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2.88 AVERAGE
2.88 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
Backstrom is a delightfully Falstaffian anti-hero of a detective. He rorts the system at every turn, is appallingly politically incorrect, lets his team do most of the work and then takes all the credit. I felt as if Persson was writing with his tongue firmly in his cheek and having great fun sending up the Scandinavian noir perception by demonstrating that not all Swedish murders are committed by angst-ridden, solitary outsiders and by letting us know what detectives really think about the people they work with and encounter as they trudge through the leads, the red herrings and the dead ends. can't wait to read more!
Di solito i noir provenienti dalla Scandinavia mi piacciono abbastanza, per via del loro tono poco ampolloso e delle descrizioni disincantate di una società che noi siamo portati a considerare praticamente perfetta. Qui però siamo andati un po' troppo oltre. Il protagonista maschile è una brutta caricatura, i comprimari delle macchiette, i rimedi peggiori dei mali, tutti mentono e quel poco che di buono avviene, avviene per puro caso, senza che né i personaggi né l'autore possano qualcosa per far andare la barca in una direzione voluta.
In più, il libro è molto, molto verboso.
In più, il libro è molto, molto verboso.
Torrente trabaja en la policía sueca y se llama Bäckströms. Bebe cerveza como un cosaco, es vago, sucio, jeta, misógino, aprovechado, inútil... Una joya, vamos. No se sabe cómo ha conseguido llegar a policía, sí cómo consigue llegar a ser el jefe de la investigación del asesinato de Linda, una chica guapa y joven, en la pequeña localidad de Växjö. Pero, teniendo en cuenta que el máximo interés de Bäckströms es pegarse la vida padre, beber como un cosaco gratis, ver porno y tratar de tirarse a alguien, se puede una imaginar cómo va la investigación.
Este Torrente a la sueca decide investigar a lo grande y analizar el ADN de toda la población masculina de Växjö mientras suelta barbaridades mentales y gasta sin medida a cargo de los presupuestos generales del estado. Del procedimiento policial habitual se encarga la policía "pueblerina" de Växjö, que son bastante más normales que esta joya del nilo.
Y la verdad es que se me ha hecho pesada. Demasiados policías, demasiadas personas con el mismo nombre, demasiado deslavazado todo, demasiado cansino el Backstroms (paso de las diéresis a estas alturas) y, en fin, demasiado todo. Demasiadas páginas para tan poca chicha final.
Este Torrente a la sueca decide investigar a lo grande y analizar el ADN de toda la población masculina de Växjö mientras suelta barbaridades mentales y gasta sin medida a cargo de los presupuestos generales del estado. Del procedimiento policial habitual se encarga la policía "pueblerina" de Växjö, que son bastante más normales que esta joya del nilo.
Y la verdad es que se me ha hecho pesada. Demasiados policías, demasiadas personas con el mismo nombre, demasiado deslavazado todo, demasiado cansino el Backstroms (paso de las diéresis a estas alturas) y, en fin, demasiado todo. Demasiadas páginas para tan poca chicha final.
I received this as an advance copy via Net Galley & it is a perfect Nordic Noir. With close to 500 pages, I got to enjoy a few chapters night after night on my big comfy couch! The Evert you'll meet in "Linda, As in the Linda Murder" is not the snarky, clownish hot mess Bäkström, that was on the tv show, this Detective is brilliant & curmudgeonly. If you loved Wallander (the Swedish one starring Krister Henriksson not the British remake with Kenneth Branagh), this series is a must-read.
Linda (as in the title) is a 20 year old police cadet who is found murdered in her mother's house. A team led by Detective Superintendent Bäckström is deployed from Stockholm to the town of Vaxjo to reinforce the investigating staff.
Evert Bäckström is not your typical police detective. Or maybe he is? He's lazy, he drinks, he takes advantage of his position, he even has his laundry charged to the Police Department. He loves no one, constantly thinks of women (he's an awful macho guy), and has no feelings for anyone or anything (except for Egon, his pet goldfish).
He does however, have a detective's instinct for solving cases, even if he wastes the government and the tax payers money requesting DNA samples from half the town. And he manages to recruit a very good investigating team, who will do all the hard work for him.
Although the characters and the story are very well written/described, the book as a whole dragged a bit. There are many diversions and maybe that is what made it a slow read. I just wanted the author to get to the point!
I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review
Evert Bäckström is not your typical police detective. Or maybe he is? He's lazy, he drinks, he takes advantage of his position, he even has his laundry charged to the Police Department. He loves no one, constantly thinks of women (he's an awful macho guy), and has no feelings for anyone or anything (except for Egon, his pet goldfish).
He does however, have a detective's instinct for solving cases, even if he wastes the government and the tax payers money requesting DNA samples from half the town. And he manages to recruit a very good investigating team, who will do all the hard work for him.
Although the characters and the story are very well written/described, the book as a whole dragged a bit. There are many diversions and maybe that is what made it a slow read. I just wanted the author to get to the point!
I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review
There comes a time in a girl's life when misogyny as entertainment stops being fun and that's why books like that end up being nothing but tiresome.
The main character, the detective what's his name is purposely unlikeable. He is misogynistic, lazy, racist, bigoted, incompetent. But from what I've learnt from reading other reviews we are supposed to 'love to hate him', or even worse, think we say what other people think but are afraid to say.
I do not 'love to hate him'. I find nothing entertaining in those constant inner rants and sexist comments. Another sexist, alcoholic asshole detective who somehow manages to solve the crime despite being utterly shit.
How novel.
The only difference between the criminal (because of course the crime the murder of a young, pretty woman) and the detective is that the first one acts more decisively on his misogyny.
Other than that, this book was way too long, because the author, very much like his main character, overestimated just how interesting he was.
The main character, the detective what's his name is purposely unlikeable. He is misogynistic, lazy, racist, bigoted, incompetent. But from what I've learnt from reading other reviews we are supposed to 'love to hate him', or even worse, think we say what other people think but are afraid to say.
I do not 'love to hate him'. I find nothing entertaining in those constant inner rants and sexist comments. Another sexist, alcoholic asshole detective who somehow manages to solve the crime despite being utterly shit.
How novel.
The only difference between the criminal (because of course the crime the murder of a young, pretty woman) and the detective is that the first one acts more decisively on his misogyny.
Other than that, this book was way too long, because the author, very much like his main character, overestimated just how interesting he was.
Hilarious! A totally new type of protagonist whom you should hate, but you just can't. The crime mystery wasn't that thrilling, but laughing out loud while reading the inner monologues of Bäckström compensated for that. An absolute must read.
Bäckström on hahmona liian etova. Yritin selailla kirjaa eteen päin ja selvitellä, onko hänelle mitään hahmokehitystä luvassa. Vaikuttaa, että samanlaisena jatkuu loppuun asti, joten päätin olla uhraamatta enempää aikaani kirjalle.
An interesting addition to the growing Scandinavian crime catalogue. Overall I enjoyed the book although it is too long by at least 100 pages as the plot got bogged down by the minutia of the investigation and was very police officer centred with little exploration of the victim or perpetrator. At the outset the crime has been committed , a young police trainee murdered at home and a central police investigating team are sent in to help the local police. The book then focusses on the lead detective Backstromm, as politically incorrect as any police officer I have met before who unlike the vast majority of his literary contemporaries has no subtlety , no hidden depths or poignant back stories to explain his enigmatic presentation, Backstromm is self obsessed, out to exploit expenses, drink himself silly and objectify any female within his vicinity. His qualities as a police officer are obscure as colleagues manage repeatedly to dig him out of holes and resolve the crime and ultimately he emerges skin intact. He is however a character I enjoyed in a bizarre way and will try more of the author's series if only because it was a change from the morose silent Scandinavian stereotype detective.