Yet another in the procession of Scandinavian writers being translated and released in the UK/USA to be gobbled up by followers of the crime genre.
Not to say that this novel doesn’t bear comparison with the finest of Henning Mankell because it sits up there with his best.
Of course, this being only the second of Nesser’s books to make the jump to English (the first is Borkmann’s Point), they are not being brought out in the order they were written. I found this slightly annoying with the Wallander series but overall found that it didn’t diminish the quality of reading.
The Return focuses on the discovery of a headless, armless and legless torso in the woods by a bunch of school children. When the police investigate, after some work they find it is the body of a ex-convict just released after serving a sentence for murder and who had also served a previous sentence for another murder 30 years previously.
The main character in these books is Chief Inspector Van Veeteren who at the start of the book is just about to go into hospital to have a tumour removed from his large intestine, so he directs the investigation from his bed and his foot soldiers do all the leg work.
Although the book is quite dark in tone due to the Inspector’s serious illness, there is humour to be found. It is amusing that Van Veeteren is in constant search of a beer and a smoke. He even manages to get his beer in hospital!
The investigation proceeds along slowly while he convalesces in hospital. Then when he is released he is told that enough time has been spent on the case and that the investigation should be wound up.
Of course, Van Veeteren decides to proceed in his own time to finish off the case. The main reason being that he suspects that the victim as actually innocent of the earlier crimes and that his killer feared his own unmasking by him. Of course, Van Veeteren suspects the establishment of trying to avoid being look bad with a faulty conviction.
The plot is quite complicated but connects well. Van Veeteren seems an interesting character and I look forward to reading Borkmann’s Point.
Small point, it is not clear where the story is set although to me, the place names and character names do not seem Swedish. It could be Holland or…..
Monday, August 27, 2007
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Review of Ten Big Ones by Janet Evanovich
What can I say about Stephanie Plum? Well….she’s an attractive, 30 something, Jersey girl living in Trenton with her hamster, Rex and her off and on policeman boyfriend, Joe Morelli.
Of course, the thing we have to swallow here is that Stephanie’s become a bounty hunter working for her brother-in-law, Vincent. Now, she certainly isn’t in the same league as Domino who we recently saw portrayed on the big screen and she doesn’t fall into the same league as Dog the Bounty Hunter who you can see on reality TV on cable.
To be honest, bounty hunting is a device to get Stephanie involved in a bunch of hair-raising escapades which raise a smile but also make you root for her when she’s trying to pick an FTA up.(Failure to Appear in Court).
The amazing thing is that Ms Evanovich has managed to sustain this series for what is now 13 books. I started losing the plot at Up to the Nines but recently received this one from the S.O. as a birthday present.
Although I probably won’t bother reading more unless they are gifted to me, I did enjoy #10. It has the usual humour and stupid behaviour of Ms Plum and the usual on/off romancing with Morelli and her bounty hunter colleague, Ranger.
Of course, half the stuff was unbelievable. I mean, why do you think a street gang called the Slayers would put a hit out on a harmless piece of fluff like Stephanie Plum? Or that Stephanie and two other women from the bail bonding agency would go and kidnap a gang member to beat out some information from him!
Of course, you always have her grandmother, Masur, and the big 1950s Buick to raise some smiles. In every book she seems to lose at least one car and is force to borrow the power blue '50s Buick. In this one, her car is written off at the very start.
Grandma Masur should get a franchise of her own. She usually has the best wise cracks in the book and her love of a good funeral goes beyond simple voyeurism.
I probably wouldn’t buy another but I still enjoyed this book very much. Possibly more so because I haven’t read one recently.
Of course, the thing we have to swallow here is that Stephanie’s become a bounty hunter working for her brother-in-law, Vincent. Now, she certainly isn’t in the same league as Domino who we recently saw portrayed on the big screen and she doesn’t fall into the same league as Dog the Bounty Hunter who you can see on reality TV on cable.
To be honest, bounty hunting is a device to get Stephanie involved in a bunch of hair-raising escapades which raise a smile but also make you root for her when she’s trying to pick an FTA up.(Failure to Appear in Court).
The amazing thing is that Ms Evanovich has managed to sustain this series for what is now 13 books. I started losing the plot at Up to the Nines but recently received this one from the S.O. as a birthday present.
Although I probably won’t bother reading more unless they are gifted to me, I did enjoy #10. It has the usual humour and stupid behaviour of Ms Plum and the usual on/off romancing with Morelli and her bounty hunter colleague, Ranger.
Of course, half the stuff was unbelievable. I mean, why do you think a street gang called the Slayers would put a hit out on a harmless piece of fluff like Stephanie Plum? Or that Stephanie and two other women from the bail bonding agency would go and kidnap a gang member to beat out some information from him!
Of course, you always have her grandmother, Masur, and the big 1950s Buick to raise some smiles. In every book she seems to lose at least one car and is force to borrow the power blue '50s Buick. In this one, her car is written off at the very start.
Grandma Masur should get a franchise of her own. She usually has the best wise cracks in the book and her love of a good funeral goes beyond simple voyeurism.
I probably wouldn’t buy another but I still enjoyed this book very much. Possibly more so because I haven’t read one recently.
Friday, August 17, 2007
Review of A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
MP gave me this as a recent birthday present and of course as soon as they are received birthday books go to the top of the pile and are read first!
I knew nothing about the writer or the context of this novel but was intrigued since it was set in Afghanistan, a country much riven by war in recent years.
The book is essentially about two women, Mariam and Laila who are thrown together by tragedy and circumstance in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, and their marriage to the brutal Rasheed.
The story starts off in the border town of Merat and tells of the circumstances of Merat’s life there until the age 15. You know from the start that life hasn’t been easy for her. We quickly find out that she is a harami, an illegitimate child. He father is the wealthy, Jalil, who made one of his servants, Nana, pregnant. Obviously, this means that they have both been cast out of Merat, although, Jalil, does visit Mariam once a week. This is the highlight of Mariam’s week because life in their mud hut is difficult. Mariam dreams of living with her father.
Unfortunately, this is not to be and after her mother kills herself she is married off to Rasheed who lives in Kabul.
Soon after reaching Rasheed’s house, things are very different. First she has to learn to wear the burqa and obey his rules. She has to learn to look after Rasheed – cooking, cleaning, produce children. The last is more difficult and doesn’t work for them.
We also learn of the cruel temper of Rasheed. One time she doesn’t cook the rice properly and she is made to chew on pebbles as a comparison to eating uncooked rice. This off course damages her teeth.
At this point, we learn of Laila and her carefree life in Kabul with her family and her friendship with the boy across the way, Tariq. This contrasts greatly with Mariam and it is enjoyable and sad to read about her ambitions and crush on Tariq. Basically, her existence is carefree.
Of course, in the background, are all the political changes and invasions which tear Afghanistan apart. First the monarch is removed, then the Russians invade, then the Mujahiddeen destroy the country through their factional fighting and then of course, the Taliban take over with all that entails through the strict application of Shari’a Law.
It is during the Mujahideen fighting that Laila loses her parents and is taken in by Rasheed and Mariam. Of course, Rasheed, realises that he must marry Laila, to make it proper. She agrees because she thinks that Tariq is dead and buried. In addition, she realises she is pregnant to Tariq and needs a cover for this. Thus she becomes ‘indentured’ to Rasheed.
At first, Mariam hates Laila, because she has basically been replaced and Laila starts producing offspring and although her first child is a baby, Aziza, the second is a boy, Zaimal.
Of course, there are beatings etc. In fact, the story is brutal at times, making you wince.
It is during the tribal Mujahideen wars, that times get very difficult for all of Kabul, and when Rasheed’s shoe business gets blown up by a rocket, they start to starve. In fact, it gets so bad that they have to put Aziza into the local orphanage to be cared for.
I won’t go on except to say that it is not all doom and gloom in this book. It is a very vivid portrait of a country that has been going through the mill for a long time. The people portrayed have an immense amount of spirit and courage to go on in the adversity that they have faced.
Apparently, the title comes from an Afghan poem and refers to how Kabul looks when the sun shines on it. (Or used to!)
I knew nothing about the writer or the context of this novel but was intrigued since it was set in Afghanistan, a country much riven by war in recent years.
The book is essentially about two women, Mariam and Laila who are thrown together by tragedy and circumstance in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, and their marriage to the brutal Rasheed.
The story starts off in the border town of Merat and tells of the circumstances of Merat’s life there until the age 15. You know from the start that life hasn’t been easy for her. We quickly find out that she is a harami, an illegitimate child. He father is the wealthy, Jalil, who made one of his servants, Nana, pregnant. Obviously, this means that they have both been cast out of Merat, although, Jalil, does visit Mariam once a week. This is the highlight of Mariam’s week because life in their mud hut is difficult. Mariam dreams of living with her father.
Unfortunately, this is not to be and after her mother kills herself she is married off to Rasheed who lives in Kabul.
Soon after reaching Rasheed’s house, things are very different. First she has to learn to wear the burqa and obey his rules. She has to learn to look after Rasheed – cooking, cleaning, produce children. The last is more difficult and doesn’t work for them.
We also learn of the cruel temper of Rasheed. One time she doesn’t cook the rice properly and she is made to chew on pebbles as a comparison to eating uncooked rice. This off course damages her teeth.
At this point, we learn of Laila and her carefree life in Kabul with her family and her friendship with the boy across the way, Tariq. This contrasts greatly with Mariam and it is enjoyable and sad to read about her ambitions and crush on Tariq. Basically, her existence is carefree.
Of course, in the background, are all the political changes and invasions which tear Afghanistan apart. First the monarch is removed, then the Russians invade, then the Mujahiddeen destroy the country through their factional fighting and then of course, the Taliban take over with all that entails through the strict application of Shari’a Law.
It is during the Mujahideen fighting that Laila loses her parents and is taken in by Rasheed and Mariam. Of course, Rasheed, realises that he must marry Laila, to make it proper. She agrees because she thinks that Tariq is dead and buried. In addition, she realises she is pregnant to Tariq and needs a cover for this. Thus she becomes ‘indentured’ to Rasheed.
At first, Mariam hates Laila, because she has basically been replaced and Laila starts producing offspring and although her first child is a baby, Aziza, the second is a boy, Zaimal.
Of course, there are beatings etc. In fact, the story is brutal at times, making you wince.
It is during the tribal Mujahideen wars, that times get very difficult for all of Kabul, and when Rasheed’s shoe business gets blown up by a rocket, they start to starve. In fact, it gets so bad that they have to put Aziza into the local orphanage to be cared for.
I won’t go on except to say that it is not all doom and gloom in this book. It is a very vivid portrait of a country that has been going through the mill for a long time. The people portrayed have an immense amount of spirit and courage to go on in the adversity that they have faced.
Apparently, the title comes from an Afghan poem and refers to how Kabul looks when the sun shines on it. (Or used to!)
Friday, August 10, 2007
Review of Black Ice by Michael Connelly
The Black Ice is Michael Connelly’s second novel to feature the Hollywood detective, Hieronymous ‘Harry’ Bosch.
The Black Ice of the title is a new designer drug concocted from heroin, cocaine and PCP, which is being hawked in LA by a Mexican drug baron. I don’t know if its real or not, but it certainly sounds potent.
Harry hear over the wire of the discovery of the dead body of a fellow copy, Cal Moore, a member of the drug team. He knows he shouldn’t but decides to go across town to check out what has happened to him. His excuse is that he is vaguely involved in a case he’s working on, the murder of a known dealer, Jimmy ‘Kapps’.
As soon as Harry pops his head round the door of the apartment where Cal has been found, his chief is on him ordering him not to get involved, that the IAD team are looking into it.
When back at the station his lieutenant is on at him about trying to solve some cases because the numbers of unsolved crimes are too high, and then hands over the all the cases of one of his colleagues, Porter, who has requested a transfer. One of the cases is a dead Mexican, Juan Doe, found in a dumpster at the rear of a restaurant known as a regular haunt of Moore’s drug team.
The case continues to build up for Harry when he finds that Cal wasn’t a suicide as first suspected but was in fact murdered. After this he begins to put things together and connect his Juan Doe to Cal’s murder and thereafter to the murder of Porter, the lush, who Harry inherited the Juan Doe case from.
As the momentum builds up, Cal realises he must go down to Calexico/Mexicali on the border with Mexico to look into a company who sterilise medflies to control their population in California. This is the front he believes that is being used to smuggle Black Ice out of Mexico.
Calexico is also the hometown of Cal Moore and he thinks there are reasons there for the way Cal has behaved recently.
In addition, there is a very powerful drug baron, Zorrillo, who is based down there and is probably tied up with the whole story.
The book is quite complicated and does take its time to get to the denouement. I mean, there’s even a graphic bull fighting scene which I’ve never some across in a book before!
There are twists and turns and Harry is as laconic as he was in his previous outing, Black Echo,(cf). All very enjoyable.
The Black Ice of the title is a new designer drug concocted from heroin, cocaine and PCP, which is being hawked in LA by a Mexican drug baron. I don’t know if its real or not, but it certainly sounds potent.
Harry hear over the wire of the discovery of the dead body of a fellow copy, Cal Moore, a member of the drug team. He knows he shouldn’t but decides to go across town to check out what has happened to him. His excuse is that he is vaguely involved in a case he’s working on, the murder of a known dealer, Jimmy ‘Kapps’.
As soon as Harry pops his head round the door of the apartment where Cal has been found, his chief is on him ordering him not to get involved, that the IAD team are looking into it.
When back at the station his lieutenant is on at him about trying to solve some cases because the numbers of unsolved crimes are too high, and then hands over the all the cases of one of his colleagues, Porter, who has requested a transfer. One of the cases is a dead Mexican, Juan Doe, found in a dumpster at the rear of a restaurant known as a regular haunt of Moore’s drug team.
The case continues to build up for Harry when he finds that Cal wasn’t a suicide as first suspected but was in fact murdered. After this he begins to put things together and connect his Juan Doe to Cal’s murder and thereafter to the murder of Porter, the lush, who Harry inherited the Juan Doe case from.
As the momentum builds up, Cal realises he must go down to Calexico/Mexicali on the border with Mexico to look into a company who sterilise medflies to control their population in California. This is the front he believes that is being used to smuggle Black Ice out of Mexico.
Calexico is also the hometown of Cal Moore and he thinks there are reasons there for the way Cal has behaved recently.
In addition, there is a very powerful drug baron, Zorrillo, who is based down there and is probably tied up with the whole story.
The book is quite complicated and does take its time to get to the denouement. I mean, there’s even a graphic bull fighting scene which I’ve never some across in a book before!
There are twists and turns and Harry is as laconic as he was in his previous outing, Black Echo,(cf). All very enjoyable.
Thursday, August 02, 2007
Review of The Black Echo by Michael Connelly
The Black Echo is the first book in a sequence featuring the detective, Hieronymous ‘Harry’ Bosch. (Yes, he was named after the famous painter!) I had managed to get hold of a volume with the first and second novels to feature this particular detective some time ago, so I looked forward to meeting with him in this first tale.
Harry is a cop who’s recently been demoted to working in the Hollywood Division of LAPD and the book opens with him investigating the possible O.D. of a drug use at the Mulholland Dam. The body being found in a tunnel well know as a place for vagrants to doss.
When Harry arrives to investigate he finds that he knows or use to know the dead man, Meadows. Like Bosch Meadows was a tunnel rat during the Vietnam War. Although he had telephone contact with him recently, he hadn’t seen him in 15 years. He did know that the guy had a drug habit which seemed to be the source of all his troubles with the police over the last 10 years or so.
Harry isn’t happy about the circumstances around the death and doesn’t believe that it’s a simple overdose. Certain facts make him believe that Meadows was killed elsewhere and put in the tunnel in such a way to look like a drug overdose.
As he delves deeper into the case, Harry finds that it is linked to a robbery, a month ago, when a gang tunnelled into a safety deposit room in a bank and made off with the contents of dozens of boxes. Meadows used to be tunnel expert so it looks like he was involved.
At this point the story takes off and over 400+ pages it weaves its merry way across the Los Angeles canvas upon which it is painted. The plot is quite intricate and some would say convoluted. I disagree, I thought it was well constructed and never too long winded. In the first book of any new character, you have to give the writer some time to set out who he is and where he’s coming from.
If you’re interested the Black Echo of the title refers to the feeling the soldiers had when the entered the tunnels in Vietnam.
Onward to the follow-up, The Black Ice!
Harry is a cop who’s recently been demoted to working in the Hollywood Division of LAPD and the book opens with him investigating the possible O.D. of a drug use at the Mulholland Dam. The body being found in a tunnel well know as a place for vagrants to doss.
When Harry arrives to investigate he finds that he knows or use to know the dead man, Meadows. Like Bosch Meadows was a tunnel rat during the Vietnam War. Although he had telephone contact with him recently, he hadn’t seen him in 15 years. He did know that the guy had a drug habit which seemed to be the source of all his troubles with the police over the last 10 years or so.
Harry isn’t happy about the circumstances around the death and doesn’t believe that it’s a simple overdose. Certain facts make him believe that Meadows was killed elsewhere and put in the tunnel in such a way to look like a drug overdose.
As he delves deeper into the case, Harry finds that it is linked to a robbery, a month ago, when a gang tunnelled into a safety deposit room in a bank and made off with the contents of dozens of boxes. Meadows used to be tunnel expert so it looks like he was involved.
At this point the story takes off and over 400+ pages it weaves its merry way across the Los Angeles canvas upon which it is painted. The plot is quite intricate and some would say convoluted. I disagree, I thought it was well constructed and never too long winded. In the first book of any new character, you have to give the writer some time to set out who he is and where he’s coming from.
If you’re interested the Black Echo of the title refers to the feeling the soldiers had when the entered the tunnels in Vietnam.
Onward to the follow-up, The Black Ice!
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
Corbetting in Knoydart
Looking down the west ridge of Sgurr a Choire Beith towards Barrisdale Bay 
View from the top of Ben Aden looking east towards Loch Quoich and Sgurr MorCorbetting in Knoydart
We had planned for some time now to make a return to Knoydart. The S.O. had munros to do and I knew that there was a lot of scope for Corbett bagging. After discussions with a couple of friends we piled into our friend G’s Saab estate at the end of July and headed up to Kinlochhourn.
The forecast was for a generally bright day with showers. This sounded good for the walk in to Barrisdale. Indeed G and I planned to walk over a Corbett, Sgurr Nan Eugalt on the way in.
However, the typical, Knoydart weather had other plans. By the time we got to the end of the narrow, winding road at Kinlochhourn, it was grey and chucking it down. We sat in the car hoping it would ease off and as luck had it the rain stopped for us to get ready.
Soon after we set off and trudged along the coastal path. The path is scenic and in better weather, very attractive. Today, though, it was a trudge and took us all over four hours to complete. Never mind, the bothy was relatively quiet when we got there so we managed to get a room to ourselves to kip in, although H decided to camp to save money.
The bothy was slightly different from my previous trip in that there were now bunks in the rooms and there was no stove to keep warm at. It could be that my memory of 10 years ago are a bit fuzzy though!
After a quiet night and a reasonable sleep we woke to cloudy skies and drizzle. Not a good sign! The SO and I managed to struggle out of bed for breakfast and talked about what we fancied doing. I had my mind set on Sgurr a Coire Beithe, which was relatively near to the bothy. I think the SO fancied Luinne Bheinn, although I knew she would have problems convincing G to get up and go. Other people at the bothy had big plans; Luinne Bheinn and Meall Buidhe; Ladhar Bheinn; and one intrepid walker from Stirling even planned all three!
I left quickly leaving the others to decide what to do. Soon I was tramping up Glen Undalainn towards the Mam Undalain. Although the guidebook route was up the West ridge I wanted to make it a bit easier by sticking to a path for the first part of the day. The climb up to 500m was quite straightforward.
The weather was miserable. I soon had goretex jacket and waterproof trousers on which remained the whole day. At the Mam I wasn’t sure which way to go because of the cloud cover so I headed up in the right direction by compass, weaving around the outcroppings of rock which seemed to guard the hill. Not long after, I reached a 800m top which was due west of the summit. I then took a bearing and headed for the top which was soon reached, but of course there was no view.
One annoying thing I found during the climb was that the photochromic lenses in my glasses had darkened up even though there was no sun! This made the day seem even gloomier than it was in reality. Obviously, there must have still been a fair amount of UV light getting through the cloud cover to affect the lenses.
At the top, I took a bearing to descend the West ridge and promptly went the wrong way! I had put the compass away and thought I knew which way to go. 5 minutes later I looked at my compass and couldn’t figure out where I was. After thinking about it for a few minutes I decided to return to the top and try again. Thankfully this was easily achieved. This time I kept the compass out and followed the bearing. Despite my dipping confidence this turned out to be the right direction and I was soon passing over the 800m top I had intially passed over.
After some damp descent, I found myself coming under the cloud cover and could see the bothy in the distance. Shortly, after I was on the main track and heading back.
On my return, I found that the others had decided against an ascent of hills and had walked around the bay and also walked towards the Mam Barrisdale.
The next day dawned somewhat brighter and after breakfast our group split into two parties. The SO, H and G went to do Ladhar Bheinn and I set off to do Ben Aden, the Corbett at the head of Loch Nevis. This was a long day for me, and I hoped the weather would be better.
Biggest headache of the day is that you have to cross the Mam Undalainn in both directions adding over 700m ascent to the day’s total.
Halfway up the glen, a shower reared its ugly head and proceed to try and soak me. This didn’t help my mood for the day.
I got to the Mam and found that Ben Aden was clear and showing itself off well. There appeared to be a couple of lines on the western slopes where it looked possible to find a way through the crags. I didn’t fancy going all the way round to the east side of the mountain, so when I had descended a fair bit, I went to cross the river at the foot of the mountain and did a splash dash across it.
After wringing out my socks I sat and ate lunch contemplating my route. At this point I realised I had committed to the climb and wasn’t going to back out now. Up to then, the weather and boggy path had made me doubt whether I could be bothered going up at all. The day before I was totally scunnered with the weather we were getting.
Anyway, here I was at foot of a 700m climb rising steeply in front of me. Nothing for it but to go up! I started up and soon found the going difficult. The ground was damp, tussocky and treacherous. After a while I got to the top of a grassy ramp and found that there were broken crags all around me. Remembering back to my first sight of the hill I contoured to the right and found a line through the crags. I continued this way and was lucky enough to find a safe line all the way to just below the top.
I made the top at 1.45pm, just an hour and a half after starting the ascent. Now for the hardest bit, going down! I had been lucky to avoid the cloud so far and I didn’t want to get caught on the way down, thus making my descent doubly difficult.
I took bearing for the corrie at the back of the hill as this looked the safest way down. Although, there was a bit of scrambling and a bit of backward and forward, the route down was generally OK, particularly when you picked up the main river down. Fortunately, although the cloud was beginning to envelope the hill, I managed to beat it in the speed of my own descent.
Finally, at the back of 3, I made it to the main Loch Quoich path. I was about to give myself a rest stop but had promised that I would cross the river coming out of Lochan na Breac first.
Initially, this seemed to be too wide and deep to cross. However, a short walk downstream found a good wading point. With boots and socks off, I easily managed across. In fact, the water was quite soothing on my feet. This gave me another chance to wring out the socks.
Now for the hardest part of the day, the trudge back to the Mam Undalain! Although this was hard work, it never got too bad and for the most part I was able to keep going and make good time. Although it was still wet it didn’t seem quite so bad coming from the other direction.
Once at the Mam, I had a drink and a final look at the view. At this point, most peaks were clear, so it was quite a wide panorama I had. Looking at my altimeter, I noted that I’d managed to complete nearly 1700m of climbing that day. Biggest day for a while I thought.
After returning to the bothy I found that the SO had had to turn back on Ladhar Bheinn because of problems with her feet and that G and H had not come off the hill yet. In fact they didn’t get off the hill until 9,00pm, an epic day of 12 hours! I think if I was in their company I would have gone crazy at the slow pace. Still at least they were safe.
Of course, on the next day we had to walk out. Fortunately, everyone managed to get up on time and we left for 9.00am. The dry weather meant we made good time and managed to get to the end of the road for 1.00pm.
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