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3.83 AVERAGE
3.83 AVERAGE
It's annoying to me that all the books haven't been translated and so there are gaps where you know you are missing some history.
This was not the follow up I expected after Snow White. There were so many characters it was difficult to keep them all straight. The plot itself was so obvious that I found myself getting irritated at how daft the characters were being. I mean, when your phone rings 47 times it's not someone calling to tell you the dogs need to be fed. ANSWER YOUR PHONE!
This just wasn't that fantastic. I was engaged during some of the book, but will I read the next one? Probably not.
This was not the follow up I expected after Snow White. There were so many characters it was difficult to keep them all straight. The plot itself was so obvious that I found myself getting irritated at how daft the characters were being. I mean, when your phone rings 47 times it's not someone calling to tell you the dogs need to be fed. ANSWER YOUR PHONE!
This just wasn't that fantastic. I was engaged during some of the book, but will I read the next one? Probably not.
Another great read by Nele Neuhaus!
Bodenstein and Kirchoff are called to the murder scene of a young girl pulled from the river. Three other teens, drunk and unable to remember how they got there are of no help in identifying the victim. Then a popular investigative reporter is found beaten, naked, and near dead in the trunk of her car. Was the reporter on the tail of an explosive story and did their still unidentified victim tie into that story? The detectives will soon find themselves up against a mafia who will go to any lengths to protect their secrets.
Bodenstein and Kirchoff are called to the murder scene of a young girl pulled from the river. Three other teens, drunk and unable to remember how they got there are of no help in identifying the victim. Then a popular investigative reporter is found beaten, naked, and near dead in the trunk of her car. Was the reporter on the tail of an explosive story and did their still unidentified victim tie into that story? The detectives will soon find themselves up against a mafia who will go to any lengths to protect their secrets.
The story is built up the same way as in Snow White Must Die. At the beginning we meet a man who was convicted as a pedofile and is now out from prison, fighting with his life. We meet once again the police officers; Pia Kirchhoff and Oliver von Bodenstein and their colleagues. The story starts when the body of a young girl, badly mistreated, is found in the river. Nobody seems to know who she is and the clues are none. Then a popular TV hostess is found beaten almost to death and looked into the trunk of her car. She is working on a new series of child abuse documentaries, where the culprits can be found at the highest level of society.
As usual, Neuhaus builds up a complex story. There are several story lines, not seeming to have anything in common at all, but as the story develops they come closer and closer together. Each story is a fascinating family story in itself and very well characterised. Neuhaus writes about police work as we can imagine it is. Not so much action, although there are some here for sure, but following different clues, many of which don't take them further. It is a slow process, but so exciting. Like Agatha Christies, she gives us the clues and we can make up our own mind of what is happening and has a fair chance of guessing who the culprit is. At least easier than in an Agatha Christie mystery, where the clues are not always that clear.
A highly recommended author. Can't wait to dig into another of her books.
As usual, Neuhaus builds up a complex story. There are several story lines, not seeming to have anything in common at all, but as the story develops they come closer and closer together. Each story is a fascinating family story in itself and very well characterised. Neuhaus writes about police work as we can imagine it is. Not so much action, although there are some here for sure, but following different clues, many of which don't take them further. It is a slow process, but so exciting. Like Agatha Christies, she gives us the clues and we can make up our own mind of what is happening and has a fair chance of guessing who the culprit is. At least easier than in an Agatha Christie mystery, where the clues are not always that clear.
A highly recommended author. Can't wait to dig into another of her books.
Another excellent book in the Bodenstein/Kirchhof series!
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
As a police procedural, this works well. The author does a good job of introducing the different characters and narrative shards and then piecing them all together. I enjoy books where several stories begin and then intersect in sometimes surprising ways.
There are some issues with writing and dialogue which might be due to translation, and a couple of passages where characters seem to undergo shifts in perspective or behaviour that aren't credible; there are a couple of incredibly clunky passages, such as when the main policewoman character is cozying up to her husband and their dialogue is "are you thinking what I'm thinking?" "I don't know. What are you thinking?" "I'm thinking of....sex." ARGH. Please tell me that was something witty in German that simply wouldn't translate. Hanna's relationship with her daughter is actually quite realistic and affecting, but then the daughter has a sudden moment of clarity and self-reflection that seems highly unlikely.
On the whole though, this is a good mystery.
I was provided an advance copy by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Bad Wolf will be released January 2014.
There are some issues with writing and dialogue which might be due to translation, and a couple of passages where characters seem to undergo shifts in perspective or behaviour that aren't credible; there are a couple of incredibly clunky passages, such as when the main policewoman character is cozying up to her husband and their dialogue is "are you thinking what I'm thinking?" "I don't know. What are you thinking?" "I'm thinking of....sex." ARGH. Please tell me that was something witty in German that simply wouldn't translate. Hanna's relationship with her daughter is actually quite realistic and affecting, but then the daughter has a sudden moment of clarity and self-reflection that seems highly unlikely.
On the whole though, this is a good mystery.
I was provided an advance copy by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Bad Wolf will be released January 2014.
I wasn’t sure whether to give this 5 stars.... not because the story was bad no.... it gripped me from the beginning and wouldn’t let me go... it’s the fact that the story and what it’s about is so shockingly real and terrifying that I wonder if stars is a correct form for awards ding this book more like 😱😱😱😱😱 five of these lol.
The writing was good but the subject matter was rough (child sexual abuse ring). I feel sick after having read this. Note to self--skip this subject matter in the future.
After finishing The New York Trilogy I needed something light, something I didn’t have to analyse. I picked up Big Bad Wolf because I enjoyed Snow White Must Die so much. I’m not saying that I can’t analyse a novel like this one (you can analyse every text), I just think at times some light reading is needed. Big Bad Wolf tells the story of a crime that happened on the river Main near Frankfurt. Investigators Pia Kirchhoff and Oliver von Bodenstein are back to investigate the crime, as the case progresses they find it taking them into a pit of evil and cruelty in the midst of a middle class utopia.
I am trying to make an effort to read more translated fiction; I loved Snow White Must Die which is book four in the series but only the first one to be translated into English. This is book six in the same series and I have to wonder why a publisher would publish books in such a weird order; this was a similar issue that happened with Jo Nesbø. I understand that a publisher would want to translate the novels that will sell the best but if Nele Neuhaus’ popularity continues to grow at this rate we will have another Nesbø situation.
Everything I loved about Snow White Must Die is absent in Big Bad Wolf; I think the problem is that Pia Kirchhoff and Oliver von Bodenstein are considered the main protagonists while Snow White Must Die focused more on the life of a man who served ten years for a crime he didn’t commit. That is what fascinated me but Big Bad Wolf is just another crime novel.
I’ve read so many great crime novels now that I find most of them clichéd and formulaic, Big Bad Wolf isn’t that bad but I’m looking for books that do something different and fresh with the genre. There are some decent moments in Big Bad Wolf, some unexpected twists but I wanted more. The novel is darker than most popular crime novels but keeps to the standard formula. One thing I did find difficult about this novel was the amount of view points, making it difficult at times to understand what was going on but this is an acceptable method for building suspense.
I highly recommend Snow White Must Die, if you haven’t tried some German translated crime before then this might be a good starting point. As for Big Bad Wolf, I’m disappointed with the end result but others might enjoy it more than I do. I hope Nele Neuhaus’ other novels are more like Snow White Must Die but I won’t be in a hurry to try her works again.
This review originally appeared on my blog; http://literary-exploration.com/2014/04/17/big-bad-wolf-by-nele-neuhaus/
I am trying to make an effort to read more translated fiction; I loved Snow White Must Die which is book four in the series but only the first one to be translated into English. This is book six in the same series and I have to wonder why a publisher would publish books in such a weird order; this was a similar issue that happened with Jo Nesbø. I understand that a publisher would want to translate the novels that will sell the best but if Nele Neuhaus’ popularity continues to grow at this rate we will have another Nesbø situation.
Everything I loved about Snow White Must Die is absent in Big Bad Wolf; I think the problem is that Pia Kirchhoff and Oliver von Bodenstein are considered the main protagonists while Snow White Must Die focused more on the life of a man who served ten years for a crime he didn’t commit. That is what fascinated me but Big Bad Wolf is just another crime novel.
I’ve read so many great crime novels now that I find most of them clichéd and formulaic, Big Bad Wolf isn’t that bad but I’m looking for books that do something different and fresh with the genre. There are some decent moments in Big Bad Wolf, some unexpected twists but I wanted more. The novel is darker than most popular crime novels but keeps to the standard formula. One thing I did find difficult about this novel was the amount of view points, making it difficult at times to understand what was going on but this is an acceptable method for building suspense.
I highly recommend Snow White Must Die, if you haven’t tried some German translated crime before then this might be a good starting point. As for Big Bad Wolf, I’m disappointed with the end result but others might enjoy it more than I do. I hope Nele Neuhaus’ other novels are more like Snow White Must Die but I won’t be in a hurry to try her works again.
This review originally appeared on my blog; http://literary-exploration.com/2014/04/17/big-bad-wolf-by-nele-neuhaus/