Many scientists and philosophers including Neil deGrasse Tyson have suggested that our universe could actually be a simulation in someone else’s computer game. German author Karl Olsberg has used that premise to very good purpose in his novel, Delete. A young gamer is worried when one of her fellow players stops in the middle of the game, makes a cryptic remark, then doesn’t move again. After she is unable to find him either on- or off-line, she contacts the police.

At the same time, Chief Inspector Eisenberg of the Hamburg police is looking into a human trafficking ring when he makes a decision that saves a life but sends the investigation pear-shaped. After being reamed out by his arrogant commander, he starts looking for a new job. He is offered the lead of a new unit set up to investigate and possibly prevent crimes using computer technology. Trouble is, he’s only one in a long line of people who have tried the job and all of the others quickly gave it up. The unit exists as a cohesive team in name only. They are a smart but uncooperative bunch of misfits who have managed to do little more than get on each other’s nerves and Eisenberg knows little about how to deal with their quirks and even less about technology. But it has been made clear to him and the team that if they aren’t able to find and solve a case and soon, the unit will be shut down.

One of the team is a gamer and he comes across not only the disappearance of the young girl’s friend but several other disappearances that seem to have nothing in common except they stopped suddenly in the game, made odd statements, then vanished both from the game and from their regular lives. The team must discover whether these are just random disappearances that have nothing to do with the game or each other or if it is something more sinister at work. And then the young girl who reported the first disappearance vanishes.

Although Delete is a police procedural, the added science and perhaps science fiction elements really made it a suspenseful and compelling read. Although we know what is going on, the idea that this is all just on the surface never goes away even at the end. The translation by Caroline Wright is excellent and keeps the story moving at a nice clip. I really enjoyed Delete and give it a high recommendation for fans of police procedurals especially those who enjoy a touch of the unusual thrown in. This was my first book by this author but it definitely will not be my last.

Thanks to Netgalley and Bonnier Zaffre for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review