Reviews

Last Will by Liza Marklund

carrington's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

• Strong character development? No

2.0

I’ve read another book of Marklund’s before in this same series and I remember it fondly, which is why I was surprised that this one felt so lackluster. I felt neither engaged by plot nor character. In fact, the character pieces/plot felt so background, added in just to say it was there rather than to inform decisions the characters made in regards to the mystery at hand. To its credit, it does pick up in the last 200 pages, which makes me question what the first 300 pages were even for. A cool premise for sure, but felt it didn’t do anything particularly original in the Nordic Noir or general mystery space. 

tt569's review against another edition

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.25

juniperusxx's review against another edition

3.0

Vähän häiritsi, että olen lukenut sarjaa väärässä järjestyksessä ja toisaalta se, että useimmat Annika Bengtzon -dekkarit luin jo useita vuosia sitten. Tähän osaan toi omaa mukavaa lisämakuaan se, että kirjassa kerrottiin paljon faktatietoa Alfred Nobelista ja Nobel-palkinnoista. Ajankohtaiseksi kirja tuli myös sen kautta, että siinä kehiteltiin rokotetta vakavaa virusta vastaan - koronaa ei kuitenkaan osattu pelätä vielä julkaisuvuonna 2006.

nonna7's review against another edition

4.0

It's a cold and nasty winter in Sweden when a member of the Nobel committee is gunned down. Reporter Annika Bengtzon is there to report the story. However, for a very short time she actually sees the killer. The killer, a murder for hire specialist, who goes by the name of "Kitten," makes mistakes she hasn't made before including losing her shoe which has her fingerprints on it. Annika is unable to write about what she saw due to a Swedish "disclosure" law. Meanwhile, her marriage is falling apart. The only bright spot in her life is that she will soon be collecting the reward for some money she found the year before. However, in the meantime, she finds herself in the middle of a story that goes back to Alfred Nobel himself. This isn't the kind of book I usually like, but it is so well-written and interesting that I was swept up. It's the sixth in the series featuring Annika. So one of these days I guess I'm going to have to go back and read the others. Yet another author to follow! Could be worse!

a_h_haga's review against another edition

3.0

I've had mixed feelings with the Annika Bentzon-books.
They are good, no doubt, but they are filled with so much.
The puzzels are big and old and delliberate.

I love it, but it can be tiering, its not books I read to relax.

''Nobels Testamente'' is the 6 book about Annika, and I've read all the others.
This one was different from the others, but I cant say how.
Annika is really trying to bring her life back in order, and, contrary to the previous books, she seems like a normal human being - at least as normal as you can be with her story.
Also, I liked the fact that her personal problems were made bigger. That not everything had to do with the case, and the fact that she didn't poke her nose into it as much as she normally does.

Og the six books I've read so far, this one was the one closest to ''reality'',

majskis's review against another edition

4.0

This was really different than what I normally read, it was in swedish, firstly, adult, contemporary crime, and also set in a culture I am familiar with and can understand.
Because even though I am extremely in tune with american culture and social norms, living with an american dominated internet and having read MANY american authors and books, there is no familiarity or sense of home. This had that, which definitely was nice.

raven88's review against another edition

3.0

Intrepid journalist Annika Bengtzon is back in the latest crime thriller by Swedish author Liza Marklund set in and around the world of medical academia and Nobel Prize selection. Annika not only finds herself witness to a shooting at the Nobel Prizewinner’s dinner but finds herself professionally ostracized from her job at the Evening Post unable to report on the events she has witnessed and placed on enforced leave. Needless to say Annika persists with her enquiries and as the body count rises finds herself embroiled in a plot amongst the higher echelons of the world of medical academia that leads to threats against her own life and that of her family.

With an incredibly multi-stranded story line I thoroughly enjoyed the depth of research that Marklund brings to this book in the realm of medical science and the intense rivalries and secrecy that exist amongst this group of elite scientific professionals and gratifying that there was such a good representation of women amongst this elite group. Throughout the course of the novel much is learnt about scientific investigations into diseases that continually defy cure such as MS, dementia and so on and Marklund effortlessly weaves what could be quite dense scientific jargon into easily understood and fascinating detail. She also sheds light on the whole convoluted process of selection for the accolade of the Nobel Prize and there is an incredibly interesting subplot centred around the life and scandals of Alfred Nobel’s life that is central to the main plot and the motivations of both victims and murderer.

Likewise we have a greater depth of characterisation of Annika who once again is juggling the demands of family and career but who is encountering extra personal stress carrying the knowledge of her husband’s infidelity, the problems that her young son is encountering at the hands of bullies and their move out of the city next door to a frankly deranged neighbour.There is also an intriguing ‘will she won’t she’ situation with the temptation of the gorgeous reporter Bosse who drifts in and out of the plot tempting our erstwhile heroine. Annika has much to deal with…

Marklund once again proves her credentials amongst the Scandinavian crime posse presenting the reader with not only a perfectly researched and gripping plot line where much can be learnt about a subject not normally addressed in the crime genre, but fuelling the plot with her wonderfully observed characters intermingling the constraints and challenges for Annika in balancing the demands of her job with her emotional life and the danger that this places her in. An excellent read.

tau's review

2.0

The male characters were either hysterical, insane, or Figures of Authority. Oh, or sexy. The misandry runs strong in this one. I've no idea why Annika would want to have a relationship with any man considering they're like a mentally deficient sub-species in this universe.

If there'd been one more paragraph about leaving the kids at pre-school I'd have screamed. Or thrown the book at the wall. So many words about the kids, and not a single one that described a loving relationship. The only time she wasn't complaining about the kids was when they were asleep or needed a hug.

Annika's best friend is a narcissistic leech. I summation, the main character in this book do not have a single worthwhile relationship to another human, including her husband and kids.

The criminal plot was pretty decent though. I also really liked the sections about Nobel.