Reviews

Assassino senza volto by Henning Mankell

amkozy23's review against another edition

mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I flew through the first 70% of this book. The plot was interesting and I could not wait to find out what happened to the couple. Although, I did not enjoy Kurt Wallander and found him a bit annoying and misogynistic, I really only cared about the plot. I became less interested as it took Kurt longer to solve the murder than it should have. It seemed that no one did their due diligence around something that seemed important which is why it gets a 3.75 instead of a higher rating. 

leonajudge's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No

3.0

kristinvdt's review against another edition

Vet at jeg har lest den, husker ikke noe av den.

mikelchartier's review against another edition

2.0

Who. The. Fuck. Thinks. ....eh.

That contentious review is written exactly the way this book was. Haphazard by definition, boring in practice, lazy by.....

bored. stop. now. stop. now. stop. now. stop. now. stop. now. stop. yesterday. stop. now. stop. now.

jdtangney's review against another edition

2.0

Disappointing. Maybe it was a bad translation or maybe the original simply lacks life. This Kurt Wallander, unlike that of the Swedish TV series, is a stick figure. Characters have no depth or dimension. External forces - and forced plot pivots - drive the lackluster story along. The sentence structure, the rhythm of the language is jerky and artificial. Ok, maybe that is the translator's fault. The naive flow of the narrative reminded me of Enid Blyton, but without the charm. Actually this book lacks any charm whatsoever.

Strangely, the ebook edition I read had been edited by a dachshund or perhaps a parakeet. Any given Swedish name randomly lost its diacriticals, so Skåne became Skane. Most distracting, and adding to the overall impression of a half-assed job, either on the Mankell's part or that of the perpetrators of the English translation.

I was all charged up to read the Wallander books but after this doggerel, it's not happening.

Oh, and please don't ever mention Kenneth Branagh in relation to Wallander. That series Is a disgrace.

jimmacsyr's review against another edition

3.0

I enjoyed the book. Interesting characters. Looking forward to more in the series.

djlang's review against another edition

4.0

Surprisingly relevant. Except for the lack of cell phones, this story could have taken place today instead of 30 years ago.

sducharme's review against another edition

4.0

Complex and fallible detective, compelling crime to solve, backdrop of Swedish landscape and culture - great page-turner.

koisan's review against another edition

4.0

Al principio me ocasionó cierta desazón. Acostumbrada a la novela negra actual sentí que el ritmo era lento y que me estaba quedando a deber. Al final al con la reflexión que hace Wallander caí en cuenta de que la que estaba mal era yo. La novela es de principios de los 90, muchas cosas han pasado desde entonces, la novela refleja el cambio de época. Y la pregunta de Wallander lo define todo ¿estaremos a la altura? Lo recomiendo.

puck1008's review against another edition

3.0

Enjoyable for fans of Swedish detective mysteries.