The world of Lena Voss

The story is bigger than its pages.

Here you can get to know the world of my Lena Voss thrillers: the people, the places, and the things the stories hinge on. Every character and every place has its own page.

Spoiler-free. The portraits and place pages describe the starting point of the book named in each case. Major twists and resolutions are left out. If you’d like to read without knowing anything in advance, start with the book overview.

Book 1TIEFSTRÖMUNGpublished

Book 2GLUTZONEpublished

Book 3TIEFENSCHLAGpublished

WEISSGRAU

Book 4WEISSGRAUin progress

NULLMERIDIAN

Book 5NULLMERIDIANplanned

The Vindel

FS Vindel

The ship where it all begins, eight years before the series starts.

Characters

Lena first, then everyone she meets in the three books.

Lena VossOceanographer at the ICRU in Hamburg, following a falling line
Kai SörensenFS Nordmark captain, eight years without a word to Lena
Lukas AhrensOceanographer at Lena’s side, died at sea eight years ago
Anna KesslerLower Elbe emergency manager who has known Lena thirteen years
MarcoEmergency physician who stops by with bratwurst after his shift
HagenPolitical coordinator at the ICRU, guardian of the Meridian contract
Dr. Maren SeifertICRU head of risk communication, reads every warning herself
Lars BrandtCEO of Meridian Risk Systems in Hamburg-Bahrenfeld
Jürgen KaminskiEmployee at Meridian Risk Systems in Hamburg
Mats ReimersFS Nordmark systems technician who knows the old OCEANUS probe
Yuki TanakaClimate data analyst aboard the FS Nordmark, double-checks everything
ThodeShip’s doctor on the FS Nordmark, photographs fish
BroderCook on the FS Nordmark; on Sundays there’s cake
Niklas BrennerYoung marine geologist on board, keeps the handwritten equipment log
Dr. RüheICRU meteorologist who knows about the old probe in storage
Frau YildizDirector of nursing at Haus Deichblick in Wilhelmsburg
Frau PetersenNinety-four, lived through the 1962 flood
Sofia EspositoVolcanologist at the Osservatorio Vesuviano, grew up in Pozzuoli
Lorenzo De SantisRegional civil protection, chairs the meeting at the Prefecture
Matteo RinaldiThe nursing home’s daily routine all runs through him
Paolo FerraraInfrastructure office, drew much of the zone map
Frau BelliniResident of the Pozzuoli nursing home, with her own cup
De FilippoNursing home resident in Pozzuoli who believes it’s 1966
Dr. Adrian FalkPanel assessor who accepts only what has been measured
Tilda ImhofShift supervisor inside the mountain, hears what no screen shows
Konrad ZieglerInnkeeper in Unterdorn and chief of the fire department
Xaver NaglYoung control room operator who reads off the log
The Plant ManagerDorn power plant manager, clutching his sheet of paper
UlrikeSpeaks for Unterdorn’s nursing home and its 47 residents
OttoKonrad’s brother, drives the school bus over the one bridge
Wanda ImhofTilda’s mother, lives 300 meters below the dam

Places

From Hamburg to Naples, from the Lower Elbe to the Alps. Invented and real places are marked.

FS VindelThe research vessel of the night Lukas died
FS NordmarkLena’s research vessel in Book 1, captained by Kai Sörensen
ICRU HamburgLena’s institute in Hamburg, looking out over the Elbe
Meridian Risk SystemsHamburg sensor maker in Bahrenfeld, supplies data to the ICRU
Lena’s ApartmentLena’s Hamburg apartment, which never looks quite lived in
The Lower Elbe and the DikeThe land behind the dikes between Hamburg and the estuary
North Sea, Shelf, and Monitoring NetworkThe sea off the Elbe estuary, decisive in Lena’s math
Naples and PozzuoliA city in a volcano’s hollow, on ground that’s rising
The DornA short, fast mountain river, dammed above a village
UnterdornThe village below the dam, with one bridge out
Dorn Reservoir (Dam and Power Plant)Reservoir, dam, and a power plant deep in the mountain
FS Heron and HelgolandA broken-down ship off Helgoland, where Lena meets Lukas
The North AtlanticThe current’s ocean and Lena’s study area in Book 1
KielWhere the Nordmark’s voyage begins
The Town at the ConfluenceWhere the valley ends and the only road leads

Things

In this series, some things are almost characters.

The ReportThe official report on the night aboard the FS Vindel
Meridian’s PapersData feed and documents from Meridian Risk Systems
The BraceletLena’s bracelet, worn for eight years, never explained
The NapkinLukas’s current diagrams on a napkin from the galley
Lena’s Red NotebookLena’s notebook for measurements, written by hand
The FormAn old form, a blacked-out name, an O

Background

The science behind the books. Each term is explained the way the novel uses it. Below it, you’ll find what part of it is real. Information about the real world is current as of October 2026.