The following version of this book was used to create this study guide: Power, Chris. A Lonely Man. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2021.

The novel follows Robert Prowe, an Englishman living in Berlin. He is married to a german woman named Karijn, and they have two young daughters: Nora and Sonja. He used to work in advertising, but he is now a fiction writer. He has one published book, and he is struggling to write a second. One day, by chance, he meets a man named Patrick Unsworth in a bookstore. Patrick is also from England and is a writer as well. Patrick has based his career on ghostwriting celebrity memoirs. Robert finds Patrick somewhat uncouth, but Robert also feels somewhat lonely in Berlin—and he is also relatively bored and frustrated with his home life—so he initiates a friendship with Patrick.

Robert and Patrick eat together at a restaurant, and Patrick begins to talk about his recent past. Patrick says that, a few years ago, he was hired by an exiled Russian oligarch named Sergei Vanyashin to ghostwrite Vanyashin’s memoir. Before Patrick completed the memoir, Vanyashin was found dead. The death was ruled a suicide, but Patrick thinks that Vanyashin was killed by Russian government agents. Patrick also thinks that Russian agents are now tracking him. He fled to Berlin to try to hide from them. Robert does not believe Patrick’s story, but Robert internally decides that he might be able to use Patrick’s story as material for fiction writing.

Over the following weeks, Robert continues to periodically socialize with Patrick, under the guide of friendship. Each meeting, Robert asks more questions about Vanyashin, and Patrick continues to tell the story. Vanyashin was a very wealthy and very egotistical man. His businesses and personal relationships had begun to fail before his death, but Patrick still does not believe that Vanyashin killed himself. Robert continues to believe that Patrick is delusional and that his stories are fabrications.

One day, Robert receives news that a London friend of his died of suicide. Robert goes to London to attend the funeral. He reflects upon life, death, and relationships. He finds himself attracted to a woman he meets at the funeral. When it becomes clear that the attraction is mutual, Robert strongly considers committing marital infidelity. However, he ultimately decides that he would not want to live with the guilt of cheating on his wife, so he flees from the woman. Robert then returns to Berlin and meets with Patrick again. Patrick confronts Robert, saying that he recently found out that Robert has been stealing Patrick’s story to use as writing material.

Patrick then says that he fears that the Russian agents are closing in on him. He decides to flee Berlin, and in his last communication to Robert, Patrick implies that he is fleeing to a small town in Spain that they once briefly discussed. Later, Robert goes on vacation in Sweden with his wife and daughters. Robert feels a renewed sense of gratitude for his family. One day during the vacation, when Robert is walking outside alone, he is accosted by two unfamiliar men. They seem to have Russian accents, and they demand to know Patrick’s whereabouts. Robert, frightened, tells them the name of the Spanish town where he believes Patrick has gone. After the encounter, Robert does his best to convince himself that it did not really happen.