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teekraenzchen's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
adrianjd's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Really enjoying this series. One more to go and hope there are more beyond that. Just a little different in style to other Nordic noir. I am even growing to like Esko
nina_rod's review against another edition
4.0
I had no idea where this book was going. Too many things were going on that I just couldn’t make sense of it. I didn’t even try to think about who the killer or killers were. Three deaths in the same apartment building: An old man who asked his lower apartment neighbor to turn down the music, a frail old lady, and a young junkie. Somehow a gang dealing drugs is involved, a homeless illegal living on the streets, and recent immigrants to Finland.
I’m still waiting to like Anna Fekete, the Hungarian immigrant to Finland, who came after her old country of Yugoslavia broke apart. She must have some demons she’s dealing with. I expect it will come in the next book. She is unlikeable and makes terrible life choices and I don’t know why. Get your shit together. Her partner, Esko is also unlikeable. I would like some of their coworkers, but their characters aren’t developed.
I’m still waiting to like Anna Fekete, the Hungarian immigrant to Finland, who came after her old country of Yugoslavia broke apart. She must have some demons she’s dealing with. I expect it will come in the next book. She is unlikeable and makes terrible life choices and I don’t know why. Get your shit together. Her partner, Esko is also unlikeable. I would like some of their coworkers, but their characters aren’t developed.
tessisreading2's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting book; Anna's not very endearing, but she's not really meant to be - she drinks too much, gets into arguments, has an ongoing affair with a married friend (whose wife was a friend also), and makes eyes at a married colleague. I did find her yearning for Serbia both interesting and unconvincing at the same time; we're never really given a reason for why she hasn't gone back to Serbia permanently given her dislike for Finland, and her memories of Serbia and feelings about Serbia are so Hungarian-specific that they don't feel real to me. We're told that Anna lost an older brother to ethnic violence in Serbia but those divisions don't seem to occupy any emotional space in her psyche, which feels weird given that her Hungarianness and Serbianness and semi-statelessness do occupy a huge amount of emotional space in her psyche.
kpbooks's review against another edition
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
kgraham10's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting characters -- Anna and Esko. While I enjoyed reading about their lives, the mystery was not well developed or plotted.
chrispyschaller's review against another edition
3.0
Steady character development from Fekete Anna and friends, but the mystery is almost too cheaply upended with a twist.
thebooktrail88's review against another edition
4.0
Finland has many different sides to it that most of us will never see….
Visit the locations in the book: Defenceless booktrail
Who would have thought that one apartment building in the centre of a Finnish city could be so ‘varied’? A microcosm of so many nationalities, society problems and a haven of the city’s underbelly.
The issues which result from this apartment, from this city are made up of various issues which live side by side in this cramped and cold world. Issues such as cultural dislocation – where a person is forced to leave their entire world, their life and some part of their identity behind in order to start a new life, to escape religious or some other kind of persecution.
This is a crime novel with a difference. Not your typical Nordic Noir as it is much more multilayered and complex which elevates it to a whole new level. The characters and setting from the Hummingbird are back but this is a whole new meaning of the word ‘ underbelly’
Anna is a fascinating character. Where does she fit it and how can she settle in Finland when her own identity and that of her country keeps changing. Even the name of the country continues to change. Such a background gives her empathy and understanding but a whole other set of problems which I found very interesting. Just how do you work to help people like Sammy and solve crimes when your own story is just as tangled?
The problems faced by Finland are of course problems which cross borders and these are all very topical subjects at the moment which makes this novel particularly timely.
Anna has some tough issues to deal with – alcohol being one of the most confused – for her own brother returns to Hungary and her role of helping Gabriella and Sammy are fraught with conflict.
Immigrants and drug gangs, not to mention the cold and biting weather makes for one heck of a backdrop to a complex and ultimately satisfying read.
Visit the locations in the book: Defenceless booktrail
Who would have thought that one apartment building in the centre of a Finnish city could be so ‘varied’? A microcosm of so many nationalities, society problems and a haven of the city’s underbelly.
The issues which result from this apartment, from this city are made up of various issues which live side by side in this cramped and cold world. Issues such as cultural dislocation – where a person is forced to leave their entire world, their life and some part of their identity behind in order to start a new life, to escape religious or some other kind of persecution.
This is a crime novel with a difference. Not your typical Nordic Noir as it is much more multilayered and complex which elevates it to a whole new level. The characters and setting from the Hummingbird are back but this is a whole new meaning of the word ‘ underbelly’
Anna is a fascinating character. Where does she fit it and how can she settle in Finland when her own identity and that of her country keeps changing. Even the name of the country continues to change. Such a background gives her empathy and understanding but a whole other set of problems which I found very interesting. Just how do you work to help people like Sammy and solve crimes when your own story is just as tangled?
The problems faced by Finland are of course problems which cross borders and these are all very topical subjects at the moment which makes this novel particularly timely.
Anna has some tough issues to deal with – alcohol being one of the most confused – for her own brother returns to Hungary and her role of helping Gabriella and Sammy are fraught with conflict.
Immigrants and drug gangs, not to mention the cold and biting weather makes for one heck of a backdrop to a complex and ultimately satisfying read.
catwithbooks's review against another edition
2.0
Anna Feketes neuer Fall stellt sich als äußerst verzwickt da. Ein alter Mann stirbt bei einem Autounfall, aber wie er auf die Fahrbahn gelangt ist weiss keiner. Auch wird er nicht vermisst oder hat Papiere bei sich. Es folgt dann noch der Tod eines drogenabhängigen Dealers. Und im Wald finden Kinder einen blutigen Schauplatz, aber es gibt keine Leiche. Dann gibt es noch Sammy ein Flüchtling aus Pakistan und den Club Black Cobra, die sich versuchen ihre Geschäfte zu machen. Lauter lose Enden, die Anna und ihre Kollegen zu einer Lösung finden müssen.
Band zwei ist um einiges schwächer als Kolibri. An sich finde ich es gut wenn man etwas Privatleben von seinen Charakteren mitbekommt, doch diesmal habe ich das Gefühl dass zwei Drittel des Buches davon handeln und die Fälle eher Nebenschauplatz sind. Die vielen verschiedenen Erzählstränge sind Anfangs sehr undurchsichtig und es dauert bis sich alles fügt. Mit dem Flüchtlingsthema, hat die Autorin ein sehr aktuelles Thema mit eingefügt. Doch leider empfinde ich Flüchtlinge als sehr Klischeehaft dargestellt, was ich sehr schade finde.
Für einen Thriller fehlt eindeutig etwas an Spannung was ich sehr schade fand.
Sprach- und Schreibstil haben mir wie im ersten Teil gefallen. Nicht zu lasche Beschreibungen und Angaben haben wenigsten eine ordentliche Bildhaftigkeit wieder gegeben.
Leider nicht so gut wie Band 1.
Band zwei ist um einiges schwächer als Kolibri. An sich finde ich es gut wenn man etwas Privatleben von seinen Charakteren mitbekommt, doch diesmal habe ich das Gefühl dass zwei Drittel des Buches davon handeln und die Fälle eher Nebenschauplatz sind. Die vielen verschiedenen Erzählstränge sind Anfangs sehr undurchsichtig und es dauert bis sich alles fügt. Mit dem Flüchtlingsthema, hat die Autorin ein sehr aktuelles Thema mit eingefügt. Doch leider empfinde ich Flüchtlinge als sehr Klischeehaft dargestellt, was ich sehr schade finde.
Für einen Thriller fehlt eindeutig etwas an Spannung was ich sehr schade fand.
Sprach- und Schreibstil haben mir wie im ersten Teil gefallen. Nicht zu lasche Beschreibungen und Angaben haben wenigsten eine ordentliche Bildhaftigkeit wieder gegeben.
Leider nicht so gut wie Band 1.
bucherca49's review against another edition
4.0
I like the way the author engages with social problems without sounding pedantic and without taking away from the plot. The characters are interesting, if not always likeable. Anna Fekete is a complex and interesting character, an immigrant who speaks flawless Finnish, but who is caught between the country where she was born and the country in which she has lived since she was a young child.