Chase: The Hunt for the Mute Poetess (Chase

by Thomas Dellenbusch

Translated Version from the popular German book series of Movie-Length-Stories Enrique "Rique" Allmers runs a security firm in Hamburg, Germany. When he encounters a young woman fleeing from pursuers through the local fish-market, he takes her under his wing. They get away, but the same men - now with reinforcements - are still on their tail. Rique doesn’t know who she is, or the identity of those who are after her. Because she doesn’t speak a word to him…
What German Bloggers

»Never before have I gotten so wrapped up in a short novel. Excitement from the first line to the last.« Binchens Bücherblog
»Totally gripping, with awesome imagery. A sure-fire recommendation!« Magische Momente
»It’s fascinating to encounter a story so chock-full of narrative detail. Truly praiseworthy.« Vielleserin
»I was astonished. CHASE bowled me over.« Phinchen‘s Fantasyroom
»A fast-paced and engaging short novel with everything that makes a great thriller. I tip my hat to the author.« Anja‘s Bücherblog
»Eloquent and packed with fast-paced action, loads of charm, plenty of excitement and even a bit of romance.« Bücherblog „Eva-on-line“

116 pages, Paperback

Published September 1, 2016

About the author

Thomas Dellenbusch was born in Düsseldorf, Germany in 1964, and still lives there. The former police detective and advertising copywriter has been actively writing for more than twenty years on a wide variety of topics. Although the lion’s share of his assignments originate from the advertising industry, he has also put his talents to use producing speeches for government officials, poetry for individuals, screenplays, rulebooks, newspaper articles, sketches and much more. In short, any subject that can be communicated in a stimulating manner. Since 2013, he has specialized in the production of movie-length-stories - written both by himself and seven other authors via the publishing company he founded expressly for that purpose.

Reviews

[Striking 13]

Chase: The Hunt for the Mute Poetess is the first book to be translated from Mein Kopf Kino (Theatre of the Mind), a German project with a very noble aim.

All the books published under this banner are “movie-length” – they’re short enough to be read in under three hours, and can easily replace a night slumped in front of the TV.

While the idea is great, the execution is missing. Thomas Dellenbusch’s story is as Hollywood as it gets – a security firm with a secret lair teams up with a kung fu expert and a mute poetess as they race to decipher a code. In the meantime, they’re being chased by the local mafia for the secret that lies at the end of the hunt. If you’re looking for something more substantial than the latest blockbuster, you won’t find it here.

He quickly reached into the jacket of the now-unconscious man, pulled the weapon from its holster and pointed it, under the arm of his victim, at the other man. The whole thing took less than three seconds, so the second man had had no time to react.

This kind of over-the-top thriller would almost be forgivable if not for one excruciating detail: the forced love story. For a long time, it didn’t seem like there would be a love story, but then it jumped out from nowhere.

Rique went with Katja to his penthouse. By now, it was their habit to hold hands wherever they went.

And true, our hero had led Katja by the hand a few times before, but there’s a very important reason for this. Either he was leading her from danger or, as hinted in the title, Katja is deaf and mute. And Rique knows no sign language. The two had been unable to converse in any meaningful way, save for a few scribbled notes and a short sign language conversation through an elderly Asian man, yet love had found a way.

As with many translated works, the writing often felt disjointed. Perhaps a case of the translator adding their own style in places and being true to the original in others; perhaps a case of an inconsistent original.

Although Theatre of the Mind has a wonderful idea behind it, it’s unlikely to achieve its aim in its current format. Drawing people from their TV sets is hard enough as it is, but with such over-the-top stories that take inspiration from the very media it wants to displace, it’s almost impossible.

Review originally appeared on Striking13

[Rowena Hoseason]

‘Chase’ is a rollicking action-thriller which kicks off when a silent but traumatised young woman tumbles headlong into the hero’s path, belting pell-mell away from her angry pursuers. At first, Rique believes she’s a trafficking victim, a prostitute from one of Hamburg’s squalid brothels. But as he learns more about the mute poetess, so he discovers much darker and more ominous dangers. Threats which could so easily get both of them killed…

The plot follows a tangled trail of intellectual puzzles, a twisted treasure hunt which eventually reveals the mystery woman’s unknown origins. Along the way, we’re gradually introduced to Rique’s specialists who make up CHASE, a professional private security agency. CHASE operates on the side of the angels; if not entirely legally then at least in plain sight of the authorities. So when they have to take offensive action we’re treated to an intelligent, strategically coherent home invasion which credibly utilises top-notch tradecraft and some extremely special weaponry to disable the team’s opponents. The bad guys, of course, have no compunctions about using lethal force and Rique himself proves to be far from invulnerable.

That’s another part of the attraction of the central characters, who are deftly drawn in rapid fashion. They’re not incredible super-humans who beggar belief with their ability to dodge bullets. Instead, Rique makes mistakes, admits them, and has his ass handed to him on more than one occasion. You genuinely don’t know what’s going to be the outcome of each encounter – almost every chapter ends with a cracking cliff-hanger.

Regular readers of Eurocrime may be a little surprised by the style and tone of the writing. Were it not for the names and places, which firmly locate the action in Germany, this could easily be set somewhere in the USA or UK.

It’s snappily written in an accessible style with quick-fire dialogue and a sense of breathless excitement. If this is the written equivalent of a Saturday night movie then it’s a feel-good mainstream flick, not one of those weirdly impenetrable art-house affairs.

At the moment, ‘Chase’ is the only KopfKino which has been translated into English. If there were more available (or if I spoke better German!) then I would immediately have bought the next in the series, and settled in for another ‘movie’ on the sofa, with popcorn.
8/10

There's a longer version of this review over at
https://murdermayhemandmore.wordpress...

[Vigilant Reader]

Title – Chase: The Hunt for the Mute Poetess
Author – Thomas Dellenbusch
Genre – Mystery, Suspense, Thriller
116 Amazon Pages
Rating 5 stars out of 5 Posted 3/16/17
14 - 2017

My impressions: fast paced, impractical, super hero, justice, rape, murder, typical incompetent paid thugs.

The main characters:
Location - Hamburg, Germany.
Enrique Allmers – Detective head of the covert organization CHASE.
Katja Kromer -The deaf mute whose mother concealed a horrific past until her death.
Dr. Lang – Martial Arts Fight Master and Enrique’s mentor.
Chen Lu – Dr. Lang’s grand-daughter and all around warrior.
Lorenzo Marone – Low life Mafia boss and the key to the mystery surrounding Katja.

Enrique is run into on the street by barefoot Katja as she attempts to elude two thugs chasing her. He whips them and sends them scurrying off.
CHASE utilized non-violent defense when possible. Marone, the mafia boss, wants Katja and has her kidnapped. He must learn what evidence her mother had about heinous crimes committed by him and two other highly placed bad guys.
The thugs guarding Katja are no match for the handpicked, highly skilled members of Enrique’s team who free Katja and set out to learn the secret of Katja’s heritage.
I enjoyed the story and recommend it to people who care to read short works. It would be good to pass time while waiting for an appointment or riding public transportation.

Editing and sentence structure are good with only a few minor errors.
Character development is good for a short to novella length story.
The plot is complex and fast paced.
The writing style is intense and interesting.

This review was provided in exchange for a free book.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.

[David Baird]

Thomas Dellenbusch is a German writer and this is the first book in the Chase series that has been translated into English.

I was interested as soon as I read the word KopfKino..I’m guessing you don’t know what this means? Neither did I. It’s a German term for Theatre of the mind and it means relaxing, thought-provoking and enthralling movie length stories. The books certainly ticks all those boxes!

So on to the story itself. Rique is forced to defend a girl when he sees her running for her life, clearly scared out of her wits. The goons chasing her want the girl back but what they don’t realise is Rique isn’t just a normal guy.. he’s part of the CHASE group, highly skilled individuals who offer services such as security.. he manages to scare the goons away and with his team behind him he looks to stop this gang..but why are they after her?

This girl is mixed up in in a situation she never knew existed and Rique is going to put the puzzle pieces together for her one bit at a time.

The thing I liked about the book the most was the CHASE team itself, A Mission Impossible type of team. Each member has their own skill set which the author showcases throughout the tale.

The story flows logically and you are sucked in deeper and deeper as facts are revealed. Towards the end the suspense was killing me.

Does the book work being translated into English? It most certainly does. If I hadn’t of known I would never have been able to tell.

Overall a top notch plot translated perfectly for English readers. I’m pleased to say book 2 has already been translated and I’ll be reviewing that shortly!

Highly enjoyable and very much the engrossing fast read I was after. There wasn’t a thing I didn’t like about this one.

I hope to see many more from Thomas.

[Elite Group]

A thrilling story set in beautiful Germany.

Enrique Allmers runs a security firm in Hamburg. One day he encounters a young woman fleeing her pursuers through the local fish market. He helps her to get away even though he has no idea who she is. Eventually, he discovers she is a deaf mute and agrees to help her.

This book is translated from the original German and is a short story and published as movie length which basically means it takes less than 3 hours to read.

But those 3 hours fly by when reading this fast-paced, well written and extremely entertaining story. Even though it is translated the book flows well and the characters are likeable and easy to empathise with.

The violence is quite dramatic but doesn’t detract from the tale and is not used indiscriminately.

This is the first book in the EE series and I am desperate to read the next book.

Helen

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review.

[Dee Groocock]

Katja couldn’t have bumped into a better person when she was fleeing from two mafia henchmen. Enrique (Rique) is head of CHASE, a famous detective agency. Rique puts the henchmen out of action and takes off with Katja.

Once Rique realises that Katja is a deaf-mute, him and his agency help her to find out just what a mafia boss wants with her.

This was an action-packed and entertaining tale. For a short story, it certainly packed a punch with the escapades.

I was engrossed from the very first page and cannot wait to start book 2.

[Jennie Rosenblum]

This book is exactly as advertised. A quick read that can be done in the same amount of time as watching a film. This book fills the reading need for those who just want a quick, no-depth movie but say they read it. While it was professionally written, it was not for me because of the lack of character development, unrealistic romance and more action than substance plot.

[Lynn Worton]

This is a crime thriller that has been translated from German into English. I really enjoyed it!

Enrique "Rique" Allmers is a wonderful character. I liked him a lot. He runs a security firm called CHASE, which investigates mostly business related espionage and crimes. When a deaf mute young woman literary runs into his arms, his protective instincts kick in. As he investigates, danger is never very far behind. Can he keep Katja from the clutches of an extremely evil man?

I must admit that I may not have read this book if the author had not contacted me. I have so many books on my reading list that I originally turned him down. However, after thinking about it, I changed my mind and purchased a copy to read in my own time. I'm glad I did because once I started to read it, I didn't put it down until I'd finished it.

Set in Germany, this book takes the reader on a thrilling adventure of danger, suspense, mystery and romance. Mostly told through Rique's point of view (although some scenes are through Katja's eyes), it is a pulse pounding ride, with chases, gun fights and several twists that keep a reader hooked. There are several interesting characters in this story. Katja is a deaf mute, so there is very little in the way of dialogue from her, but the author has written her in a realistic and expressive manner that makes you forget that she can't hear or speak. She can, however, lip read and use sign language, and is an author of poetry. Then there are Rique's work colleagues. They seem like a rag tag bunch at first, but they all have their own specialty and are highly professional. I love Dr. Liang. Although he's an octogenarian, he is well versed in martial arts and owns a gym where Rique and the rest of the team train. Chen Lu is his granddaughter and part of Rique's team, which also consists of: Jerome, Ben, Maik, Nikolai, Hannes and Andree. I must admit that I would have loved to know more about CHASE, as they seem to skirt pretty closely to the edge of the law at times to get things done. Speaking of skirting the edge of the law, I took an instant dislike to Lorenzo Marone, who is not a very nice man. He runs a prostitution ring and is more a mafia don than businessman. As to why he was after Katja, you'll just have to read the book to find out.

I reached the end of the book with mixed feelings, sad that it had ended but happy at the way it concluded. I am not sure if I would call this a movie-length story though, as it felt too short. However, maybe I'm just being difficult by wanting to read more.

Thomas Dellenbusch has written an intriguing crime thriller. I love his fast paced writing style. However, whether it was because it had been translated from German to English, I found some of the story didn't flow smoothly in places (other readers may not be of the same opinion). Nevertheless, this didn't detract from my enjoyment of it. I would definitely consider reading more books by this author in the future.

Although there are no explicit scenes of a sexual nature, I do not recommend this book for younger readers due to some violence. However, I highly recommend this book if you love crime thrillers/mystery/suspense genres. - Lynn Worton

[Mike Siedschlag]

I received an e-copy of Chase: The Hunt forth Mute Poetess by Thomas Dellenbusch, for review.

An interesting side to this review; The book itself is a "movie-length-story" meant to only take a couple of hours to read. Its origin is Germany and the story has been translated into English (very well by the way). Currently an English language web site is under construction. The German site is MeinKopfKino, in English literally; My Head Movie Theater. Comfortable translation; My Theater of the Mind. Seriously similar to the very blog you are reading right now eh?

On to the important part; How is the book? Fear not, it's very good. Chase... is a fast paced action story the reader can easily see in their minds eye. It's taut and well organized, flowing like a movie that keeps you on the edge of your seat. Good-guys vs bad-guys, martial arts, a secret force capable of cracking any fortress (think IMF and Mr. Phelps), a hunt for hidden secrets, Mafia and other organized crime (politicians), and a little romantic tension round out a fun and entertaining read. As in a movie as opposed to a traditional novel, we don't get a lot of backstory on the characters, only what is necessary to the plot. All the detail is focused on the current story. Chase...is, if I understand correctly, a part of a series of movie-length-stories meant to be read in this fashion. I don't know if the characters in this story will be ongoing, although this story could easily be serialized. I would personally like to read more of Rique (The main character) and his teams' exploits.

Author Thomas Dellenbusch has the ability to write a full story with enough detail to move the tale along but not so much as to slow down the reader. Chase... is not meant to be a book to get lost in for days, but to entertain the reader who needs to treat themselves for a couple of hours, like a plane, train, or automobile trip. Or as I did, in bed before going to sleep. In that case be sure and leave yourself time because you probably won't want to stop, and you'll wind up staying awake to finish the story.

Thomas Dellenbusch has great concept here with the movie length story format, one that fills a real niche in the reading world. Chase: The Hunt forth Mute Poetess is a great introduction to the genre. Enjoy!

Mike

[Stephan Morse]

Chase is a story involving a mute writer and a small cast of problem solvers that are halfway between the Scooby Gang and a Mission Impossible crew (A group called CHASE). The scene is set quickly as one member of the Scooby Impossible team rescues said poetess; thinking she’s been recently smuggled in from another country for prostitution. It turns out she’s part of a bigger issue which unveils quickly.

From there it’s combat, puzzles, and family secrets – then almost before anyone notices the story ends.

It’s fast paced and doesn’t drag. A lot of this had to do with the intended nature of the work – that is to say; a novel that can be read quickly, easily, and in a single sitting. The characters are consistent but feel shallow. There were a few leaps that caught me off guard, such as the sudden love relationship between CHASE’s charismatic leader and the damsel in distress. It’s a lightly detailed read by design. Despite (or perhaps, because of) the quick storytelling none of the details lingered in my mind.

This work was translated– which is something I’d like to see more of. CHASE: The Hunt for the Mute Poetess, did what was promised – filled the span of a movie. While I enjoyed the book and ease of reading, I’m not sure I’d be interested in a sequel.

www.frustratedego.com

[Linda B]

Translated from German by Richard Urmston

Type: KopfKino is a German term for Theatre of the Mind and to describe a book that is a movie-length-story with a reading time of between 60-180 minutes.

Enrique Allmers was heading to a restaurant when a woman ran into him, quite literally. He realized she was being chased and was in immediate danger. She was quite the mystery because she was unable to speak, but “Rique with the help of some friends, was able to help the young lady with her unfolding mystery.

A little different from the books I normally read, this Theatre of the Mind places you in a story without any foundation. So be prepared to start and hang on for this fast-moving thriller beginning with the first words on the page. I liked the variety of characters which were diverse in age and types. The story is well-written and the translation was also done very well.

I received an electronic version of the book in exchange for an honest review.