thriller

The Greed by Scott Bergstrom – Book Review

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The Greed by Scott Bergstrom – Book Cover

Scott Bergström’s book series is celebrated as a rejuvenator of the young adult genre, although it’s highly debatable whether it can even be called young adult at all; after all, the only connection is the protagonist’s age, and even that’s mostly true only in the first book, where Gwendolyn, who certainly isn’t your typical teenager, was a 17-year-old youngster. In ” The Greed,” she’s now trampling through her 19th grim year. (And their adversaries. She tramples them too.)

The not-so-human-friendly world of espionage isn’t a common theme in YA literature either (the Alex Rider books come to mind suddenly, although they’re aimed at a much younger audience). So, this series can be enjoyed by mature teenagers and up, as it’s fundamentally entertaining.

Scott Bergström is no longer as modest when it comes to sex as he was in the first part: little Gwendolyn has become somewhat more daring; although it’s true that the momentum slows down during the romantic parts, the author fails to convincingly convey deeper emotions. Here, you really sense a bit of a taste for young adult literature, although fortunately it’s only for a few chapters.

As cliché as “The Greed” is in matters of romance, it is just as unpredictably engaging as a thriller. In the first book, Gwendolyn discovered the cruelty within herself needed to stay alive, and now she’s presenting the bill for all the suffering. After the well-developed opening chapters, she embarks on diverse adventures: hiding, fleeing, investigating her own parents’ past, a bit of reluctantly accepted hitman work, and then stiffly opposed “hospital treatment”; however, her adventures occasionally trespass into the realm of unseriousness for brief moments.

Fortunately, although Gwendolyn is at least as sharp as, say, Jane Hawk (see Dean Koontz’s “The Whispering Room“), it turns out she’s not (always) invincible. And fortunately—better late than never—Bergström also realizes that what doesn’t work (and here we mean romantic troubles) doesn’t need to be forced—even if it means traveling all the way to Budapest.

In similar novels, the good side is usually represented by Americans, but here, the faceless CIA is the antagonist—no super-secret clique or a few treacherous scoundrels; Gwendolyn and her father anger the entire company, indeed the entire glorious American nation. A more believable and tangible main antagonist wouldn’t have hurt the story.

The ending of „The Greed”, however, is too, um, bombastic, and the clumsy melodramatic final scene is just another reminder of the young adult toolkit. But at least you can guess what the title of the next book will likely be. Envy? Pride? Lust? Ummm, no, more like something related to irreconcilable vengeance.

7.7/10

The Greed (The Cruelty #2) by Scott Bergstrom
416 pages, Hardcover
Published in 2018 by Feiwel & Friends

The Other Son by Alexander Söderberg – Book Review

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The Other Son by Alexander Söderberg – Book Cover

Sophie Brinkmann enters a criminal organization as an outsider (see: The Andalucian Friend). This profession is better learned from the ground up because if you just dive into it like Pilate into the Creed, you might end up making a professional mistake. Which could result in getting shot a few times.

So, an Other Son? Moreover, a stepchild?? He’s missing from her life like a hump on her back!

But let’s hear the good news instead: Alexander Söderberg’s second installment in the series is much more action-packed than the first. First off, it lacks that somewhat dull exposition. Then, what’s good about it is that the story is entirely unpredictable; you never know which direction the plot will take. And listen, in The Other Son, you might even find yourself genuinely rooting for a character. Or more than one.

The recipe for the second volume is familiar from the previous installment: two separate groups, two separate stories, the adventures of Sophie and Hector, who is just emerging from a karmacoma (see Karmacoma on YouTube), and the police investigation, which only converge at the end of the book. And speaking of police investigation: unfortunately, the same disappointing storytelling element enters here as in the first volume: the dirty cop effect; only while it was somewhat believable there, here, it starts to approach incredibility, as the slowly going completely crazy Big Chief Tommy would be much better off laying low, because this way nobody would tie him to the crimes of the previous part.

And how did this happen?

Well, there was a need for a villain, and there you go. Of course, it could also be explained by Alexander Söderberg’s love for creating messed-up characters, especially those in law enforcement (just remember the drug-addicted sociopath and his colleagues from the prequel). In Miles’ case, you can’t quite decide what the heck he’s doing in the story; his self-discovery and romance are entirely unnecessary from the perspective of the big picture, but nevertheless, these are perhaps the most noteworthy parts of the book. And the joint investigation with his colleague didn’t turn out bad either, even though you’d initially think it would fizzle out completely because they sniff around what was the main plot of the previous volume. So, you know what they’re going to figure out, but it’s still exciting to see how they keep moving forward despite all the obstacles.

However, Sophie, the well-meaning family woman sinking into the swamp of crime, has to experience the lesson behind the proverb “If you lie down with dogs, you get up torn into tiny shreds” if there is such a proverb in Sweden. Luckily, she also gets some help in trouble, namely from the two best characters from the first installment, Jens and our favorite Russian hitman, Mikhail. And as expected, by the end of the book, even this latter experiences some character development.

Unfortunately, though, overzealous employees can be found not only on the police force: hello, Aron, we’re looking at you disapprovingly, whose role is probably the same as Tommy’s: to somewhat forcedly and clumsily push the plot forward to the next volume (see: The Good Wolf). Because of these, this installment, while not as average as the first volume, – with more twists, more enjoyable scenes added to it, – is still much more variable in quality due to quite a few questionable moves.

7/10

The Other Son (Brinkmann Trilogy #2) by Alexander Söderberg
400 pages, Hardcover
Published in 2015 by Knopf Canada

Past Tense by Lee Child – Book Review

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Past Tense by Lee Child – Book Cover

The “Past Tense” is the 23rd Reacher novel. When I stumbled upon Lee Child about 20 years ago, it was almost like a revelation. Well, maybe not that, but damn, it was good. After that, no matter how hard I tried with any other similar bestselling author, you can imagine the result. None of them came close. Not even in the ballpark. It was all mediocre crap from Linwood Barclay to Michael Robotham.

Twenty-three parts of roughly similar quality in a book series is really something. Hungarian national pride, the Leslie L. Lawrence series, became a parody of itself around the sixth installment. The first worrying signs for Lee Child started to emerge around the 20th installment. Of course, the series was always heavily coated with a kind of over-the-top feeling, which maybe isn’t bad until there’s a serious story behind it. This is missing now, for the first time, in the book titled “Past Tense.” Reacher’s attempt to turn a sleepy family tree research into a investigation turns out to be so thin that the author is forced to insert a parallel subplot with new perspective characters. The young female member of the couple is just as masterful an analyst as the major himself. However, while you can believe Reacher in this, the girl is just not convincing.

The lack of a solid crime foundation makes the familiar motifs mostly seem tiresomely contrived. The meticulous description of things that are usually mundane in investigative work can sometimes be mind-numbing. For example, the author elaborates on the structure and use of a computer mouse. Thank you very much, major, we’ve been using it daily for almost forty years! You also incredulously observe Reacher having to find out such trivial matters as where random supporting characters are going to sneak off for a little hanky-panky.

Jack Reacher, the perpetually sniffing unbeatable dispenser of justice, becomes an ordinary mortal as he handles official matters: and shows a great deal of insensitivity, such as gleefully using up poor Reverend Burke’s entire phone credit; or looking completely idiotic while demonstrating his special skill, – yes, just like Mr. Vekker – constant mental timekeeping.

To make matters worse, he routinely beats up a few disagreeable douches just like Tarzan (see Tarzan and the Leopard Men). Because, much to your regret, it slowly becomes apparent that Reacher, in fact, is a violent character who constantly abuses his physical superiority, sticking his nose into other people’s business whether they like it or not.

If you devoured the pages of the previous books, well, you won’t with “Past Tense”. This is the weakest part of the Jack Reacher series so far, and a warning sign for the sad future ahead. 🙁

6.9/10

Past Tense (Jack Reacher #23) by Lee Child
382 pages, Hardcover
Published in 2018 by Delacorte Press

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Other work(s) of the author:
Die Trying by Lee Child

Boy’s Life by Robert McCammon – Book Review

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Boy's Life by Robert McCammon - Book Cover

Well, it’s already clear from the introduction that you’re dealing with a verbose novel. But if that doesn’t scare you off too much, then everything’s okay, because the rest of “Boy’s Life” is not THAT dire. (Except for the very end: those three closing words are no small feat.)

Each chapter of the book is like a little novella. Some are better done (wasps), some less so (the UFOs), and by page 100, the story is still just at the exposition. And you’re waiting, thinking, “Okay, so what’s going to come out of this?” Then suddenly you realize that nothing special will. Then you also realize that it’s not such a huge problem; “Boy’s Life” doesn’t want to be anything more than just a boy’s and a town’s life through the former’s perspective, roughly over a year in the American South in 1964. But it’s certain that you’d be a wreck if all this happened to you in just one miserable year.

The chapters move the plot forward particularly slowly, and although some feel completely unnecessary and overwritten (Welcome, Lucifer or Get around), sometimes an event only makes sense much later – or has an impact on the characters. In short, there are also some that, besides being unnecessary and verbose, are also quite clumsy (Green-Feathered Hat).

Occasionally, the text indulges in commonplace preaching (both dream sequences).

However, the character portrayal in “Boy’s Life” is, hey, very well done; whoever emerges in the story is completely unique and memorable, and some characters are downright MAGNIFICENT, see for example, The Demon, the teenage monster, or The Lady, Vernon, or even the cosmic-paced Mr. Lightfoot, and you JUST CAN’T PUT THE BOOK DOWN because you can’t wait to meet them again. It’s rare to read a book where even the most minor character is so clearly identifiable. Also, the seemingly exceptional insight into human nature, from which the former presumably arises, is a rarity – thus, suddenly Tolstoy’s “War and Peace” or G. R. R. Martin’s “Game of Thrones” series come to mind, where the same can be observed (although in the case of the latter, the situation is made more difficult by the hundreds of bustling characters).

Robert McCammon’s book is mainly a young adult adventure novel, but not at all childish, because it speaks in the voice of a retrospective adult, with occasional glimpses of good-natured irony and mature wisdom between the lines. The text is pervaded by mystery, the typical Southern themes like racism, the supernatural world, and voodoo. But it also contains motifs of westerns and psychological drama – and of course, the crime genre, which frames the whole story, although this part is the thinnest, the most boring, and the least successful… when the parrot speaks, you immediately figure out where it’s all going.

In the infinitely sentimental (watch out, don’t cry!) and, needless to say, overly long epilogue, McCammon even sends some of the characters off in such a way that they immediately step out of their own characters (Gordo, Chile, and the poor Demon too).

And if this book has so many flaws, then why did it become such a freaking huge success?

Perhaps because “Boy’s Life” turns nostalgically to a time when family was even more defining, when the universal validity of love for each other was more pronounced. When kids were still kids and played outside, instead of sitting indoors in front of various screens, while everything slowly turning plastic around them. In the first place their stupid brains!

7.6/10

Boy’s Life by Robert McCammon
610 pages, Paperback
Published in 2008 by Gallery Books

The Whispering Room by Dean Koontz – Book Review

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The Whispering Room by Dean Koontz - Book cover

I had never read anything by Dean Koontz before, although I’ve started several of his books. Then I stopped each one after a few pages. No big deal. They were just too uninteresting. Then came the first installment of the Jane Hawk series, and I couldn’t put it down. Well, it’s as if Dean Koontz suddenly found his stride. If you’ve read it too, well, you’ve found yourself a great conspiracy thriller. And you’ve discovered that Jane is the counterpart to your role model, Jack Reacher (see Lee Child: Die Trying) – equally effective, less brutal, and much sexier. She’s just ruthless enough to keep the story believable.

A few scumbags got what they deserved in the first part, in “The Whispering Room”, and the rest will follow in the series. The plot runs on multiple threads, perhaps to avoid repetition, because let’s face it, Jane’s investigation is pretty much the same as reading the first part all over again. Which is actually not a problem. The other thread is fine too. Then the two storylines intersect at one point, and things slow down a bit, especially with the “December update” – you might raise an eyebrow at this, which seems a bit exaggerated even for a conspiracy thriller. The Dark Zone wasn’t exactly a pillar of credibility either, but it worked within its own framework. So, if you were plotting a conspiracy against USA, you’d be better off not complicating things too much and definitely not wasting valuable nano-thingamajigs on a bunch of useless average people. And you’d probably fail miserably in Jane’s rescue mission too, which is completely pointless and instantly impractical from the main mission’s perspective. Well, for you it would be. Not so much for Jane.

Fortunately, “The Whispering Room” finds its way back in the end. The final chapters are quite exciting, and before that, Bernie Riggowitz’s appearance adds some humor and compassionate goodwill to Jane’s seemingly hopeless crusade – although it’s another question whether Bernie’s amateur acting is the clumsiest scene in the book. Whatever, Bernie’s inclusion still ends up on the positive side overall.

Another thing you might notice is that Koontz’s book tries to be much more literary compared to the first part. Emphasis on the word TRIES. He mainly achieves this by placing AT LEAST two lengthy and convoluted analogies on every page, which eventually makes your eyes start to glaze over at the sight of “as if” and “like” every now and then. What’s the point anyway? Casting pearls before swine? The Jane Hawk series is still just an average thriller. Okay, a little better than that.

7.5/10

The Whispering Room (Jane Hawk #2) by Dean Koontz
528 pages, Paperback
Published in 2018 by HarperCollins Publishers Ltd

Black Water Lilies by Michel Bussi – Book Review

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Black Water Lilies by Michel Bussi - Book cover

“Three women lived in a village.
The first was mean, the second a liar, and the third an egotist.”

That’s how the prologue begins.

“The third, the youngest, was called Fanette Morelle; the second was called Stéphanie Dupain; the first, the oldest, that was me.”

And that’s how it ends.

A very clever start. It makes you curious, forcing you to read on to find out: perhaps the eldest isn’t as wicked, and the youngest isn’t as selfish. And what about Stephanie, the middle one? Admittedly, she’s a bit deceitful, but you probably wouldn’t be able to resist those lavender eyes. Another question is, Jacques, her jealous idiot of a husband would immediately thrust his hunting rifle under your nose. So, forget about her.

The blurb says that Michel Bussi’s “Black Water Lilies” is France’s most successful crime novel, which may well be true, as Monet’s name could generate a lot of publicity for it. (The story takes place in Giverny, where Monet lived and worked for 43 years.) And you end up learning quite a bit about Monet while waiting for the three storylines to converge. Maybe even more than you wanted. And the three storylines don’t really want to converge, although the old lady is entertainingly acerbic, Fanette is precocious and clever, so reading about their adventures isn’t that bad.

Stephanie’s husband is a suspect in a murder case, but the crime aspect is the thinnest part of this book, which theoretically is still a crime novel. It starts out that way, but then slowly transitions into a love drama, until it turns into melodrama towards the end. And sometimes you scratch your head because of the unnecessary detours (Monet or Sylvio’s wife) and inspector Serenac’s blunders. He’s theoretically the ace of the police force – practically, he’s a clueless guy who seems woefully unfit to lead any investigation. You don’t even understand why Lauretine, the retired cop, has been brought into the picture, whose few scenes could easily be done by Sylvio, Serenac’s hapless deputy, who would rather deserve to solve the case.

Then, in the last 60 pages, if you manage to hold out that long, which isn’t guaranteed, you realize that you’ve been thoroughly duped by Michel Bussi, as easily as pie. Especially if you’re inherently naive and gullible, like the writer of these lines, and can never guess who the killer is in advance. But even if you’re prepared for anything, you still find this trap you’ve been lured into GENIUSLY memorable. And with that, the whole novel becomes that way. (Well, memorable, not exactly genius.) And while not all the structural slip-ups are explained, you get explanations for quite a few previously not-so-well-thought-out things. And even if not all the blunders are forgiven, the rating of “Black Water Lilies” climbs up from a significantly less elegant grade to

7.2/10. (72%)

And what you absolutely didn’t expect, you get a bit of cathartic, bitter-sweet closure at the end, reminiscent of Garcia Marquez’s “Love in the Time of Cholera.” Damn, who would’ve thought?!

Well, let’s not faint from excitement.

Black Water Lilies by Michel Bussi
350 pages, Hardcover
Published in 2017 by Weidenfeld & Nicolson

The Last Mile by David Baldacci – Book Review

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The Last Mile by David Baldacci - Book Cover

Amos Decker Used to Punch Above His Weight

I bet you thought Memory Man, the first book in the Amos Decker series, was pretty great. Sure, beneath the surface it was just another run-of-the-mill crime novel—but it still stood out as something oddly gripping and refreshingly original, thanks to its 286-pound, grumpy, and socially awkward main character who remembers literally everything that has ever happened to him, down to the exact second. In The Last Mile, this oddball Amos Decker returns—a man who, on top of everything, had to avenge the murder of his own family. Now that was one hell of a start.

Especially if, like me, you once swore off David Baldacci for good, convinced he was a truly awful writer. And yet, Memory Man—I’ve got to admit—turned out to be weirdly irresistible.

Long story short: Amos caught the bastard who murdered his family—that nasty little piece of garbage—and ended up joining the FBI as an outside consultant. Just like Patrick Jane in the final season of The Mentalist.

Hey—Decker’s Starting to Lose His Mind!

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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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