Scan barcode
attadlock's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
jamelchior's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Child abuse, Violence, Kidnapping, Stalking, Trafficking, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and Confinement
cemoses's review against another edition
3.0
On the whole I liked this book. In particular, I liked the sleuth, Nina Borg. I found it refreshing that a nurse was the heroine. Nurses seem more human and hands on then physicians and are not as tough as the female police. Nina Borg is not some master technocrat who magically can draw on some scientific evidence the reader knows nothing about to solve the mystery. I like amateur detectives.
Nina Borg is a nurse who can find her home life difficult but has a heart of gold and as a taste for danger when it comes to her work. It is a good premise for a series.
The book has a slow start. It takes too long to introduce Nina and the other main characters. I found the middle suspenseful. However, the ending was a bit of a letdown and I felt there were too many loose ends. The book leaves many unanswered questions. For example, it answers the question of WHY there was a boy in a suitcase but not HOW he was smuggled across country lines. In many mysteries, how things are done is usually a big part of mysteries.
The form of storytelling these series uses I don't think is the best. The format is that you have several seemingly unrelated stories that in the end form one story line; I prefer a more straight forward form of storytelling especially in a book that is meant as a light read.
I found this book different from the mystery novels set in Sweden. Many Swedish mysteries debunk Sweden's mystic of being kindly loving somewhat socialist country. These books show the dark side of Swedish life. These mysteries show a country that seems to have many vicious greedy capitalists and a significant number of youth gangs and much domestic violence. In the Steig Larsson’s Millennium Trilogy, the Swedish government itself is shown as being highly corrupt.
In contrast in The Boy in the Suitcase, Danish life seems very similar to life in the US. The dark side of the book comes from refugees from the former Soviet Union who come to Denmark and who don't seem to be altogether accepted by the Danish.
Nina Borg is a nurse who can find her home life difficult but has a heart of gold and as a taste for danger when it comes to her work. It is a good premise for a series.
The book has a slow start. It takes too long to introduce Nina and the other main characters. I found the middle suspenseful. However, the ending was a bit of a letdown and I felt there were too many loose ends. The book leaves many unanswered questions. For example, it answers the question of WHY there was a boy in a suitcase but not HOW he was smuggled across country lines. In many mysteries, how things are done is usually a big part of mysteries.
The form of storytelling these series uses I don't think is the best. The format is that you have several seemingly unrelated stories that in the end form one story line; I prefer a more straight forward form of storytelling especially in a book that is meant as a light read.
I found this book different from the mystery novels set in Sweden. Many Swedish mysteries debunk Sweden's mystic of being kindly loving somewhat socialist country. These books show the dark side of Swedish life. These mysteries show a country that seems to have many vicious greedy capitalists and a significant number of youth gangs and much domestic violence. In the Steig Larsson’s Millennium Trilogy, the Swedish government itself is shown as being highly corrupt.
In contrast in The Boy in the Suitcase, Danish life seems very similar to life in the US. The dark side of the book comes from refugees from the former Soviet Union who come to Denmark and who don't seem to be altogether accepted by the Danish.
babyruth510's review
4.0
Intense Scandinavian thriller similar to The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo but thankfully much shorter.
alittleoverdue's review against another edition
5.0
You will not be able to put this down. Interesting characters and plot, plus it delivers on the suspense.
megexpress's review
3.0
I'm still not sure how I felt about the book. It entertained me, but I guess it felt a little anti-climatic? It is not a book that I saw having more in a series. It could be a stand alone novel. I think I would have preferred it being its own book rather than the first in a series because now I feel compelled to read the rest just to see how the stories play out. Perhaps if I find the rest of the books for cheap at a bookstore I may get them but, other than that, I don't know if the book was good enough for me to continue the series. The flip-flop of the chapters, going from one character's perspective to another, took a while to get used too but, after a while, it became easier. I guess I don't like how one story would get ahead of another so I can piece together what happens. For example, Nina hears a gunshot at one point and if you connect it to the section before, you can kinda assume what happened. I don't like that. I would have preferred all of the stories to lead up to one moment and then stay with one character throughout.
cathiedalziel's review against another edition
5.0
Well, that wasn't what I expected at all. I've had this sitting on my shelf for over a year and didn't get to it because I thought it was another holocaust story??!! Why, I thought that I don't know; maybe similar title to another I read?
This is a very well done contemporary crime mystery tale that had me engrossed in it every page. I would recommend this book to anyone who can leave reality at the door (some things are far-fetched but that only adds to the excitement and chills.)
This is a very well done contemporary crime mystery tale that had me engrossed in it every page. I would recommend this book to anyone who can leave reality at the door (some things are far-fetched but that only adds to the excitement and chills.)