A review by in_love_with_bookish
The Chestnut Man by Søren Sveistrup

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

1.0

 There are so many things I hated about this book, I don’t know where to start.

Grief is love made homeless


To keep it short, The Chestnut Man is a serial killer story with so many familiar points and beats. It is disturbing, It follows a frustrating but somehow predictable path and it fails at portraying the different issues with sensitivity and nuances.

I think the tone works perfectly well and I think the author knows how to create a sinister atmosphere full of dread and danger. The book was just too frustrating and too long to do the mystery elements justice. And let’s not even talk about the problems with the characters and how those disturbing heartbreaking issues were handled.

The story starts with a very unsettling and gruesome scene that sets the tone for the rest of the book. We have a serial killer on the loose called the chestnut man and a pair of detectives with a lot of differences that need to be put aside if they want a chance at capturing the madman.

I think what drove me nuts was how every single detective except the main guy was either an idiot or just a selfish asshole. It was so frustrating how everyone was running around in circles missing every clue they have and really hindering the process of the investigation causing more lives to be lost. The main character was the only one capable of actually seeing the clues of what they were. The others were a bunch of incompetent assholes who has nothing to do but halt any progress made. This conflict between the main character and the others felt really frustrating and repetitive and it just tainted the story for me. I do not enjoy following stupid characters, especially in mysteries.

Hess had long thought of death with indifference. Not because he hated life, but because existence was painful.


I also find the story to be really traumatic and horrifying. It was so dark for me at times, I felt like I couldn’t breathe. The story deals with Child abuse and it does not shy away from very troubling, heartbreaking gruesome details. The book was so dark it felt at times cruel to me and I just feel like child abuse was used as a means to an end in this book. I think the book could’ve been more sensitive about this particular issue and how it was presented to us. I felt it was done more as a shocking element than as an important issue that needs more depth and compassion.

I just felt so cold reading this book, the writing was too dry, the way a lot of things were written left me feeling really upset and every time I think the characters were getting their shit together, they disappoint me again. I also knew where the story was going and how the author was going to handle some of the themes of the book and I’m extremely disappointed. (view spoiler) All in all, this was really a profoundly horrible experience for me. I may never read a book by this author again, This one was enough to scar me for life. 
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