suspense

One Shot by Lee Child – Book Review

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One Shot by Lee Child – Book Cover

My role model (see Die Trying), Major Jack Reacher, makes his first appearance in One Shot on page 42. How is that possible? I have no idea. Moreover, I thought I had already read this book before. But no, I missed this volume, and that’s great news because in this early installment, the Major is at his best. And of course, so is Lee Child. And naturally, this is the book that was adapted into the cool movie Jack Reacher (IMDb: Jack Reacher) where Tom Cruise does everything to RISE to the role.)

Child’s book is thrilling from the first page.

How can you tell? Well, despite our beloved hero’s late appearance, you find Lee Child’s story unputdownably exciting from the very first page.

Then Reacher barges in and once again sticks his nose into something he shouldn’t. And once again, he’s nosy, impertinent, and unshakeable… And once again, it turns out that things that seem entirely obvious aren’t so obvious after all.

How does Jack Reacher do it? Using the good old Sherlock Holmes method. Things that would mean nothing to you, spark something different in his mind. Things you would immediately declare as black, he flips around and proves to be white.

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The Lion by Nelson DeMille – Book Review

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The Lion by Nelson DeMille - Book Cover

The story of the Libyan terrorist and the Corey couple continues. And even if you missed the previous book by Nelson DeMille, like I did, you won’t feel lost because everything is well explained. The problem, however, is that the beginning of The Lion is mostly from the perspective of the scumbag Asad Khalil, who is an even more fanatical terrorist than the usual breed, and cares about nothing but killing. Seriously. Nothing else.

By about a third of the way through The Lion, you start getting fed up with Khalil indiscriminately slaughtering his remaining enemies from the previous book, as well as his own associates to prevent them from identifying him. This excessive caution is SOMEWHAT contradicted by the fact that the mischievous Khalil calls the police for fun to taunt them. Plus, the police already have a ton of files on him.

On top of that, Khalil even takes on a job from Al Qaeda, although he leaves it for last, after dealing with his personal matters. Sure. („Never mind, Khalil”, his comrades at Al Qaeda might say, „take care of your business, it’s no issue if they start a nationwide manhunt against you, 6-star wanted level. No problemo, we can always detonate our bomb later!” – And these poor Al Qaeda guys don’t even realize Khalil has this aversion to witnesses. Thanks a lot for that kind of help!)

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Die Trying by Lee Child – Book Review

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Die Trying by Lee Child - Book cover

Since hardly anyone reads this blog anyway, I think I can safely admit—without becoming a public laughingstock—that Major Jack Reacher is one of my all-time role models! Yep, I said it. Big words, I know. But anyone who reads the thriller Die Trying will definitely find themselves admiring Lee Child’s ex-military cop hero from that point on.

Jack Reacher. Role Model. Period.

My role model, Major Jack Reacher, in the second installment of Lee Child’s excellent series (which I picked up again after some 20 years and accidentally reread) finds himself in the back of a van—alongside a very attractive FBI agent. She’s been kidnapped. My role model, Major Jack Reacher, just so happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and ends up in the van by accident. The hopelessly dumb kidnappers in Die Trying don’t just toss him out of the van—they drag him with them. These poor fools have no idea what kind of trouble they’ve just signed up for.

Because my role model, Major Jack Reacher, is strong, smart, highly trained, cunning, and more Sherlock than Sherlock Holmes himself (see: The Hound of the Baskervilles). (Just watch how he analyzes the girl at the beginning.) His sense of justice is off the charts. He’s also the best sniper around. (You can bet a few people are gonna take a bullet to the head.)

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The Helicopter Heist by Jonas Bonnier – Book Review

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The Helicopter Heist by Jonas Bonnier - book cover

A Scandinavian Crime Novel, With a Touch of Robbery

Jonas Bonnier’s book is roughly the chance meeting on the dissecting table of Scandinavian crime and documentary fiction. Or something like that. Not entirely, though, because the genre is mostly referenced through the setting, but the usual whining is nowhere to be found. (You know, when the noble Nordic characters are relentlessly depressed from page one, yet their names and genders remain a mystery for ages.) And if you’re worried – since the book is based on a true story – that it’s just a list of facts thrown together, you can forget that, too. The Helicopter Heist has been streamlined into a full-on novel.

In 2009, a few guys robbed the G4S cash logistics company’s Stockholm depot using a helicopter. (Hundreds of millions of kronor were flying around.) The novel tells the story of the planning and the heist.

Bad Guys? Interesting!

Bonnier’s book isn’t as thrilling or full of twists as the heist genre would lead you to expect. The part of the book dedicated to preparation, unsurprisingly, takes up most of the story and could be described as, at best, moderately interesting. (Obviously, things pick up during the action part.)

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Chasing the Dead by Tim Weaver – Book Review

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Chasing the Dead by Tim Weaver - Book Cover

You might already be drooling in anticipation because Chasing the Dead by Tim Weaver seems like one of those dark and brooding crime thrillers that Dennis Lehane typically delivers. And to be fair, the book does start off on the right foot: you immediately empathize with David Raker after his great tragedy, and maybe you even grow to like this meek, good-hearted soul. The investigation is solid enough too, barring a few hiccups in the dialogue, like:

“Yes?”
“Yes.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“Are you sure it’s really real?”

Why is everyone acting so weird here?!

Furthermore, Tim Weaver introduces such a twisted antagonist that you might just crap your pants! You’re so freaked out that you barely notice how bizarre most of the characters in Chasing the Dead are. For instance, they casually rat out their well-paying clients for a measly 200 quid or, for no apparent reason, suddenly off themselves!

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The Concrete Blonde by Michael Connelly – Book Review

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The Concrete Blonde by Michael Connelly book review

Detective Harry Bosch seems to have accidentally shot the wrong serial killer four years ago, taking out the wrong guy instead of the evil Dollmaker. Now, the broken and grieving family of the accidentally shot serial killer is suing Harry, who was only acting with the best of intentions. And just to make things worse, another victim shows up: The Concrete Blonde. Talk about bad luck…

Twisting Police Investigation… and Courtroom Drama

From here on, Connelly’s novel takes two parallel paths: in one, the grieving family’s lawyer is squeezing Harry’s balls in the courtroom, and in the other, the police investigation into the new victim unfolds.

Michael Connelly, a master of the procedural crime novel (focused on the exact police procedures), is no stranger to thrilling twists, having been a crime reporter for the Los Angeles Times for years. Both storylines are exciting and full of unexpected turns. For example, it wasn’t until page 209 that I figured out who the killer was, and Harry, a little behind, figured it out just a few pages later. Unfortunately, we were both wrong…

Harry Bosch is an experienced detective in the Los Angeles Police Department. Crime novel fans (and his furious superiors) know him not only for his peculiar methods but also for his relentless pursuit of justice. The Concrete Blonde adds an extra layer to the tension, as the morally steadfast detective begins to doubt himself. The realism (and, of course, the twists) of the courtroom events are guaranteed by Connelly’s other well-known and excellent series centered on Mickey Haller, who just so happens to be a defense attorney.

Draw the Killer in the Trap!

What slightly dampens the overall picture of The Concrete Blonde are the last 50 pages. (But of course, the ending is always the hardest part to nail in a crime novel.) The way Harry Bosch reaches the killer seems, for some reason, not to flow organically from the investigation.

On the other hand, luring the killer into a trap bears quite a resemblance to the TV show The Mentalist, which, let’s face it, is not exactly known for being the most elegant solution. But aside from that, the Harry Bosch series is still probably the best crime series you can read right now. (Especially after the Jack Reacher (see: Past Tense) and Harry Hole series (see: Knife), to put it mildly, have started to take a nosedive.)

If You Want to Read Great Crime Fiction…

In fact, not just recently but in general: for me, the American author has been an all-time favorite for over 15 years, ever since I accidentally picked up City of Bones. Connelly’s Bosch series truly belongs to that rare group of detective stories that are IMPOSSIBLE to put down.

And The Concrete Blonde even features a lovely romantic subplot carried over from the previous book.
(Harry Bosch seems to attract both complex murder cases and women with the same inevitability—as magnets attract paperclips.)

Rating: 8.5/10

The Concrete Blonde (Harry Bosch #3) by Michael Connelly
448 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2014 by Orion
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You may also like:
Holly by Stephen King
Red Queen by Juan Gómez-Jurado

The Andalucian Friend by Alexander Söderberg – Book Review

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The Andalucian Friend by Alexander Söderberg - Book Cover

If you’re expecting some intensely emotional Latin romance with a touch of heated love quarrels just from the title*, then you’re out of luck. The Andalucian Friend is actually just a simple, not very fast-paced thriller, with almost no love to be found—mathematically speaking, exactly: 0.

It gets even worse if you’re waiting for a special blend of gloomy Scandinavian crime with Mediterranean vibes. These two, it seems, completely cancel each other out. So, in the debut book of the Sophie Brinkmann Trilogy, you won’t really find much of a classic crime (whodunit) plot.

What you’ll be following instead is the power struggle between two criminal groups, along with a rather uneventful investigation of one of them by the police. And to top it off, there are just too many characters at the start, making it hard to keep track of the parallel events.

Change the bandage on my backside, sweetheart!

Another issue with The Andalucian Friend is that it’s hard to connect with the main characters, as they all seem a bit bland. Sophie Brinkmann, for instance, is far from a typical protagonist. She’s an ordinary, run-of-the-mill single mom. Söderberg completely wastes the potential MILF-factor! Sophie is jaded, indifferent, just swept along by the events happening around her.

But the most lackluster character of all is Hector Guzmán—the titular Andalucian friend. Alexander Söderberg likely envisioned the following traits when creating the title character: charismatic, intelligent, charming, and mysterious. Instead, Hector turned out to be THIS: bored, impatient, irritable—and slightly overweight.

Hector Guzmán feels like an ordinary, not-so-liked side character from a generic TV show—the kind the protagonists occasionally bump into in the stairwell and reluctantly stop to chat with about the weather.

So yeah, Söderberg probably should have put a little more effort into developing his characters…

Crime doesn’t pay!

It sure doesn’t! Not if you’re bad at it!

Hector Guzmán doesn’t seem to be very good at it. Business just isn’t going well, you see. Sure, having a rival crime syndicate and the police both trying to take you down at the same time is understandably unpleasant, but hey, that’s just the usual course of business in the criminal world. Ever since The Godfather, everyone knows how to handle these situations: bribe the cops and mow down your competitors with machine guns! No need for whining!

Something is rotten in the state of Swedenmark

In the second half of The Andalucian Friend, the focus shifts, and for some strange reason, the least likable characters take center stage. The police, too, start handling the investigation in increasingly bizarre ways, making you watch their actions with understandable suspicion: any cop who isn’t entirely mentally unhinged seems utterly unfit for the job.

Several storylines just vanish into thin air (for example, Jens, one of the best characters), and if you pay close attention, you might notice that some characters’ motivations are, to put it mildly, highly questionable. Most notably, Hector’s decisions regarding Sophie are completely inexplicable. I’m telling you, Sophie Brinkmann would definitely be better off staying in healthcare!

However, if you don’t pay closer attention, you’ll end up with just a nearly average crime novel. And if you make it to the end, you might (though not necessarily) care enough about the characters’ fates to maybe pick up the next installment.

Rating: 6.6/10

The Andalucian Friend (Sophie Brinkmann Trilogy #1) by Alexander Söderberg
464 pages, Paperback
Published May 1, 2014 by Vintage
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Review of the sequel:
The Other Son by Alexander Söderberg
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You may also like:
The Hunting Dogs by Jorn Lier Horst

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* The Andalusian Friend was published in Hungary as Andalusian Lover.

The Fifth to Die by J.D. Barker – Book Review

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The Fifth to Die (4MK Thriller #2) by J.D. Barker book review

If you were a serial killer, you definitely wouldn’t complicate your life with as many twists and turns as Ansom Bishop, the mysterious villain in The Fifth to Die. You wouldn’t plan such a tight timeline, nor would you keep your schemes so tightly packed with cursed details… Only to end up constantly checking your watch to make sure you’re not falling behind on your own plot.

And all this while, of course, you’re still a fugitive from the previous book’s crimes. I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t be keeping a diary, only for half the police force and the FBI (who you kindly send it to) to feast on it and gather USEFUL intel to use against you. But, then again, a seasoned serial killer probably knows best…

The Fifth to Die: Overwritten and Overcomplicated

In short, Barker’s book is overloaded with too many complications, too much contrived plotting, and unbelievable precise twists that are calculated down to the last centimeter, thanks to which Bishop, somehow, always stays several steps ahead of his pursuers.

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