First line: In the south of Lower Saxony is a forest called the Deister, and in that forest there was a sandstone house where the forest ranger used to live.

The club in the title is the Pitt Club at Cambridge. How we end up there from the opening sentence is honestly not that interesting. The main character, Hans, is orphaned and although he has an aunt named Alex who lives in England, she does not step in to raise him. In fact, he doesn't hear from her until he's of an age to start college and she contacts him to tell him that she would like him to attend Cambridge and help her solve a crime by getting into this Pitt Club.

Hans of course goes and wiggles his way into the club with the help of the father of a young woman he's met. There's boxing, and

Look, I'm getting bored all over again writing this. Don't read this book. It is the typical bullshit about an exclusive club for privileged, obnoxious boys and keeping secrets for bro code and mistreating women. There was nothing about Hans getting into this world and being accepted that was believable. The woman he gets involved with, Charlotte, was not believable as a female human being. There were shifts to points of view that added literally nothing to the story, including multiple times to one student who desperately wants to get into the club and I guess maybe he does? I don't know, it was unimportant whether he did or not. I guess the author just wanted to put in a character who would list his breakfast, time and location of masturbation, and aphorism every day. There is the egregious, repeated use of the r-slur, not just by the mustache-twirling villain. Avoid. ( )

Liked the story and the overall atmosphere. Nice little book you can enjoy in finish in a nice afternoon. Sometimes it felt a little overconscientious regarding the descriptions and inner views of the snobs but if you like boxing and secret societies you won´t be disappointed. ( )

Hans Stichler stammt aus einfachen Verhältnissen. Er bekommt ein Stipendium für die Universität in Cambridge - als Gegenleistung soll er dort ein Verbrechen aufklären. Er schafft es, Mitglied im elitären Pitt Club zu werden - dem Club mit dem Schmetterlingssiegel -, und verliebt sich in Charlotte, die ihn in die Bräuche der Snobs einweiht. Bald merkt er, dass hinter den alten Mauern der britischen Oberschicht Geheimnisse lauern, über die keiner spricht. Was ist Hans bereit zu geben, um dazuzugehören? Muss er das Falsche tun, um das Richtige zu erreichen? ( )

Ein Buch über einen Eliteclub der Universität Cambridge, in dem allerhand Missbrauch stattfindet. Mein Geschmack trifft der Roman nicht, da die Spannung nicht überbordend ist. ( )