The ink black heart

The sixth part of the successful crime series about Detective Strike and his partner Robin is set largely in the virtual world of online chat rooms and social networks. While Silkworm dealt with the pitfalls of the publishing world and the resentments between writers, this novel shows the fascinating culture of fan groups – the fandoms that often form around popular films, series and books. Edie and Josh created the animated series The Ink Black Heart, which brought them unexpected success and recognition. They quickly gained a large online fanbase, especially after one of them, Anomie, created a computer game and populated it with characters from the series. After Edie’s critical remark, Anomie turns on her, and cleverly takes most of the fandom with her. Edie finds it increasingly difficult to cope with the constant attacks online and in the media, she fears for her safety and her fear is unfortunately justified. The recorded verbal violence of anonymous screeners leads to murder. Strike and Robin are once again faced with a difficult task – they search the internet for clues that the killer must have left. The two detectives (and the readers with them) learn about the dark side of fandom culture, where young people looking for belonging and friendship can quickly fall victim to manipulation and even violence. In communication with modern technology, it is still often forgotten that a name and a picture on a screen can lie. (KG)