Set in Amsterdam, The Dinner starts out simply-two brothers and their wives are meeting for dinner. But this dinner is no casual date night; they are meeting to discuss the horrific thing that their two sons have done and what they need to do about it.

Paul Lohman, our narrator, and his wife, Claire meet Paul’s brother, a charismatic politician who seems to be on his way to being the next Prime Minister and his beautiful but delicate wife at a trendy and expensive restaurant that Paul’s brother was able to get reservations for on the basis of his name and position. Paul has very mixed feelings about his brother’s high profile and expensive lifestyle and finds his choices stultifying and hypocritical. Paul, on the other hand has been on medical leave from his job as a teacher for a few years now and he and his wife are having to live very simply. As each course is brought out, by the cloyingly servile waiter, Paul grouses to the reader about the expensive dishes with barely any food on the plate and the cost of the wildly expensive wine.

Initially the conversation is polite and we learn about each family and the things that they did over the holidays. The families have been quite close through the years and the children have spent quite a bit of time together. Although there are some indications that all is not well between Paul’s brother and his wife, and we hear about Paul’s diagnosis of an impulse control disorder which has prevented him from returning to teaching as well as his wife, Claire’s illness, in general they seem like any other normal family.

As the meal continues, however, we are slowly introduced to the chilling incident that their 15 year old boys were involved in. The police are investigating the incident and although the boys have yet to be identified as the ones who have committed the act, it seems like only a matter of time until they are. And this is the crux of the story-what should be done about these boys.

Koch slowly turns up the heat in this chilling and disturbing story about a family and the choices they have to make and the lengths they will go to to protect their son. Described as a European Gone Girl, the unexpected twists and turns including the stunning ending keep you on the edge of your seat until the very last page!

Brenda’s Rating: *****(5 Stars out of 5)

Recommend this book to: Marian, Sharon, Lauren, Ken, and Keith.

Book Study Worthy: Yes!

Read in ebook format.