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A review by doreeny
A Conspiracy of Faith by Jussi Adler-Olsen
3.0
Department Q receives a message in a bottle; the message, written in blood 13 years earlier, is a plea for help from a young boy who, along with his brother, has been kidnapped. The investigations of Detective Carl Morck and his two assistants lead to the discovery that there have been several such crimes and, in fact, they are being committed in the present as well.
Besides giving Morck’s viewpoint, the book also provides the perspective of the kidnapper (who targets multi-children families of Denmark’s fringe fundamentalist religious sects whose reclusive nature and dislike and distrust of society result in the police not being informed when children are kidnapped for ransom) and his wife Mia (who becomes more and more suspicious of her secretive and controlling husband).
Morck continues to be an interesting character; he is a cantankerous sloth who enjoys his naps at work. Nonetheless, he is capable of flashes of brilliance and works non-stop when the situation becomes dire and people’s lives are in jeopardy. He is assisted by Assad, whose past in Syria continues to remain a mystery, and Rose, who is as competent as she is chameleon-like. Questions about Assad and Rose that are raised in the first two novels of the Department Q series are not answered here; in fact, more questions arise.
The depiction of the professional kidnapper bothered me in that he is just too perfect a villain. He is an expert in disguises and is a master manipulator because of his amazing psychological insight into the minds of his victim families. Flashbacks reveal his troubled childhood and provide motive for his actions: “To hell with them. He hated them more than anything else. To hell with all those who in the name of God believed themselves to be above all others” (318). These flashbacks may be intended to humanize the man, but any sympathy they might have aroused is entirely dampened by the amount of suffering he has caused.
This book cries out to be made into a movie. There is an incredible car chase scene and a great deal of suspense since several lives are endangered, although, unlike many crime dramas, this one does not have everyone escaping unscathed. The touches of humour lighten a plot which otherwise would be too stark with its portrayal of human depravity.
This is the third of the Department Q novels (following The Keeper of Lost Causes and The Absent One), but it can be read as a standalone. Although not perfect and the subplot involving a series of arsons and Serbian gangs is pointless and distracting, the book is a fast-paced read for those who enjoy Scandinavian mysteries. There will undoubtedly be a fourth in the series.
Please check out my reader's blog (http://schatjesshelves.blogspot.ca/) and follow me on Twitter (@DCYakabuski)
Besides giving Morck’s viewpoint, the book also provides the perspective of the kidnapper (who targets multi-children families of Denmark’s fringe fundamentalist religious sects whose reclusive nature and dislike and distrust of society result in the police not being informed when children are kidnapped for ransom) and his wife Mia (who becomes more and more suspicious of her secretive and controlling husband).
Morck continues to be an interesting character; he is a cantankerous sloth who enjoys his naps at work. Nonetheless, he is capable of flashes of brilliance and works non-stop when the situation becomes dire and people’s lives are in jeopardy. He is assisted by Assad, whose past in Syria continues to remain a mystery, and Rose, who is as competent as she is chameleon-like. Questions about Assad and Rose that are raised in the first two novels of the Department Q series are not answered here; in fact, more questions arise.
The depiction of the professional kidnapper bothered me in that he is just too perfect a villain. He is an expert in disguises and is a master manipulator because of his amazing psychological insight into the minds of his victim families. Flashbacks reveal his troubled childhood and provide motive for his actions: “To hell with them. He hated them more than anything else. To hell with all those who in the name of God believed themselves to be above all others” (318). These flashbacks may be intended to humanize the man, but any sympathy they might have aroused is entirely dampened by the amount of suffering he has caused.
This book cries out to be made into a movie. There is an incredible car chase scene and a great deal of suspense since several lives are endangered, although, unlike many crime dramas, this one does not have everyone escaping unscathed. The touches of humour lighten a plot which otherwise would be too stark with its portrayal of human depravity.
This is the third of the Department Q novels (following The Keeper of Lost Causes and The Absent One), but it can be read as a standalone. Although not perfect and the subplot involving a series of arsons and Serbian gangs is pointless and distracting, the book is a fast-paced read for those who enjoy Scandinavian mysteries. There will undoubtedly be a fourth in the series.
Please check out my reader's blog (http://schatjesshelves.blogspot.ca/) and follow me on Twitter (@DCYakabuski)