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3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
Unputdownable. Such a terrific pace through this book where you are so invested in the main character Marco and his survival that you will find yourself up late reading because you cannot stop until you know Marco is okay.
2.5 stars
Marco is living illegally in Copenhagen and surviving by doing illegal activities. Both are not his choice. If he had his way he would be going to school like any normal year old and making plans for a future that didn't include crime. Overhearing the newest plans for him and his skills, Marco escapes from his clan. And running away sets off a chain of events that can't be taken back or undone. His escape exposes another crime that took place years ago and now everyone wants to get their hands on Marco, both his clan and the police. But Marco doesn't trust anyone so he puts his skills to use to keep himself safe and to help expose the crime happening in Copenhagen.
This fifth title in the series was a little harder for me to get into and stay into. About 2/3 of the way through it engaged me enough to keep me in it to the end. The storyline with Marco was so prevalent that I forgot how the book began so when the storylines converged I was a little lost. I had to go back to the beginning and skim the first chapter to remind myself of how the stories meet up and why. Because Department Q works cold cases I see how and why Adler-Olsen used the Marco plot to introduce the cold case but it felt a little tedious to me. Also, Department Q was a bit out of sorts in this title - Assad recovering from injuries sustained on their last case, Carl experiencing anxiety, a new Department A head which means a new boss for Department Q, Rose being, well, Rose but with a suitor. It all had the feeling like everyone woke up on the wrong side of the bed and that feeling projected onto the reader - or at least it did onto this reader. Despite 2/3 of the book feeling a bit like a slog, the last third made up for it and reminded me why I am loving this series so much.
Marco is living illegally in Copenhagen and surviving by doing illegal activities. Both are not his choice. If he had his way he would be going to school like any normal year old and making plans for a future that didn't include crime. Overhearing the newest plans for him and his skills, Marco escapes from his clan. And running away sets off a chain of events that can't be taken back or undone. His escape exposes another crime that took place years ago and now everyone wants to get their hands on Marco, both his clan and the police. But Marco doesn't trust anyone so he puts his skills to use to keep himself safe and to help expose the crime happening in Copenhagen.
This fifth title in the series was a little harder for me to get into and stay into. About 2/3 of the way through it engaged me enough to keep me in it to the end. The storyline with Marco was so prevalent that I forgot how the book began so when the storylines converged I was a little lost. I had to go back to the beginning and skim the first chapter to remind myself of how the stories meet up and why. Because Department Q works cold cases I see how and why Adler-Olsen used the Marco plot to introduce the cold case but it felt a little tedious to me. Also, Department Q was a bit out of sorts in this title - Assad recovering from injuries sustained on their last case, Carl experiencing anxiety, a new Department A head which means a new boss for Department Q, Rose being, well, Rose but with a suitor. It all had the feeling like everyone woke up on the wrong side of the bed and that feeling projected onto the reader - or at least it did onto this reader. Despite 2/3 of the book feeling a bit like a slog, the last third made up for it and reminded me why I am loving this series so much.
dark
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I have not been disappointed with any of the department Q series. I love the balance between crime and humor. Great characters.
Jussi Adler-Olsen has a knack for revealing answers at the outset of stories and then taking 500 or so pages to illuminate the events leading up to these answers. In effect the reader knows how the story ends but somehow this formula works and Adler-Olsen produces another thrilling instalment in his Department Q series.
‘Buried’ focuses on a young boy, subjected to a life of organised street crime, desperate to be free from the clutches of his familial captors. When he escapes he stumbles onto the remains of a missing person, ultimately becoming the the target of multiple pursuers. He gradually pieces together the events that surround the body, unravelling crimes that span years and continents.
I continue to enjoy this Nordic crime series, although it is not among my favourites. The main characters of Carl Mørck, Assad and Rose are likeable but kind of cliche and slightly unbelievable. Mørck is becoming slightly more likeable as the series progresses as his humanity becomes more evident.
All in all a good read however.
‘Buried’ focuses on a young boy, subjected to a life of organised street crime, desperate to be free from the clutches of his familial captors. When he escapes he stumbles onto the remains of a missing person, ultimately becoming the the target of multiple pursuers. He gradually pieces together the events that surround the body, unravelling crimes that span years and continents.
I continue to enjoy this Nordic crime series, although it is not among my favourites. The main characters of Carl Mørck, Assad and Rose are likeable but kind of cliche and slightly unbelievable. Mørck is becoming slightly more likeable as the series progresses as his humanity becomes more evident.
All in all a good read however.
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
"Sometimes police work is like the lottery. You have to hope for a lucky number to come up." Of all the Department Q novels so far, this is the least skillful investigation headed by Inspector Mørck. Distracted by a sputtering love life, annoyed by erratic and eccentric assistants, and frustrated by a new adversarial boss, Mørck can barely bring himself to do any real detective work. If it wasn't for the obsessiveness of his assistants Assad and Rose or the desperation of the child hoping to leave clues to a murder while avoiding capture by both the police and his erstwhile crime family who now want to kill him, Mørck wouldn't have detected a plot at all.
The crime itself is needlessly complicated - an embezzlement scheme run out of the ministry for foreign aid that for some reason uses a family of fake gypsies as muscle at home in Denmark and a roving band of child soldiers as assassins deployed in the field in Africa. The heart of the novel is the boy Marco, whose panic and cleverness is well written and who finds himself in the middle of a number of thrilling action sequences all over urban Copenhagen. These scenes and Assad's endless supply of amusing camel parables are delightful and save what would otherwise be a disappointing installment.
The crime itself is needlessly complicated - an embezzlement scheme run out of the ministry for foreign aid that for some reason uses a family of fake gypsies as muscle at home in Denmark and a roving band of child soldiers as assassins deployed in the field in Africa. The heart of the novel is the boy Marco, whose panic and cleverness is well written and who finds himself in the middle of a number of thrilling action sequences all over urban Copenhagen. These scenes and Assad's endless supply of amusing camel parables are delightful and save what would otherwise be a disappointing installment.
This is such an excellent series, and I kept hoping that Marco would figure it all out. Still, it kept me guessing and involved right to the end.
¡¿Por qué?! ¿Por qué se acaban tan pronto? ¿Por qué hay que esperar tanto al siguiente? (especialmente cuando tu amiga tulipana te hace el chincha rabiña cara de piña y te dice que en Holanda saldrá el siguiente este verano)
Pues ya está finiquitado "El efecto Marcus", el quinto libro de la serie del Departamento Q. Volvemos a tener a Carl, Assad y Rose a nuestra disposición en una novela que no se adentra en el pasado lejano como las anteriores pero que es igualmente trepidante.
William Stark, un funcionario encargado de varios proyectos de cooperación internacional en África, desaparece al volver de un viaje con las sospechas de que hay algo raro en el proyecto de Dja.
Marcus es un chaval de quince años, inmigrante irregular en Suecia, perteneciente a un clan que lidera Zola, un cabrón que se dedica a explotar a estos inmigrantes para que roben carteras y mendiguen por la ciudad. Marcus es hijo de otro de los miembros del clan, pero no por ello tiene privilegio alguno. Una noche, Marcus escucha cómo Zola está dispuesto a dejarlo minusválido para que pueda seguir explotando su cara de niño bueno y Marcus tiene que escapar. En su huida, perseguido por los secuaces de Zola, se esconde en un hueco en la tierra en el que hay un cadáver, el de William Stark, al que Marcus le quita un collar africano con el que luego puede identificarlo en una foto que su hijastra ha puesto por todos lados para encontrar a William. Pero la vida de Marcus no es fácil en la ciudad, porque todos los del clan le buscan, y también las personas que habían ordenado a Zola matar a William Stark... y la historia se va tensando, el círculo se va cerrando en torno a Marcus, al que parece buscar toda la ciudad.
Y sabremos, de paso, algunos detalles de las vidas de los protagonistas habituales: Carl y sus amores, Rose con sus rarezas y Assad con su vida anterior. Y qué gusto volver a los "o sea" de Assad.
Pues ya está finiquitado "El efecto Marcus", el quinto libro de la serie del Departamento Q. Volvemos a tener a Carl, Assad y Rose a nuestra disposición en una novela que no se adentra en el pasado lejano como las anteriores pero que es igualmente trepidante.
William Stark, un funcionario encargado de varios proyectos de cooperación internacional en África, desaparece al volver de un viaje con las sospechas de que hay algo raro en el proyecto de Dja.
Marcus es un chaval de quince años, inmigrante irregular en Suecia, perteneciente a un clan que lidera Zola, un cabrón que se dedica a explotar a estos inmigrantes para que roben carteras y mendiguen por la ciudad. Marcus es hijo de otro de los miembros del clan, pero no por ello tiene privilegio alguno. Una noche, Marcus escucha cómo Zola está dispuesto a dejarlo minusválido para que pueda seguir explotando su cara de niño bueno y Marcus tiene que escapar. En su huida, perseguido por los secuaces de Zola, se esconde en un hueco en la tierra en el que hay un cadáver, el de William Stark, al que Marcus le quita un collar africano con el que luego puede identificarlo en una foto que su hijastra ha puesto por todos lados para encontrar a William. Pero la vida de Marcus no es fácil en la ciudad, porque todos los del clan le buscan, y también las personas que habían ordenado a Zola matar a William Stark... y la historia se va tensando, el círculo se va cerrando en torno a Marcus, al que parece buscar toda la ciudad.
Y sabremos, de paso, algunos detalles de las vidas de los protagonistas habituales: Carl y sus amores, Rose con sus rarezas y Assad con su vida anterior. Y qué gusto volver a los "o sea" de Assad.