The Gift Audiobook By Sebastian Fitzek cover art

The Gift

 Preview
LIMITED TIME OFFER

3 months free
Try for $0.00
Offer ends July 31, 2025 at 11:59PM PT.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 3 months. Cancel anytime.

The Gift

By: Sebastian Fitzek
Narrated by: Ari Fliakos
Try for $0.00

$0.00/mo. after 3 months. Offer ends July 31, 2025 at 11:59PM PT. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $29.90

Buy for $29.90

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
Switch payment method
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use, License, and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

Please note: This title contains mature content, including depictions of physical and sexual violence. Listener discretion advised.

The Gift is an exciting edge-of-your-seat psychological thriller by international best-selling author Sebastian Fitzek, performed by listener favorite Ari Fliakos.

Con man Milan Berg has a photographic memory. But he’s hiding a secret: He can’t read. Unable to interpret the world around him, Milan finds increasingly crafty ways to navigate it. That is, until he comes across a car in traffic with a girl in the back seat. She desperately holds a written note up to the window, but what does it say?

Fearing the girl is in mortal danger, Milan determines to search for her. As he follows a series of clues, each darker and scarier than the next, he’s thrust into a nightmarish odyssey with a deepening, disturbing progression: The clues are tied to his past. Lost in a web of lies, his world is upended as he lands in prison for a crime he claims he didn’t commit. Under the threat of death by his cellmates, Milan recounts his entire story to them from the beginning.

Will Milan save himself and the girl? Is he innocent and telling the truth? Or is he a master manipulator delivering one huge con?

©2019 Sebastian Fitzek and Verlagsgruppe Droemer Knaur GmbH & Co. KG (P)2023 Audible Originals, LLC. Psychological Thriller & Suspense Suspense Exciting Scary

A con man entrapped in the most twisted game he’s ever played.

0:00
About the Creator - Sebastian Fitzek

About the Creator

Sebastian Fitzek is an international bestselling author from Germany, with published works that have sold more than 15 million copies and been translated into more than 36 languages. Fitzek got his start in radio, later studying law with a doctoral thesis in copyright law. In 2006 he published his first psychological thriller, Therapy, which became a bestseller, as did all subsequent books. Many of his titles have been the subject of several theater adaptations, including Soulbreaker, Therapy, and Passenger 23. Sebastian Fitzek has twice been nominated for the Glauser Prize and has won the Golden Lovelybooks Readers' Award several times. He also received the Hörkules and is the winner of the European Prize for Crime Literature 2016. He is involved as an ambassador for the German Children's Association and as a patron of the association Das frühgeborene Kind e.V. Fitzek was born in Berlin in 1971. He lives with his family in Berlin.
Read more Read less

About the Performer

Ari Fliakos is a core member of the Wooster Group, developing original work with the company since 1998, including: Symphony of Rats (premiering Fall ’23), A Pink Chair, Vieux Carre, Hamlet, The Room, Poor Theater (for which he won an Obie), House/Lights, and To You: The Birdie!
Ari has narrated books by John Updike, John Grisham, Jodi Picoult, Jonathan Safron Foer, Richard Price, and James Patterson. He was named Audible's Narrator of the Year in 2017 and narrated 2016’s Audiobook of the Year, The Nix, by Nathan Hill.
TV/Film includes Homeland, FBI, New Amsterdam, Mysteries of Laura, Company K, and Limitless.

Interview: A Reformed Con Man Makes for an Unforgettable Protagonist in "The Gift"

The Gift
'Usually, the worst enemy is in our head...'
-0.00
  • The Gift
  • 'Usually, the worst enemy is in our head...'

Mic Check with Ari Fliakos

0:00
All stars
Most relevant  
I loved the story and it keep my attention until the end, a must read

Very good

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Not my usual genre, but compelling. I took it all in one day. Hard to follow sometimes but worth it

Ouch!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This was okay. Not as great as the reviews hyped it. It's very dark, not boring, not edge of your seat.

Okay

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
"The Gift" is an extraordinary masterpiece that deserves every one of its five stars! This book is a true literary gem that transcends genres and expectations. It weaves a captivating tale of love, loss, and redemption that tugs at the heartstrings and leaves a lasting impact. The characters are beautifully developed, and their journeys are both relatable and deeply moving. The writing is exquisite, filled with evocative prose that paints vivid pictures and stirs profound emotions. "The Gift" is a rare and precious find, a story that lingers in the mind long after the final page is turned. It's a must-read for anyone who appreciates the power of storytelling to touch the soul and illuminate the human experience.

Deserves every one of its five stars!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
At times I loved the story. At times I was a bit confused. At times shocked, pleasantly surprised, enthralled then back to confused. Not sure I liked the ending, but loose ends were tied up. The performance was perfect. I’m in the US and the setting in Germany was interesting. Overall I’m glad I took a chance on this one!

Twisty Tale

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
A little hard to follow, had to rewind a lot. Wish I had my coin back.

Have to really concentrate

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
excellent narration. very clever delivery of a story that culminated in a "wait! what"?! Knowing what I found out at the end I'm tempted to go back and listen again from this different perspective. I will say this is one of those stories that should be listened to quickly, it's easy to forget what's happening (or where in the story's back-and-forth timeline you're at) if you don't stay tuned in.

clever

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I was hooked from beginning to end. Several times I thought I had things figured out, but I definitely did NOT. I rarely rate 5 stars, but this one earned every one of them.

Twisty Fun

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I got lost many times, but it was worth it. This story was confusing AF, with many unlikable characters and flat-out weird subplots, but I liked it! The narrator did a great job of keeping me locked in, and the story, while dark and brutal at times, was sprinkled with sarcasm and humor that I appreciated as someone with a dark sense of humor. As a reader, you're definitely required to suspend belief throughout, but hey, that's why this is fiction.

The best confusing mess I've ever heard!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Enjoyed the twists, and after learning everything, I listened to it for a second time!

Great narrator.

Well written, although it feels like it has been translated from the original language, the same way English dubbed movies have a slightly off feeling in the translation. Does not distract from the book though.

Nice twists

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews