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3.55 AVERAGE
3.55 AVERAGE
I have to wonder about an author who describes fat people in such a disparaging way. I realize that she wants to establish character, but she seems to assume that external states she disapproves of somehow reflect internal states. It's too much like phrenology. Curiously, she describes mental illness in a careful, considered, and sympathetic fashion. What exactly is going on here?
Yet again the author manages to weave an enticing mystery within an exploration of mental illness. She is so masterful at creating these stereotypes and then knocking them down. Once again it feels like you know the answer too early but you really don't know anything. She keeps it all from going too far over the edge by anchoring with such a straight man detective to rein it in. Humanizing within the structure of a violent murder story. So hard to do and so well done
He Who Fears the Wolf involves a murdered farmer, an escaped mental patient, a bank robber and an escaped juvenile delinquent. Through some unbelievable coincidences, the three, the bank robber and the two escapees, end up together in the woods awaiting capture. This was an okay read, however with no really likeable characters or mystery to solve, it was not that engaging for me. There is a side plot involving Inspector Sejer but that really didn’t fix the book for me. I did really enjoy the second book in this series so perhaps this one is just a miss for me.
A good, solid page turner. I was enthralled with seeing inside the thoughts of the schizophrenic in the beginning. It was disturbing at times. But the latter part didn't ring true...how he became not so schizophrenic, even though he was off his meds. And how the low-life bank robber got him to open up in a few hours, when years of therapy produced nothing. Hmmm...I don't know if I buy it.
After reading a string of Swedish mystery novels, I am convinced that everyone in the Scandinavian countries are crazed, ax-wielding, homicidal maniacs or brooding, introverted alcoholics with relationship problems. Cool.
After reading a string of Swedish mystery novels, I am convinced that everyone in the Scandinavian countries are crazed, ax-wielding, homicidal maniacs or brooding, introverted alcoholics with relationship problems. Cool.
This was the first book I have read in this series and I enjoyed it. It was not predictable (at least not for me) and kept me in suspense. I will be checking out more books by this author.
An escape from an asylum, a murder, a bank robbery, and a kidnapping. All that in the first 60 pages. the remainder is trying to figure out how it all fits together. In the second of the series we get to know Inspector Sejer better: where he came from and what drives him.
Very good, psychological mystery.
Interesting characters all around. Knew suspect didn't do it, but didn't know who did.
Sad too.
Interesting characters all around. Knew suspect didn't do it, but didn't know who did.
Sad too.
A friend and I have been reading lots of Scandinavian mysteries since we finished the Stieg Larson books. We read all of Henning Mankell, who is probably the best mystery writer around today, along with Ruth Rendell, but both of them are getting away from what I would consider "pure" mystery.
He Who Fears the Wolf is the first Karin Fossum I've read and I enjoyed it. The premise is interesting: A bank robber kidnaps a schizophrenic boy who is being hunted as a suspect in the brutal murder of an old woman. Inspector Sejer has to find the pair and figure out who killed the woman.
There are lots of interesting characters in this story, but most interesting is Inspector Sejer. He's very introspective but not in the morose way of Kurt Wallander (Henning Mankell's detective). The mystery is solved in the end in a satisfactory manner. Now I'm reading the next in the Sejer series, to see what happens to him next.
He Who Fears the Wolf is the first Karin Fossum I've read and I enjoyed it. The premise is interesting: A bank robber kidnaps a schizophrenic boy who is being hunted as a suspect in the brutal murder of an old woman. Inspector Sejer has to find the pair and figure out who killed the woman.
There are lots of interesting characters in this story, but most interesting is Inspector Sejer. He's very introspective but not in the morose way of Kurt Wallander (Henning Mankell's detective). The mystery is solved in the end in a satisfactory manner. Now I'm reading the next in the Sejer series, to see what happens to him next.
I've never really been a fan of crime novels. In the past, I've only really liked Stieg Larsson and Jeffrey Deaver.
I think I'm more interested in cat-and-mouse kind of crime books. I need a little bit of intensity. I just find most crime books I've read have been boring. I guess the majority of the genre isn't for me.
This was okay. I did find it boring, though.
I think I'm more interested in cat-and-mouse kind of crime books. I need a little bit of intensity. I just find most crime books I've read have been boring. I guess the majority of the genre isn't for me.
This was okay. I did find it boring, though.