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tfitoby's review against another edition
4.0
I really needed to finally finish this series. The intended sense of despair and despondency of society going straight to hell that slowly grows from Roseanna through ten books in ten years until this point where people have finally decided to make a stand against the leaders who have brought this upon us was starting to make me feel like not bothering.
As Sjowall was dying of cancer during the writing of this entry the plot takes an even more melancholy tone, the idealism of the political protesters that regularly appear as background characters in this series becomes almost as much misguided aggression as that of the constantly condemned police force. Here are some writers wondering whether all of their protests were worth it, at the same time when their protagonists - Beck et al - are wondering whether their personal sacrifices in becoming policemen were worth it.
Beck has been tasked with protecting an American senator visiting Sweden after a terrorist threat is raised. It's smartly done on both sides of the law, the writing provides great tension and intrigue as well as the copious amounts of societal criticism that occasionally comes across as a grouchy old sod writing to their local newspaper. At this stage it's very much like spending time with old colleagues that you've grown to respect and care for, comfortable and relaxed. The painstaking procedural style action of the first few books has given way to a more conventional thriller plot except in true Beck style things deliberately end with a whimper and not a bang. It's been a highly enjoyable ride but somehow I expected more. I recently compared the series of books to the TV show The Wire, each book focussing on a different aspect of society to paint a grand picture of what's wrong, and I thought that show ended a little disappointingly too now I think about it.
As Sjowall was dying of cancer during the writing of this entry the plot takes an even more melancholy tone, the idealism of the political protesters that regularly appear as background characters in this series becomes almost as much misguided aggression as that of the constantly condemned police force. Here are some writers wondering whether all of their protests were worth it, at the same time when their protagonists - Beck et al - are wondering whether their personal sacrifices in becoming policemen were worth it.
Beck has been tasked with protecting an American senator visiting Sweden after a terrorist threat is raised. It's smartly done on both sides of the law, the writing provides great tension and intrigue as well as the copious amounts of societal criticism that occasionally comes across as a grouchy old sod writing to their local newspaper. At this stage it's very much like spending time with old colleagues that you've grown to respect and care for, comfortable and relaxed. The painstaking procedural style action of the first few books has given way to a more conventional thriller plot except in true Beck style things deliberately end with a whimper and not a bang. It's been a highly enjoyable ride but somehow I expected more. I recently compared the series of books to the TV show The Wire, each book focussing on a different aspect of society to paint a grand picture of what's wrong, and I thought that show ended a little disappointingly too now I think about it.
greg_allan's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
davesag's review against another edition
4.0
The final book in the Martin Beck series is fittingly grim. Worth pushing through if you've read the others.
mjs242's review against another edition
5.0
Superb and final outing in the Martin Beck decalogue. Gripping and extremely well-written -- and translated -- police procedural that's the obvious template for later works from Henning Mankell and Stieg Larsson. Except with the Beck novels' pacing, characters and nuanced psychological take on the crime thriller, I find Sjowall and Wahloo have the upper hand.
melissawberninger's review against another edition
5.0
I'm sorry to come to the end of this series. Not only are the mysteries engaging, but the political questions the books raise are as relevant today as they were in the 1960s and 1970s. The boorish American Senator in this novel could easily be a stand-in for Trump--although the American electorate in the 1970s was smart enough not to elect him president. Interested readers should start at the beginning of the series and read it in order. The authors saw the ten novels as comprising one story.
yorkslass70's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
4.5
lyva's review against another edition
5.0
Incredible, how without a mention of a cell phone or laptop how current this book feels.
tympligtlasande's review against another edition
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.25