna junakinja i cijeli dio sa lucidnim sanjanjem, koji mi je bio strašan, ali zanimljiv. Jedina zamjerka je što sam ipak očekivala nešto 'bolesnije' i što sam mislila da ćemo saznati više o Daphne i njezinoj tragičnoj prošlosti. Nadam se da bi ovo mogao postati serijal, jer me ova knjiga baš zaintrigirala.

[Darija · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ne mogu se ne zapitati kakav mozak ima Nir Hezroni kad je ovaj prvijenac toliko odličan, a tako brutalan? Tako je napet da ga nisam mogla ispustiti iz ruke. Svaki lik savršeno razrađen, radnja se odvija iz gledišta nekoliko likova, što volim u knjigama. Svaka preporuka ljubiteljima krimi romana. 🔝

[Els · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book that intrigued and confused me from start to finish!

The author allows us to follow every step the culprit takes, but it remains hidden until the end why they do what they do. I can assure you it’s sick and they are seriously disturbed. On the one hand I had chills running down my spine, but on the other hand I understood why he did what he did if you delve into their past.

Daphne is a member of the forensic team. She is determined to delve into this case and put the bad guys where they belong: behind bars. She does everything she can, but the case is not easy to crack open. Moreover she struggles with her own past. There is a demon who won’t let go, but she decides to take care of him once and for all.

I had a bit of a love/hate relationship with this book. Well, hate is a too harsh. It was more a love/not my cup of tea feeling. I loved the part about the investigation and I really enjoyed trying to figure out what was going on. I failed, course. ;). The part I struggled with was about Daphne. It was too confusing for me. I was very intrigued by the technique that was being explained. I had never heard about it and I learned something which is always a good thing too. 🙂

In a nutshell: a great book. I loved the way the author describes everything in detail and keeps the reader waiting. The culprit was a genius and a master planner. If you can invent a story like this, you must be a genius too. 4 stars

Thank you, Nir Hezroni and Legend Press

[Ebru Ekeman · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has all the ingredients of a good psychological thriller: it's smart, creepy and thought-provoking. It's a pity that the sections related to lucid dreaming do not tie well with the main plot. I found myself scanning through those chapters quickly to continue with the "real" story. The idea of lucid dreaming is certainly an interesting one, but it remains kind of forced and underdeveloped, interrupting the pace, leaving some loose ends.

[Ako.Mene.Pitate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Deo sa snovima me je malo smarao ali sam se oduševila profajlerom.

[Ivana Lukanic · Rating 4 out of 5]

Zanimljiva,napeta ali nekako mi je kraj prebrzo došao plus još ostao nedorečen....u svakom slučaju drži pažnju zanimljiva

[Ally&thePringleFox · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really, really enjoyed this. Really enjoyed it. It had suspense, it was cleverly written. I don’t know whether it was the link between dreaming, the fact that I read this before sleep or because of how well-written this was. But, this book got into my head, and I woke from a pretty weird dream that intwined my life and events from this book. Bit of magic.

The only reason it doesn’t have 5 stars, is because I would of liked to have delved a little more into the perpetrators past with it being the driving factor for his actions. Also, wanted a touch more at the end for Daphne, I wanted to be a part of the first time her and Lee had a full conversation. The lack thereof made me, and still makes me feel like I’m missing out.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this book and how it intertwined police work and personal demons. Also the main character being from the forensic unit was a nice change from the usual detective and police stories. The way lucid dreaming was added to the story was really interesting as well.
Overall this was a really good book and it could end up in my top 5 for this year.

[Ivana · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ideja ovog trilera nije loša, mada je realizacija mogla biti mnogoo bolja. Očekivala sam napet i dinamičan triler, međutim ovo je bilo sve suprotno od toga. Takođe, sve je lijepo moglo da bude napisano na manje strana, ne vidim svrhu razvlačenja na preko 400 str.

[E Cheong · Rating 3 out of 5]

More like 3.5 ⭐

[Elarikss · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's an okay book. Nothing WOW, but it was a nice read. "Publisher Weekly" wrote how you will get chills even if you are the biggest thriller lover.. urm..no. I've read it, didn't get chills, not once.
I don't regret reading it. However, it's not one I will go back to.
It has 400 pages and still I feel like something was missing.
Love the subject of lucid dreams though.
Not to be too harsh, I wanted to see the ending, it's inviting - BY THE END.. you only need to get past the first 320 pages lol

[Helen Kirkbright · Rating 3 out of 5]

The crime thriller part of this book was very well written and I really enjoyed these chapters. The other chapters, which were a look into Daphne's personal issues such as childhood trauma and nightmares didn't really link in or have any baring on the plot, and the parts which were describing her dreams and techniques into lucid dreaming were seemingly completely irrelevant to the whole story. I stuck with it to find out if the Baby Sitter got caught. I couldn't care less about Daphne overcoming her nightmare

[Vanja · Rating 5 out of 5]

Baš dobar triler, sa svim elementima koje volim. Religija, zločini, bolesni umovi. Drži pažnju od početka do kraja.
Jedina mana je što sam očekivala da lik istražiteljke Dafni bude malo bolje razrađen, o njoj znamo samo na nivou snova.
Mnogo mi je bolji deo o otmičaru beba nego o snovima, ali na kraju je i to dobilo neki smisao tokom njene kome i buđenja.
Sa druge strane, nije mi se dopalo to što je radnja smeštena u Izrael, ali to je neka druga tema.

[Dženana Fehratović · Rating 3 out of 5]

I rate this book 3.0. To be honest I expected way more, but I was left hanging. The thing I liked the most was ending. Also, book was kinda confusing. None of the characters stood out to me. It was okey read, but nothing special.

[dorissbooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best book I have read this year. It was so sick and twisted that I could not put it down until I finished it. I loved the whole plot- I love how lucid dreaming was incorporated into the story and I love how everything ended.

[Anastasija · Rating 4 out of 5]

4⭐️, knjiga me je oduševila ali nije za 5⭐️. u nekim trenutcima me je glava bolela, u nekim nisam mogla verovati šta čitam ali kraj me je oduševio, Daphneina i Rotemina hrabrost da se same suoče sa njim u bunkeru nadmašile su sve.

[Leana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jako dobra knjiga koja se brzo čita. Nadasve zbunjujuća radnja s kompleksnim likovima. Nije mi izazvala trnce kao što su sve recenzije najavljivale. Nekako se prejednostavno rasplela priča što mi se nikako ne uklapa u cijelu radnju.

[Riv Begun · Rating 5 out of 5]

I could not put this story down! Great pace, gripping, great puzzle to solve. Wow.

[Fiona Booth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book, I could not put this down. I read 60/70 pages at a time. Very interesting storyline. Loved it xx

[Nina Perišić · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pročitana u jednom danu i jednom dahu , što više reći . Odlična knjiga .

[Gail · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent thriller. Fast paced, interesting ideas and engaging characters. Really well translated.

[Aleksandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Real surprise! very well written suspense till the end!

[the boy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ne možeš mrziti bebe? Viruj mi, itekako mogu jer ih mrzim.

Koja dosadna knjiga. Apsolutno ništa se ne događa. Mislim da ni autor ni drugi ljudi ne znaju šta je triler jer ovo sigurno nije.

[Jelena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ovo je "pristojan" triler ali nedorecen i nedovoljno razradjen.
Jeziv nije.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Niti dise,niti mirise.
Citala sam i bolje,citala i gore.
Na momente izuzetno dosadna i razvucena radnja,na momente sjajna.