Tag: nordic noir

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Review: The Chestnut Man

Rating: 4 Stars

The Chestnut Man by Søren Sveistrup reminds me of why I love crime thrillers more than psychological or domestic thrillers. The adrenaline rush of going after a serial killer, and learning about their motivation, is something else altogether. Police procedurals are so much more intriguing than any other kind of fiction, and Nordic thrillers are the best.

The press has given the name The Chestnut Man to a killer who is terrorizing the suburbs of Copenhagen. This killer leaves behind a chestnut doll near the victims. Theses victims have been severely tortured and have had their hands sawed off.

The police discovers a fingerprint on the chestnuts; that of a girl kidnapped and presumed dead a year ago. Her abductor is in custody, having confessed to the crime.

Naia Thulin is investigating the murders and doesn’t care much for the partner assigned to her. Europol sent mark Hess back to Copenhagen as a punishment, and he doesn’t want to stick around for too long. He is happy to let Thulin handle the case without getting too involved himself.

As dead bodies increase, so does Hess’s interest and Thulin’s determination to solve the case. However, not everyone is happy with what the two are uncovering. With little support from their own department, Thulin and Hess are in a race against time and a serial killer to save the next victim, and figure out the killer’s connection to the missing girl, the daughter of the Minister for Social Affairs, Rosa Hartung.

The story is so fast paced and interesting. Pages just fly by and before you know it, you have finished the 500 page book. There is of course, the blood and gore that has become a trademark for this genre, and it only makes things more sinister, and the odds stacked against the protagonists. The overall atmosphere is dark and gloomy, and the setting is late October and autumn, which ties in with the theme of chestnuts and dark nights.

The identity of the killer is a real surprise, and so much more satisfying than who I was thinking it was! Saying anything more would give away the story and take away all the fun. Overall, I would say that this is one book that all fans of crime and Nordic Noir should definitely read.

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Review: The Bat

Rating: 3.5 Stars

Sometimes, I’m too arrogant for my own good. Everyone told me not to start reading the Harry Hole books from the first book, because it will be boring for me. I refused to listen to them, because I’m arrogant like I mentioned above, and also because I’m a bit crazy, and not reading something from the beginning is anathema to me. Well, it took me 18 days, and I read three other books while reading it, but I finally managed to finish The Bat by Jo Nesbo. I’m so glad I decided to stick to it and not give up.

I wanted to say that the book starts off slow, but it doesn’t. I have read books with a much slower pace. It’s the story that seems so boring and fails to capture your interest in the first 100 pages of the book. I was ready to give up. There were days when I just looked at the book and didn’t want to read anything at all! I was just too stubborn to give up and have people tell me they told me so.

The book picked up speed, and my interest, after about 130 pages. Before that, the only reason I insisted on reading on, was that I had started liking the Norwegian detective, who seemed a bit unhinged. I have found a new favourite contemporary detective after Cormoran Strike! Harry Hole (pronounced Hoo-Leh) is a bit mental, thinks too much and is an alcoholic. He has a very complicated backstory, but that was perhaps the least confusing of all the stories in the book.

I can see why people think that The Bat is not the best book to introduce Harry Hole. The story itself is very cliched. A Norwegian girl is raped and murdered, and the police is trying to find the murderer. Harry’s government has sent him to help in the investigation and tie up any lose ends. If it had been a normal whodunnit, it would have been easier to read, but it is not your average crime thriller with a swashbuckling hero.

Every character in this book has a story to tell, and these stories range from stories of their life, to stories of their parents’ lives, to stories of Aboriginal legends. It becomes too much to sort through the relevance of each story to what is happening in the book. However, this was the reason I decided to stick with the book. It was interesting to relate all the stories to what was going on in the book, and it gave my mind some much needed exercise! I had my suspicions but, like Harry, I couldn’t be sure.

There was also this feeling of affront because all the female characters were only good for one thing, and that was not bartending. Then I remembered that this was written in the late 90s when macho detectives did everything themselves, and poor females were either the victims, or extremely grateful to said detectives. Still, it was good to read about a hero who has little to recommend him, is an alcoholic, and is guilty of a lot more than what his superiors are willing to admit. I just hope there are better female characters in the other books in this series.

In the end, I was glad that I had stuck by this book. It gave me an introdution to a well-loved character, who I am beginning to like. Next time however, I will take others’ advice and read the third book instead of the second one, if only to keep my sanity and to keep my reading progress on track.

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