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A review by tanja_alina_berg
Rubbernecker by Belinda Bauer
4.0
After this day which, shall we say, did not live up to expectations I'm rather sorry I finished this book before I left for work today. It would have been nice to have something confirmed good to return back to. But no, I had to finish.
That said, this is one of the best crime novels I've read in a long time. It had something new to say and there were several interesting and meaningful plotlines from different point of views. They all tied very neatly together at the end. Whether it was too neatly, I don't care. I found it appropriate and left me satisfied that there was a closure to everything.
The main character of this book is Patrick. He has Asperberger's syndrome, which is some sort of high-functioning autism. Not that Patrick is particularly clued-in on anything much of what goes on around him, least of all his long-suffering, ever apologetic mother Sarah. Patrick's father died when he was just 8 years old and this has left scars. Patrick is forever trying to come to terms with what death is and means. For a time he even collected dead animals. When he gets to college it is to study anatomy. He hopes to find answers from the cadaver he and his fellow students get to dissect. Turns out though that the body brings other worrying things to the table. Suddenly Patrick has questions about the dead man that only the living can answers. He's heading straight toward a lot of trouble.
This was a rather grizzly novel and certainly not for the faint of heart. At least this was what a Norwegian reviewer in a newspaper said. I did not find anything particularly gory, except for one or two scenes toward the end. There were a couple of other scenes which didn't involve human body parts that were truly scary in themselves and had me at the edge of my seat. This doesn't happen very often to me.
Rating 4.4 * out of 5. Highly recommended for someone who wants a somewhat new take on crime and from the unusual point of view of someone autistic. Not all of the book is from Patrick's perspective, thankfully. His mother Sarah and a couple of the nurses at a coma ward get to have their say too.
That said, this is one of the best crime novels I've read in a long time. It had something new to say and there were several interesting and meaningful plotlines from different point of views. They all tied very neatly together at the end. Whether it was too neatly, I don't care. I found it appropriate and left me satisfied that there was a closure to everything.
The main character of this book is Patrick. He has Asperberger's syndrome, which is some sort of high-functioning autism. Not that Patrick is particularly clued-in on anything much of what goes on around him, least of all his long-suffering, ever apologetic mother Sarah. Patrick's father died when he was just 8 years old and this has left scars. Patrick is forever trying to come to terms with what death is and means. For a time he even collected dead animals. When he gets to college it is to study anatomy. He hopes to find answers from the cadaver he and his fellow students get to dissect. Turns out though that the body brings other worrying things to the table. Suddenly Patrick has questions about the dead man that only the living can answers. He's heading straight toward a lot of trouble.
This was a rather grizzly novel and certainly not for the faint of heart. At least this was what a Norwegian reviewer in a newspaper said. I did not find anything particularly gory, except for one or two scenes toward the end. There were a couple of other scenes which didn't involve human body parts that were truly scary in themselves and had me at the edge of my seat. This doesn't happen very often to me.
Rating 4.4 * out of 5. Highly recommended for someone who wants a somewhat new take on crime and from the unusual point of view of someone autistic. Not all of the book is from Patrick's perspective, thankfully. His mother Sarah and a couple of the nurses at a coma ward get to have their say too.