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3.35 AVERAGE
3.35 AVERAGE
I’ve been trying to scrub Woman of the Dead, by Bernhard Aichner, out of my head since I finished reading it earlier this evening. I’ve read some disturbing books in my time, but Woman of the Dead commits the crime of being disturbing and poorly written. I think I only finished it because it was so short I got to the end before I expected it...
Read the rest of my review at A Bookish Type. I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley for review consideration.
Read the rest of my review at A Bookish Type. I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley for review consideration.
"Kill Bill" meets "Dexter"
Vorweg: Das Hörbuch wurde großartig gelesen von Christian Berkel, der dem Roman Tiefgang und Atmosphäre verliehen hat.
Warum ein Mann diese sehr intime Geschichte einer Frau liest?
Ja, genau da kommen wir aus meiner Sicht zum Knackpunkt, denn: Der Autor Bernhard Aichner hat einen dermaßen markanten Stil in diesem Buch (gewählt), dass man ihn als Autor aus jeder Zeile heraushört/-liest.
Es ist eine Art "Altherren"-Erzählstimme, bei der man einige Zeit braucht, um überhaupt in den Erzählstil reinzufinden. Das liegt zum einen daran, dass er sich (gewollt) ständig wiederholt, und eben zum anderen daran, dass man als Hörerin sofort merkt, dass hier ein Mann über die Gefühlswelt einer Frau schreibt bzw. zu schreiben versucht. Ich schätze, die Grundidee von Aichner wird "Kill Bill" meets "Dexter" gewesen sein.
Es geht um eine Frau, Bestatterin von Beruf, deren Mann bei einem Verkehrsunfall ums Leben kommt. Oder war es gar kein Unfall, sondern hatte mit seinem letzten Fall zu tun? Bei der Recherche stößt die Frau auf Schreckliches - und zieht auf ihren ganz eigenen Rachefeldzug; immer bemüht, keine Spuren zu hinterlassen, um für ihre Kinder eine Mutter bleiben zu können anstatt hinter Gitter zu wandern.
Wie man annehmen kann, ist die Hauptperson also eine taffe, abgebrühte Frau. Die Rolle der wahnsinnig verliebten Ehefrau und Mutter hingegen konnte ich ihr nicht ganz abkaufen. Ich fand auch, dass während des Rachefeldzugs so einige Scherben zu Bruch gingen, die einfach in Wirklichkeit im Leben nicht mehr gekittet hätten werden können. Sprich: Wäre alles mit rechten Dingen zugegangen, wäre die Dame schon fünfmal aufgeflogen und im Knast gelandet. Ich hatte das Gefühl, der Autor tobt sich bei den Racheszenen ordentlich aus, opfert diesen zuliebe jedoch die logische Komponente. Dies äußerte sich auch in der megaschnell abgehandelten Tätersuche (5 Männer insgesamt), die die Protagonistin als Privatperson ohne fremde Hilfe sehr schnell und durch etliche Zufälle begünstigt enttarnt, obwohl sie ursprünglich nur wenige Anhaltspunkte hat und schon gar keine Namen kennt.
Wer also Lust auf eine so richtig schwarze Geschichte mit literarisch hochwertigem Erzählstil hat und dafür einige Logiklöcher zu ignorieren gewillt ist, ist mit "Totenfrau" bestens bedient.
Vorweg: Das Hörbuch wurde großartig gelesen von Christian Berkel, der dem Roman Tiefgang und Atmosphäre verliehen hat.
Warum ein Mann diese sehr intime Geschichte einer Frau liest?
Ja, genau da kommen wir aus meiner Sicht zum Knackpunkt, denn: Der Autor Bernhard Aichner hat einen dermaßen markanten Stil in diesem Buch (gewählt), dass man ihn als Autor aus jeder Zeile heraushört/-liest.
Es ist eine Art "Altherren"-Erzählstimme, bei der man einige Zeit braucht, um überhaupt in den Erzählstil reinzufinden. Das liegt zum einen daran, dass er sich (gewollt) ständig wiederholt, und eben zum anderen daran, dass man als Hörerin sofort merkt, dass hier ein Mann über die Gefühlswelt einer Frau schreibt bzw. zu schreiben versucht. Ich schätze, die Grundidee von Aichner wird "Kill Bill" meets "Dexter" gewesen sein.
Es geht um eine Frau, Bestatterin von Beruf, deren Mann bei einem Verkehrsunfall ums Leben kommt. Oder war es gar kein Unfall, sondern hatte mit seinem letzten Fall zu tun? Bei der Recherche stößt die Frau auf Schreckliches - und zieht auf ihren ganz eigenen Rachefeldzug; immer bemüht, keine Spuren zu hinterlassen, um für ihre Kinder eine Mutter bleiben zu können anstatt hinter Gitter zu wandern.
Wie man annehmen kann, ist die Hauptperson also eine taffe, abgebrühte Frau. Die Rolle der wahnsinnig verliebten Ehefrau und Mutter hingegen konnte ich ihr nicht ganz abkaufen. Ich fand auch, dass während des Rachefeldzugs so einige Scherben zu Bruch gingen, die einfach in Wirklichkeit im Leben nicht mehr gekittet hätten werden können. Sprich: Wäre alles mit rechten Dingen zugegangen, wäre die Dame schon fünfmal aufgeflogen und im Knast gelandet. Ich hatte das Gefühl, der Autor tobt sich bei den Racheszenen ordentlich aus, opfert diesen zuliebe jedoch die logische Komponente. Dies äußerte sich auch in der megaschnell abgehandelten Tätersuche (5 Männer insgesamt), die die Protagonistin als Privatperson ohne fremde Hilfe sehr schnell und durch etliche Zufälle begünstigt enttarnt, obwohl sie ursprünglich nur wenige Anhaltspunkte hat und schon gar keine Namen kennt.
Wer also Lust auf eine so richtig schwarze Geschichte mit literarisch hochwertigem Erzählstil hat und dafür einige Logiklöcher zu ignorieren gewillt ist, ist mit "Totenfrau" bestens bedient.
I received a copy of Woman of the Dead through Goodreads Firstreads.
I really enjoyed Woman of the Dead. Once again it is the first time I've read this type of thriller/mystery and I can definitely say I will read more of them. I haven't watched/read any of the shows/films/books that Woman of the Dead has been compared (yet) to so I've no idea if they are great comparisons. Though I have a gut feeling that they may be quite similar.
The events of Woman of the Dead are told in the third person point of view following the character Blum. You are with Blum the whole time as she figures out who each of the men are. Therefore, we don't really get to much insight into what the other characters are thinking and this adds to the mystery. I also felt that the twists to the story added to it's unpredictable nature and I was completely taken by surprise when the identity of the final man was revealed. The conclusion was definitely climatic and everything tied together nicely. I was sitting on the edge of my seat as I read.
The chapters were also quite short - around 4 to six pages but some as short as 2 pages. This gave the illusion that it was fast paced yet still included great descriptions. Woman of the Dead was also a fairly easy read as the language used was quite basic and easily understood. This is probably due to the translation of the story from German.
I also had an odd experience with the character Blum. I really liked her yet she was a complete and utter psycho. Her secret, which is actually revealed in the prologue, is something I found really shocking. And her revenge is just so gruesome (and brilliantly described). Her job as an undertaker also provides her with the resources to commit the perfect act of revenge in quite a terrifying manner. Yet it is clear that Blum has so much love for her husband, Mark, and children, Uma and Nela. She is devastated when Mark is killed and is almost comatose in the days following his death. It is clear that Blum has amazing support behind her during this tough time, especially from her father-in-law, Karl, who helps take care of the children despite his old age and her assistant, Reza, who keeps her business running whilst she grieves.
I would definitely recommend Woman of the Dead. Particularly to those who love a good thriller/mystery.
I really enjoyed Woman of the Dead. Once again it is the first time I've read this type of thriller/mystery and I can definitely say I will read more of them. I haven't watched/read any of the shows/films/books that Woman of the Dead has been compared (yet) to so I've no idea if they are great comparisons. Though I have a gut feeling that they may be quite similar.
The events of Woman of the Dead are told in the third person point of view following the character Blum. You are with Blum the whole time as she figures out who each of the men are. Therefore, we don't really get to much insight into what the other characters are thinking and this adds to the mystery. I also felt that the twists to the story added to it's unpredictable nature and I was completely taken by surprise when the identity of the final man was revealed. The conclusion was definitely climatic and everything tied together nicely. I was sitting on the edge of my seat as I read.
The chapters were also quite short - around 4 to six pages but some as short as 2 pages. This gave the illusion that it was fast paced yet still included great descriptions. Woman of the Dead was also a fairly easy read as the language used was quite basic and easily understood. This is probably due to the translation of the story from German.
I also had an odd experience with the character Blum. I really liked her yet she was a complete and utter psycho. Her secret, which is actually revealed in the prologue, is something I found really shocking. And her revenge is just so gruesome (and brilliantly described). Her job as an undertaker also provides her with the resources to commit the perfect act of revenge in quite a terrifying manner. Yet it is clear that Blum has so much love for her husband, Mark, and children, Uma and Nela. She is devastated when Mark is killed and is almost comatose in the days following his death. It is clear that Blum has amazing support behind her during this tough time, especially from her father-in-law, Karl, who helps take care of the children despite his old age and her assistant, Reza, who keeps her business running whilst she grieves.
I would definitely recommend Woman of the Dead. Particularly to those who love a good thriller/mystery.
Seit Jahren wollen meine Mitmenschen, dass ich dieses Buch lese. Meine Eltern, die große Fans des Autoren sind, meine Studienkolleginnen und zuletzt meine Nachbarin. Sie hat mir den ersten Band der Reihe geliehen, den Rest haben meine Eltern selbst im Regal stehen.
Ich weiß noch genau, wie meine Mutter dieses Buch zum ersten Mal gelesen hat. Da war ich fünfzehn, es war ein sehr heißer Sommer, wir verbrachten ein paar Tage bei meiner Großmutter in Oberösterreich und durften uns ausnahmsweise Bücher aus der Dorfbücherei mitnehmen - obwohl wir keinen Ausweis hatten. Meine Mutter holte sich die "Totenfrau" und war schon von den ersten Seiten schockiert! "Die hat ihre Eltern getötet!", erklärte sie mir. Die war total baff! Die nächsten Tage legte sie dieses Buch nicht mehr aus der Hand.
Ich fand die "Totenfrau" ebenfalls spannend. Es geht um die Bestatterin Brünhilde Blum (sehr schöne Alliteration!). Ihr Mann starb bei einem Unfall mit Fahrerflucht. Doch war das wirklich nur Pech? Mit dieser Erklärung kann und will Blum sich nicht zufriedengeben. Deswegen beginnt sie nachzuforschen - und aufzuräumen. Blum wirkte auf mich kalt, berechnend und distanziert. Das war zu Beginn gewöhnungsbedürftig, später fand ich das aber passend.
Auch mit dem Schreibstil musste ich erst warm werden. Der ist recht abgehackt. Die meisten Sätze sind sehr kurz, was auf mich rastlos wirkte und gut zu Blum passt. Nicht gewöhnen konnte ich mich an die Dialoge. Das wirkte auf mich wie in ein Theaterskript ohne Regieanweisungen und ohne Angabe des Sprechers. Oft war das kein Problem, manchmal kam ich aber doch ins Straucheln.
Sehr cool fand ich, dass diese Geschichte in Tirol spielt. Es hat mir gefallen, dass ich die Orte der Handlung kannte. Ich wohne selbst in Tirol und gerade in Innsbruck habe ich in den letzten Jahren viel Zeit verbracht. Sobald der Autor einen Ort nannte, hatte ich sofort ein Bild im Kopf.
Mein Fazit? Ich habe gebraucht, um in das Buch hineinzufinden - danach fand ich es spannend.
Ich weiß noch genau, wie meine Mutter dieses Buch zum ersten Mal gelesen hat. Da war ich fünfzehn, es war ein sehr heißer Sommer, wir verbrachten ein paar Tage bei meiner Großmutter in Oberösterreich und durften uns ausnahmsweise Bücher aus der Dorfbücherei mitnehmen - obwohl wir keinen Ausweis hatten. Meine Mutter holte sich die "Totenfrau" und war schon von den ersten Seiten schockiert! "Die hat ihre Eltern getötet!", erklärte sie mir. Die war total baff! Die nächsten Tage legte sie dieses Buch nicht mehr aus der Hand.
Ich fand die "Totenfrau" ebenfalls spannend. Es geht um die Bestatterin Brünhilde Blum (sehr schöne Alliteration!). Ihr Mann starb bei einem Unfall mit Fahrerflucht. Doch war das wirklich nur Pech? Mit dieser Erklärung kann und will Blum sich nicht zufriedengeben. Deswegen beginnt sie nachzuforschen - und aufzuräumen. Blum wirkte auf mich kalt, berechnend und distanziert. Das war zu Beginn gewöhnungsbedürftig, später fand ich das aber passend.
Auch mit dem Schreibstil musste ich erst warm werden. Der ist recht abgehackt. Die meisten Sätze sind sehr kurz, was auf mich rastlos wirkte und gut zu Blum passt. Nicht gewöhnen konnte ich mich an die Dialoge. Das wirkte auf mich wie in ein Theaterskript ohne Regieanweisungen und ohne Angabe des Sprechers. Oft war das kein Problem, manchmal kam ich aber doch ins Straucheln.
Sehr cool fand ich, dass diese Geschichte in Tirol spielt. Es hat mir gefallen, dass ich die Orte der Handlung kannte. Ich wohne selbst in Tirol und gerade in Innsbruck habe ich in den letzten Jahren viel Zeit verbracht. Sobald der Autor einen Ort nannte, hatte ich sofort ein Bild im Kopf.
Mein Fazit? Ich habe gebraucht, um in das Buch hineinzufinden - danach fand ich es spannend.
pre mna to bola lyrizovana detektivka, ktora to stavila na trhane veci, pocity, vnemy bez nejakeho vacsieho opisu ci dramy. hoci hned prva kapitola mi prisla dost dobra, natienila, aka vie byt hlavna hrdinka. a potom sa to pre mna pokazilo. a tie rozhovory, kde kazda strana vie pouzit len jednu vetu aj to nerozvitu ma velmi nebavili. mohlo to vyzerat mozno dramaticku, drsno, ale mne to vadilo
I didn’t think I’m really into antiheroes much but very early this year, I was completely taken by surprise by how much I love Candice Fox’s Eden Archer M(Archer & Bennett). I rated these 2 books 5 stars (I don’t give very many 5-stars ratings) so I had pretty high expectation for Woman of the Dead. This is a very different book though quite good on its own merit.
The story opens with a very chilling prologue –which I adored (call me crazy, if you like) but the main story takes place 8 years after this prologue. And things could not have been more different; the readers are greeted with a happy domestic scene. This, of course, did not last for more than a few minutes. The pain & grief that followed felt very real and so were utterly raw. The rest of the book alternated between feeling numbed and deepest anguish.
Brunhilde Blum doesn’t kick ass. She is not an experienced sleuth. She is not a trained assassin. She is an undertaker. She lashed out from fear and for revenge. Her actions were not fully thought out / planned; in fact, some of them were near disastrous that it’s almost hilarious. With a high dose of good luck and some help from her assistant, she forged ahead to make sure the world is a safer place for her daughters.
Whilst I sympathise with Blum, she doesn’t particularly trigger any strong emotion from me and I don’t find myself cheering for her. There were, however, quite a number of factors I like in Woman of the Dead: the raw description of grief, the twists, and the prologue & epilogue. This appears to be the first book in a trilogy so I would be very interested in the next instalment to see how she develops.
Thanks Hachette Australia via The Reading Room for copy of book in exchange of honest review
The story opens with a very chilling prologue –which I adored (call me crazy, if you like) but the main story takes place 8 years after this prologue. And things could not have been more different; the readers are greeted with a happy domestic scene. This, of course, did not last for more than a few minutes. The pain & grief that followed felt very real and so were utterly raw. The rest of the book alternated between feeling numbed and deepest anguish.
Brunhilde Blum doesn’t kick ass. She is not an experienced sleuth. She is not a trained assassin. She is an undertaker. She lashed out from fear and for revenge. Her actions were not fully thought out / planned; in fact, some of them were near disastrous that it’s almost hilarious. With a high dose of good luck and some help from her assistant, she forged ahead to make sure the world is a safer place for her daughters.
Whilst I sympathise with Blum, she doesn’t particularly trigger any strong emotion from me and I don’t find myself cheering for her. There were, however, quite a number of factors I like in Woman of the Dead: the raw description of grief, the twists, and the prologue & epilogue. This appears to be the first book in a trilogy so I would be very interested in the next instalment to see how she develops.
Thanks Hachette Australia via The Reading Room for copy of book in exchange of honest review
Bernhard Eichner, a German writer, tried to do something different in writing a thriller/mystery in which the protagonist is a woman. The translation is well done by Anthea Bell, but the writing is nothing special and Blum, mother of 2, is actually quite a horrible person despite her undertaking to find the person or persons who traffic in women and murderer them if it is more convenient. From the beginning one does not like Blum. If this is what Eichner intended, he succeeded, but it is not a book I could like nor recommend.
Billed as a tantalising combination of Dexter, Kill Bill and The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, here for your delectation and delight, is another highly enjoyable slice of European crime fiction. Focussing on the character of Blum, the widowed mother of two young daughters, and the owner of a funeral home, The Woman of the Dead, is a singularly intriguing thriller, that opens with an extremely unsettling scene eight years previously, and then transporting us to the present to a scene of domestic bliss. This picture of homely comfort- a mother, father and two young daughters- is then forcibly shattered when Blum’s police officer husband, Mark, is killed on the road outside of their home, in an apparent hit-and-run. Fighting against the tidal wave of loss this produces, Blum discovers through a series of her husband’s recordings of an interview with a young immigrant woman, that his death is inextricably linked to his investigation into this young woman’s experiences as a formerly imprisoned sex slave. What Blum further discovers is that the men who are guilty of this abuse are notable figures in the local community, and with revenge boiling hard in her veins, Blum seeks to track down this woman, and exact revenge on her abusers, and her husband’s killer. Blum’s role as the avenging angel is clear to see, but what of her own murky past and the secrets she carries within? It was gratifying to see that Aichner had spent six months as an undertaker’s assistant to add credence to the more visceral details of the story, as there is a wonderfully sensitive handling of the everyday business of Blum’s handling of the dead. This sensitivity is beautifully balanced with Blum’s one woman bloody mission to track down and punish her husband’s killer or killers, where her retribution is swift and uncompromising. This is a brutal, and unrelenting read, peppered with vivid scenes of violent that by turns shock and jolt the reader, and with the added frisson of many of these being committed by a woman, the shock value intensifies. Despite the more graphic details (which some readers may struggle with) I was not unduly disturbed by them, and found the balance between Blum’s family life and professional standing, was perfectly weighted with this completely opposite picture we get of her. She is a completely intriguing character, encompassing a blend of strong morality which is then shaken by the slowly revealed less savoury aspects of her past, giving the reader a multi-faceted woman, who will challenge your empathy, as your opinion of her will undoubtedly change and change again as the book progresses. As I have said Aichner pulls no punches where the subject of sexual and physical violence arises, and this merely compounded for me his wider comment on the subject of sex-trafficking and abuse that young women immigrants can encounter in their search for a better life. The fact that Blum as a woman, later aided by Reza an employee at the funeral home, who himself has a back story of violence and immigration, adds a karma-like feel to their pursuit of the guilty, compounding the intensity of Aichner’s sociological observations on the plight of immigrants throughout Europe. It’s a strong message, strongly delivered, of the damaging effects, and the all too common danger and violence that these protagonists encounter, adding again to the power and intensity of the book. Likewise, the simple and dispassionate feel to Aichner’s prose, heightens the emotionally intense and claustrophobic feel to the novel. Perhaps a nod to the translator Anthea Bell is warranted here for the exact and compelling translation that fuels this intensity throughout. I am a huge fan of spare, pared down prose and curtailed dialogue, more commonly observed in American crime fiction, and so this was a eminently satisfying style for me. Overall, this was a brave, unsettling, but hugely compelling crime thriller that I can’t recommend highly enough if you are of stout heart and stomach. European crime fiction at its best.
I’m always on the lookout for crime and thriller books with a difference. Jaded detectives and the good girl/boy gone bad don’t quite work for me anymore unless they have a huge twist. I like my main characters to be a bit quirky and interesting. I couldn’t have asked for anyone better to fit that description than the main character of Bernhard Aichner’s Woman of the Dead, Blum (never Brunhilde).
Blum opens the story with a bang as she sunbakes nude on her family’s boat. Except they’re not really her family, but her adoptive parents and they have never shown her real love. Blum was brought into the family to work the funeral business since she was a young child. Now Blum is all grown up and her first mission – kill her parents by letting them drown. Here the reader sees the Blum’s calculating side for the first time. Fast forward several years and Blum is now a happy mother to two girls and married to Mark, a policeman. All is wonderful, glorious in fact, until Mark is killed in a hit and run accident. Then Blum feels the need not only to avenge his death, but extract revenge for the crimes the group committed on a group of young refugees. Armed with her wit and a white Cadillac hearse, Blum is going to ensure justice is served any way possible…
This book was described as Dexter meets Kill Bill meets The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – I’ve only read the latter, so I can’t really make a good comparison. Blum is definitely a unique heroine, but she’s a little more grisly than Salender. At first, I didn’t know whether to be scared of Blum or admire her. She’s impassioned in her need for justice and not averse to a lot of blood and guts. She’s also calculating and ruthless. In the end, I can’t say I loved Blum, but I felt she deserved respect for doing things her way. Plus, what she did was for love and justice.
I’ve mentioned the blood and guts and there are several descriptions which clearly draw on Aichner’s research as an undertaker’s assistant in preparation for the book. I found them morbidly fascinating, from the use of special tampons to a bit of stitching. Woman of the Dead is probably not the kind of book to read over dinner if you’re squeamish. (I read it at night and had no nightmares). The writing is slightly cold (like Blum’s bodies in the cool room) and detached. I’m not sure if this is part of the translation (stellar job by Anthea Bell) or if Blum herself decided to tell the story as if she was slightly removed from it all, only showing deep emotion when talking about Mark or the injustice of the refugees held captive. I’d love to know if Blum will kill again to force a kind of justice, or whether her hunt was all for the love of her husband. Woman of the Dead is definitely original and if you enjoy your thrillers a little twisted and a lot bloody, you’ll enjoy this book.
Thank you to Hachette for the ARC of this book. My review is honest.
http://samstillreading.wordpress.com
Blum opens the story with a bang as she sunbakes nude on her family’s boat. Except they’re not really her family, but her adoptive parents and they have never shown her real love. Blum was brought into the family to work the funeral business since she was a young child. Now Blum is all grown up and her first mission – kill her parents by letting them drown. Here the reader sees the Blum’s calculating side for the first time. Fast forward several years and Blum is now a happy mother to two girls and married to Mark, a policeman. All is wonderful, glorious in fact, until Mark is killed in a hit and run accident. Then Blum feels the need not only to avenge his death, but extract revenge for the crimes the group committed on a group of young refugees. Armed with her wit and a white Cadillac hearse, Blum is going to ensure justice is served any way possible…
This book was described as Dexter meets Kill Bill meets The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – I’ve only read the latter, so I can’t really make a good comparison. Blum is definitely a unique heroine, but she’s a little more grisly than Salender. At first, I didn’t know whether to be scared of Blum or admire her. She’s impassioned in her need for justice and not averse to a lot of blood and guts. She’s also calculating and ruthless. In the end, I can’t say I loved Blum, but I felt she deserved respect for doing things her way. Plus, what she did was for love and justice.
I’ve mentioned the blood and guts and there are several descriptions which clearly draw on Aichner’s research as an undertaker’s assistant in preparation for the book. I found them morbidly fascinating, from the use of special tampons to a bit of stitching. Woman of the Dead is probably not the kind of book to read over dinner if you’re squeamish. (I read it at night and had no nightmares). The writing is slightly cold (like Blum’s bodies in the cool room) and detached. I’m not sure if this is part of the translation (stellar job by Anthea Bell) or if Blum herself decided to tell the story as if she was slightly removed from it all, only showing deep emotion when talking about Mark or the injustice of the refugees held captive. I’d love to know if Blum will kill again to force a kind of justice, or whether her hunt was all for the love of her husband. Woman of the Dead is definitely original and if you enjoy your thrillers a little twisted and a lot bloody, you’ll enjoy this book.
Thank you to Hachette for the ARC of this book. My review is honest.
http://samstillreading.wordpress.com
Se lee rápido, es entretenido, está bien escrito pero es muy previsible. Para pasar un buen rato y si no tienes otra cosa más interesante que leer.