Every now and again I have another attempt to defeat my old adversary Scandinavian Crime Fiction.
Once more I must confess I have failed. I have struggled with The Redbreast by Jo Nesbo and I've got as far as page 116. Nothing has happened yet. There has been no murder (that I am aware of). There has been no tension, apart from a short bit on pages 12 to 13. It's just page after page of not very interesting people talking and even less interesting people going about their seriously uninteresting lives. I thought I must be missing something. After all, lovely people who's opinions I trust and respect, like Karen and Maxine, like these books. I thought I'd try and read another hundred pages just in case. You know what? I cannot bring myself to even pick the book up, never mind read another 100 pages. I would rather stick pins in my eyes.
I give up. Next time I mention that I'm reading anything set slightly to the west of Russia please shoot me.
2 comments:
I have to confess I am not "as" much of a fan of these books as Karen and Norm Price. I read Redbreast and The Devil's Star, and quite enjoyed them, but felt they were overlong and the conclusions far too convoluted. The fact that they are translated out of order is a real impediment to these books, as they lose great impact and emotional punch read (necessarily) out of order.
I probably will read Nemesis but there are other Scandinavian crime fiction authors whom I've enjoyed more, Johan Theorin, for example, whose Echoes of the Dead is tremendous. If you haven't read it, I can't recommend it too highly.
However, it is certainly true that Karen and Norm (and others) are extremely keen on Nesbo.
It took me a while to get into The Redbreast. The war bits were a bit confusing with all the unusual names but I'm glad I stuck with it. I did prefer The Devil's Star which has a more traditional serial killer plot and also wraps up the arc started in The Redbreast.
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