Kalbe Saplanan Ok

The book opens with an introduction that goes back to a winter night three years earlier: Gece, not knowing where she is going, boards a train with a suitcase; beside her sits a blue-eyed man with a tablet and a frown. He talks little, yet covers her with his jacket when she falls asleep; in Ankara he settles her into a hotel, tells her his name is Serter, which means «an arrow lodged in the heart», and disappears. The introduction ends with Gece returning home to her sister and uncle, and reminding us: at seven she was made to believe she shot her mother and father, and until twenty-three she considered herself a killer.

Chapter 1 opens Gece's double life. Her mother was one of the country's best prosecutors and her father a mayor; the blame for their deaths was put on her by Eylül and their uncle Gürsel. Three years ago a short video arrived in her inbox, and from it she learned the truth: Eylül shot the parents and Gürsel helped her. The video later vanished, and her memory has been damaged for years by the antidepressants she was given. Now Gece has hidden cameras around the house, slips the pills under her tongue and throws them away, and plays the «quiet little sister» for Eylül; her aim is to find the video and hand it to the police. All she has are her dog Çam and her friend Barış, who she senses is in love with her.

In chapters 2–3 Serter arrives at the house as Eylül's «old friend»; Gece sees through a hidden camera that he asks Eylül to find the weak points of the Spanish head of state, though he says «no blood». At dinner Gece cuts her finger and Serter bandages it, sees a bag of pills left in the kitchen and says these are «not medicines anyone can take»; later he tells Eylül so to her face, and Eylül claims Gece has «mental problems». That night Gece drinks at Barış's place, tells him the truth while drunk and regrets it in the morning: two people now know the secret.

Chapters 4–6 are the tensest part of the book. Gürsel orders Gece to go to dinner with «the son of a family friend»; the man who turns up is Hasan, old enough to be her father. Gece hides a knife under her dress and answers him sarcastically; in the restaurant she sees Serter at another table with a woman and a child. Hasan threatens her, then leans in and says he was the one who sent her the video of the night her parents died and could give it to her again; at that moment Serter gets up and grabs Hasan by the collar. Gece slips a note from the valet into her pocket, goes home, argues with Gürsel and falls asleep on the garden swing in the rain. Serter comes back at night, carries her inside in his arms, and in the morning says: «I want to help you; this house is dangerous for you.»

• The story is told in the first person, in Gece's voice; the chapters have short paragraphs, plenty of dialogue and a fast pace
• Gece's inner voice (warnings to herself, sarcastic comments) gives the novel a humorous, rough tone; songs by Duman, Adele and others set a musical backdrop
• Devices such as the hidden camera, pills, diary and fake marriage end each chapter on a new secret or lie
• Serter is the «cold, serious but protective» diplomat archetype; the husky voice, ice-blue eyes, necktie and dislike of caffeine are repeated again and again