31 July 2008

5: Sun Storm

Larsson My fifth book-review retrospective is from February, and my choice is Sun Storm by Asa Larsson. The full review of this haunting novel is here.

"Rebecka Martinsson is a struggling young lawyer, working insanely long hours to get a foot on the ladder, despite an unsympathetic boss and a corporate environment as cold as the Swedish seasons. She sees on the TV news that an Victor Strandgard, an old friend has been murdered in Kiruna, a remote village in the north. Before she can assimilate this information, she is phoned by a "Moomin troll", otherwise known as Sanna, the dead man's sister, prime suspect for the murder, and Rebecka's ex-flatmate and ex-best friend.

Rebecka is forced to jeopardise her shaky career to return to her roots in Kiruna, the place where she grew up, made her childhood mistakes, and began her involvement with the oppressive church group of which Victor was a leading light."

31 Jul 2008 18:21:00 | Book review

The comments to this entry are closed.

NEXT POST
4: The Overlook My fourth pick for this series of book-review retrospectives is another January book, The Overlook by Michael Connelly. For the complete review, please see here. "Michael Connelly has written another work of pared-down genius. The Overlook covers twelve hours in the life of LAPD detective Harry Bosch, from his taking of the case of a man being found dead on the cliffs overlooking Los Angeles, to his solution of the case. The book is simple, with few if any special effects and a simple, direct writing style, but the overall effect is very powerful. Harry Bosch is 56 years old: he is a Vietnam veteran (a “tunnel rat”) and a long-standing policeman before taking early retirement in a fit of disillusionment with LAPD politics. A few books ago he was persuaded back to serve, working cold cases. The most recent of these, described in Echo Park, ended in a bit of a mess, as a result of which Harry is transferred back into the main business of police work. Harry stands for the victim. It is impossible to deflect him by political or emotional means, hence he is the eternal outsider, not promoted, and unsuccessful in his relationships outside work...
PREVIOUS POST
6: The Man on the Balcony My sixth book-review choice is The Man on the Balcony, by Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo. If you have not read this genre-defining ten-book series, I cannot recommend it highly enough, especially in the reprinted Harper-Collins edition. The full review is here. "THE MAN ON THE BALCONY is the third of Sojwall and Wahloo's ten novels featuring Martin Beck and his Stockholm police colleagues. It is a lean, compelling novel, told with simplicity and power. One hot summer, a man sits on his balcony, quietly observing the activity on the long street below. Based on a spare description of his ordinary domestic actions, an atmosphere of menace begins to build. The action shifts to a local park, where police are on the look-out for a mugger, a young couple is sneaking out from a family gathering, and children are playing. An old lady is attacked and robbed despite the police vigilance, but this is not the worst thing to happen in the park that day. Later, the body of a child is found."

Maxine

Science editor who likes reading crime fiction

Search

Become a Fan

My Other Accounts

Recent Comments