When publishers want to sell a new book, they need the help of critics. But those reviews tell people only about typical literary treatments and not if the story itself is reliable or not. Therefore, it needed a new kind of reviews.

We asked a convicted murderer to evaluate the believability of the storyline of a new crime novel. Henry-Oliver Jakobs, who spents 19 years in prison, was asked to review the new book of Jørn Lier Horst (“Wisting und der Tag der Vermissten”) and its core story of a murder case with all its facets. The review was published by PIPER on their website, social media accounts and widespreaded in the classic and digital book trade.

The strategy to promote the book was to reinvent the way of reviewing books. Therefore, we turned a simple book review into a unique direct campaign.

Henry-Oliver Jakobs, a convicted murderer who spent 19 years in prison, was asked to review the new book of Jørn Lier Horst (“Wisting und der Tag der Vermissten”) and its core story of a murder case with all its facets. The review was published by PIPER on their website, social media accounts and widespread in the classic and digital book trade.

Just seven days after the initiative, “Wisting und der Tag der Vermissten” became a bestseller, ranking in the Top 20 SPIEGEL bestseller list. Furthermore, Criminal Reviews started a divisive discussion. On Facebook, Twitter and Instagram our initiative proved that this new kind of reviews gave readers the most realistic and honest view on a crime novel ever.