The Absent One by Jussi Adler-Olsen
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

A disappointment! I liked Jussi Adler-Olsen's "Keeper of the Lost Causes" quite a lot. "The Absent One" is definitely not in the same class. Carl Morcks's character is still interesting, but the characterizations of two other protagonists, Assad and Rosa, are just caricatures.

"The Absent One" could have been a great revenge story, yet it veered into a totally unbelievable territory. Would you believe rich industrialists and fashion celebrities to be mass murderers? No, I guess not. But the book asks us to. Add to it a rabid fox. A hungry hyaena. Hunting wild animals in the heart of Denmark? Come on, man! Be serious.

The novel reads pretty well for about 300 pages, and then it deteriorates into a totally ridiculous mess of utterly contrived fast-paced action of the worst Hollywood variety. This is globalization of rubbish. This is crap on the order of "Da Vinci Code".

Three and a half stars for the first 300 pages. Zero stars for the last 100 pages. What an utter waste of human talent! I am hesitant to read any more stuff from this author.

Two stars.


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Münsters Fall by Håkan Nesser
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

"Munster's Case" is the fifth novel that I read in Hakan Nesser's series of mysteries featuring inspector Van Veeteren. Intendent Munster, who had worked under Van Veeteren for a long time, has to solve the brutal murder of a retired man, who happened to learn, on the day of his death, that he - along with his three friends - won money in a lottery. Then, some people connected to the victim disappear and the case becomes quite complicated. Intendent Munster and his colleagues have difficult time trying to find what really happened. Even the retired inspector Van Veeteren is called upon to help.

No more information can be given if one wants to avoid spoilers. I found the plot interesting and the denouement plausible if a little disappointing. Again, I can't say more about the ending without spoiling it, but there is more to it. The characterizations are a little thin as might be expected considering this is a series of novels, which means that Mr. Nesser basically rewrites the same book for the n-th time.

There is a lot of sarcastic humor in this novel, and it reads very well. More importantly, as all previous novels by Mr. Nesser, "Munster's Case" takes place in a fictitious country in Northern Europe. The country is a composite of Sweden, Germany, Netherlands, and even a little of Poland. All geographical names and people names sound Swedish, German, Dutch, or Polish. This is one of the cleverest literary devices I have encountered in my life. (Full disclosure: my enthusiasm might be due to being born in one of these countries.)

Another aspect I quite like is that most (almost all) characters in the novel are old. It feels like Mr. Nesser is saying that young people are irrelevant. Being almost the same age as the author, I agree with his opinion.

This book rates three and a half stars for me, but since all previous Nesser's books would be four stars, then I rate it at

Three stars.


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In the Darkness by Karin Fossum
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Karin Fossum's "In the Darkness" is her first book in the Sejer series, written almost 20 years ago. Sejer has to solve two murders that seem to be somehow connected, and Eva Marie Magnus, the central character of the novel, is somehow connected to both cases. Sejer has to figure out what the connections are.

I did not like the first half of the book too much, although Karin Fossum is one of my absolutely favorite authors and I rate her "Black Seconds" and "The Indian Bride" as masterpieces of the psychological mystery genre (I am working on the reviews of these two books; they deserve a thorough re-read). The writing seemed tentative and unfocused as if Ms. Fossum could not decide on whom to make main characters of the plot. In comparison to later works, the book seemed to be a bit overwrought; there was no feeling of the economical, almost minimalistic style so characteristic for Ms. Fossum's newer prose. It might be a case of hindsight, but to me it was clear that "In the Darkness" was not yet a mature novel.

However, I found the second half of the novel much better. The plot became very interesting, and even the writing seemed to improve to the point that I could follow and understand the motives of Eva Magnus' and others' actions. The threads of the plot were all nicely tied together in the end, and the ending felt powerful.

"In the Darkness" is a good book. It is not on the level of Ms. Fossum's later work; the mystery component is stronger than the psychology component, and the plot is quite complex (which many readers will like). Still, it is a solid psychological mystery on its own. It nicely illustrates the early stages of development of the author's voice and style.

To me, this is clearly a three-and-a-half stars book. Since the halves are not allowed, I am tossing a coin:

Three stars.


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Semiautomatic by Rob Reuland
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I had a really, really hard time trying to finish this book. The plot is interesting, the characters are quite well drawn, there is a lot of humor in the book, and, most importantly, the "seamy and seedy world" of Brooklyn DA office politics is shown with incisive insight. Mr. Reuland worked in the exact office he is writing about, so I tend to believe his portrayal of corrupt lawyers/politicians who care only about their careers and are ready to offer lives of other people on the altar of furthering their goals. Mr. Reuland's message about the troubled court system is clear, direct, and powerful.

For me, the problem with the book is the writing. Maybe other readers will find the writing great; apparently the professional reviewers quoted in the blurbs did. I find the book grossly overwrought in many places. Simple actions and thoughts that take fraction of a second in real life are magnified. Time is stretched. Hidden motives of actions are elaborated on. The characters' behaviors are overanalyzed. It seems almost like the narrator is in an altered state of consciousness, being outside of himself. In some places it works, in most others it is an irritating affectation. It feels like Mr. Reuland tried very hard to add depth to his writing, but managed to add only a pretense of it.

Still, Mr. Reuland portrays the racial tensions well, and the interplay between ADA Giobberti and ADA Lauren Ashfield is sometimes engrossing. And the message "Things are not what we think they are" is clear. I would love to see the author quit the histrionics and pseudo-psychological-depth effects in his writing and focus on what he does really well: enriching the crime novel milieu with sharp social observation. One of the reviewers compares Mr. Reuland to Raymond Chandler. Well, Mr. Reuland has perhaps as much to say as Chandler did, but Chandler's one sentence is worth 50 tortured pages of Mr. Reuland's prose.

Two and a quarter stars.


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Phoenix by John Connor
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

John Connor's Phoenix is a strange book. Well over a half of the book is an enthralling police procedural. The activities of detectives are described in great detail and I suppose with tremendous authenticity as Mr. Connor was involved in numerous homicide prosecutions over the years and was a police advisor in long-term undercover operations. The action takes place in West Yorkshire, which is well described (well, at least from the point of view of a person who has never been there).

The main character of the story is DC Karen Sharpe who acts a lot on her own, often ignoring her supervisors' orders. Because of some traumatic experiences in the past, Ms. Sharpe carries a deeply hidden secret, and is not quite balanced emotionally. Still within the frame of a police procedural, DC Sharpe gets involved in a sort of affair with her supervisor. I am writing "a sort of affair" because one needs to read several well-written pages of boozy dialogue between her and the supervisor to appreciate what is going on between them. Also, of all things there is an absolutely un-erotic but well written "love scene" between the two characters.

So all is well and I am about to rate the book as solid four stars when suddenly the book turns into a fast, so-called "edge of the seat" thriller. The blurb on the cover says "breathless climax". Well, for once the blurb is spot on. Since I do not like fast pace, edge of the seat, breathless climaxes in the plot, my rating goes down.

The characterizations of DC Sharpe and others are rather thin and formulaic. Still, the writing is good to very good. Most of the book is a very solid, detailed police procedural.

Three and almost a half stars.


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Misdemeanor Man by Dylan Schaffer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Gordon Seegerman is a public defender in Santa Rita (most likely a code name for Oakland, California) specializing in misdemeanors. He is also the singer in the Mandys, a band that cultivates Barry Manilow's music. Sounds pretty unlikely combination, yet the author, Dylan Schaffer, an actual attorney with a long history of legal practice, makes it all work.

Mr. Schaffer's writing is first rate: terse and funny. His observations of the idiocy of the jury system in our country are deep and damning. Yet, to me, the best aspect of "Misdemeanor Man" is the portrayal of the early onset Alzheimer disease suffered by Mr. Seegerman's father. It is vivid, clinical, and deeply moving.

"Misdemeanor Man" is a very good book. I was even thinking about giving it five stars, but the ending degenerated a bit into TV-style fast action, where there was no need for that. Thank you, Mr. Schaffer, for doing a great writing job.

There are not many singers/musicians whom I despise more than Barry Manilow. I would need to be paid a lot to endure attending his concert. Yet Mr. Schaffer's writing is so skillful that for the duration of this book I was seeing Barry Manilow as an actual artist. Great job!

Four and a half stars.


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Svörtuloft by Arnaldur Indriðason

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Unfortunately, "Black Skies" by Arnaldur Indridason is a disappointment.  If I am counting correctly, this is the seventh book by Mr. Indridason that I have read and probably the weakest one. Not even close to the stunningly high quality of his "The Draining Lake" or "Silence of the Grave".

I find Iceland a totally fascinating country. The book allowed me to learn more about Iceland and its inhabitants. Mr. Indridason's diagnosis of the utter greed driving the entire banking industry in his country is astute, pretty grim and, damning. I am afraid it applies to any country, not just Iceland. So reading this book is definitely not a waste of time. The plot has some nice elements as well.

However, this time the author decided to focus on Sigurdur Oli, who is by far the least interesting character of the recurrent trio of detectives. Both Erlendur and Elinborg come through as fascinating personas. Sigurdur Oli is just plain boring. Moreover, I have grown tired of reading about childhood sexual abuse. It seems that every other mystery/crime drama book has this topic now.

Mr. Indridason is a wonderful writer. I hope he starts writing stand-alone mysteries. Why try to write the same book again and again?

Three stars (just barely).





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