THE REFLECTION OF THE WATER: A Crime Novel by Anika Miro
Published by rdrpublishers.com
“There is no name for my reality.”
“All around our known world we see trauma. War, poverty, stigma, sadism. People move across continents seeking safety, a space for themselves or their family only to be demonized as migrants, bringing to safer countries fragments of the horror stories that have been their reality. But deeper than this and even more fearful are the silent destruction of human beings behind closed affluent doors. Soul murder. How do we convey this? How much can a human being bear to face about the torture of another without barriers of denial, sleepiness, amnesia? If your normal is someone else’s worst nightmare, what kind of bridge can there be? Those of us who have worked in the field of organized ritual abuse with installed dissociative states face this dilemma repeatedly, and we hold just a fragment of what the survivor has faced. Our papers and books largely are shared in small academic and clinical circles, attacked by disinformation groups and false memory groups or given momentary largely sensational space which is then closed.
“One way of trying to manage this is writing with a pseudonym or writing a novel. Anika Miro, not her real name, has done both.
“Dr Heinz Waldemar Schettler, a millionaire businessman and lawyer has been found dead. A woman inspector, Inspector Morgenweg, is tasked with the investigation and interviews his famous and complex children and associates. At the same time, in italics, we are hearing the voice of others who we do not fully understand yet. These other voices come from a different history and language. Slowly, slowly, as we become more curious and involved in what is happening, the writing changes and the novel enters a new depth. To explain much more would be to spoil the shock and intricacy of the plot. However, suddenly, my response as a reader went into great depth, and I felt in the presence of something chillingly authentic that I recognize only too well from my work.
“Anika Miro has found a brilliant way of revealing a legal conundrum in which the silent evil world of countless victims has to be exposed despite the wish to silence such moments. It is not surprising to see that Alison Miller, a leading figure in the world of professionals working with installed dissociation, mind control, has aided in translation and editing. This book is first and foremost a crime novel that seeks accuracy despite being fiction. And it works on that level. However, the profundity of the conclusion and the power of the “first person” writing as the reason and nature of the crime evolves, challenges our ethics, our capacity to hear trauma, and the ability of our justice and mental health systems to hear.
“I hope Anika Miro will write again. This is a deeply moving and challenging read. It is also the life of untold many.”
~ Valerie Sinason PhD MACP (retd)MInstPsychoanal