Tag Archives: Thriller

Review | The Andalucian Friend, Alexander Söderberg

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coverThe Andalucian Friend by Alexander Söderberg is a fairly typical thriller. It is as “turbo-charged” and “action-packed” as the publisher blurb promises, yet it lacks the emotional punch that might’ve made it stand out.

Nurse and single mother Sophie Brinkmann unwittingly gets caught up in a world of crime and violence when her boyfriend Hector Guzman turns out to be a crime lord locked in a drugs/weapons trade war with a rival German group. Add to the mix a group of cops with shady methods and even shadier motives, and you have the makings of a real page-turner.

Unfortunately, you also have the potential to create a complete mess. To Söderberg’s credit, he does keep his multiple plot lines under tight control. Still, a lot of the story was just confusing and while the character list at the beginning of the book could’ve helped in keeping the characters straight, there just wasn’t enough differentiation between characters to care. Söderberg’s characters have obscure motives and engage in double dealing, which again could’ve been very intriguing, but instead there were just too many too soon, and with not enough at stake to make you care. Similar types of stories succeed by having at least one character who anchors the whole story, and whose fate keeps us glued to the pages, for example Smiley in John Le Carre’s novels or Lisbeth Salander in Stieg Larsson’s trilogy. Presumably, Sophie was meant to anchor this novel, but even she got lost among the large cast.

The book does get better — Söderberg just takes his time to get there, but eventually we do get to know some of the characters better, they become more distinct from each other, and the twists have a bit more of an impact. Particularly strong is the subplot about Sophie’s son, and how his life is turned upside down by his mother’s connection to Hector Guzman. The final few chapters are the best part — Söderberg ramps up the adrenaline and all the various subplots come crashing together. The climax is a bit of a typical resolution scene in a shoot ’em up TV show or movie, though the descriptions are a bit gorier than network TV.

Overall, not a bad book. The beginning is confusing and the characters weren’t well developed for most of the story. The language is also a bit clunky, which could’ve been a translation issue. It might have worked better as an action-thriller movie, where character development, particularly for minor villain characters, doesn’t matter as much, and where the high-adrenaline scenes might have had more impact. Still, the character revelations near the end of the book are interesting, the subplot regarding Sophie’s son is unexpectedly moving, and the action-packed pace did keep me reading. Andalucian Friend is an okay book, just not a memorable one.

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Thank you to Random House Canada for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Review | Juggling the Stars, Tim Parks

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16284886Juggling the Stars by Tim Parks has been compared to Patricia Highsmith’s Ripley series, and rightly so. Parks’ protagonist Morris Duckworth has neither Ripley’s skill, nor charm, but he does have Ripley’s aspiration for a better life. An English tutor in Italy, Morris views his wealthy clients with envy and disdain, believing himself more deserving of their wealth and helping himself to some of their possessions.

The story takes off when one of his students falls in love with him and her mother forbids the relationship. The student then runs away with Morris, and Morris concocts a complicated scheme where he pretends to have kidnapped her and sends her family ransom notes. Morris’ lies quickly catch up to him, and he has to keep spinning more and even more convoluted tales just to stay ahead.

Juggling the Stars is a quick, fast-paced thriller. It’s fascinating to see how much more Morris’ plan can go wrong, and to see what new plot he comes up with to extricate himself. And when his plan starts spiralling completely out of his control, the consequences are fatal.

The story isn’t chilling — for all his malice, Morris lacks the skill to be a truly malevolent villain. He’s a Ripley wannabe more than a Ripley character, and to the author’s credit, that seems to have been the author’s intent. Morris’ girlfriend (the student who runs away with him) may have made the stupid decision to go with Morris, but is surprisingly sharp in her assessment of him — he “feels inferior,” she tells her mother, and later on tells Morris he’s sucking up too much just because someone is rich. He’s a rather pathetic figure, yet sympathetic in a way because he’s just trying so hard to get rich and yet so many things are going wrong.

The result is a fun read, a quick page turner that will translate really well to the big screen. There are alternating bursts of humour and of horror, and despite all his crimes, a protagonist you root for.

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Thank you to Thomas Allen Ltd for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Review | I Hunt Killers, Barry Lyga

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7766027As the teenage son of Billy Dent, the most notorious serial killer of the 21st century, Jazz feels constantly under scrutiny. It’s only a matter of time, he imagines people thinking, before Jazz turns out just like his father. It doesn’t help that before Billy was imprisoned, he trained Jazz to join him in killing. As Jazz observes, “For Dear Old Dad, Take Your Son to Work Day was year-round.” [p.11] Jazz likes to believe that even if his father hadn’t been imprisoned, he would have been able to shake off his father’s influence anyway, but a part of him can’t help but notice how easy it would be to knock a cop unconscious. A part of him understands that a killer had removed his victim’s fingers not just for trophies, but to symbolically give the finger to the police. Despite his best efforts, Jazz had indeed absorbed his father’s lessons, and would make a great serial killer.

Barry Lyga’s I Hunt Killers has an incredibly audacious premise. As a mystery and thriller aficionado, I’ve read quite a few serial killer stories, and the Dexter Morgan character is utterly compelling. But to explore the potential of a teenage boy to be a serial killer — and more importantly, to have that boy not be a psychopath, but rather someone who is fighting desperately to avoid what he fears is his destiny.

In his quest not to be his father, Jazz is determined to use his father’s training to hunt down a serial killer currently terrorizing his neighbourhood. In doing so, he is faced with how much he really has learned about being a successful serial killer. This is dark and twisty territory, the kind that in an Ian Rankin, Stuart MacBride or Val McDermid novel would probably have the hero drinking or doping heavily. Lyga keeps it PG-13, with Jazz being more like a tortured superhero than a truly broken man, but kudos to the author for not shrinking back from the darkness in Jazz’s psyche. The mystery itself is puzzling enough, but Jazz’s relationship with his father is just as complex and frightening as you might imagine it would be in real life. At times, Jazz seems much more mature than a teenager, but then with a childhood like his, it’s certainly understandable.

I Hunt Killers is a daring, complex, disturbing novel. Lyga pulls it off with well-paced plotting, fascinating characterization and pure guts. The ending felt a bit too superhero serial, dialling back a notch on the disturbing possibilities with a fairly standard promise of a new adventure. Still, after the rest of the story, I have no doubt Lyga will pull it off again with the next books in the series.

Finally, the hardcover edition has probably one of my favourite book designs from last year. Kudos to jacket and book designer Alison Impey. The experience of opening the dust jacket to realize what lay beneath is an apt introduction to the impact of the novel itself. Striking, horrific and memorable, with the rather audacious, almost defiant title I Hunt Killers, this book draws you in even before you turn the page, and it simply refuses to let go.

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Thank you to Hachette Book Group Canada for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.