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A review by bookph1le
Bad Blood by Arne Dahl
3.0
It took me a long time to get into this book. Once I did, it was pretty good. More complete review to come.
Full review:
I'm a fan of Scandinavian crime fiction, so I was eager to read this book. While I enjoy psychological tension, this book started too slowly for me, and it took quite a while for me to get into it because I was waiting for the plot to happen. Once it did, I was much more engrossed in the book, but it didn't grab me as much as some similar books I've read. Some minor spoilers to follow.
Part of my problem may be that I picked this book up before reading the first. I felt lost every now and then as the book referenced the case solved in the previous book. Normally I don't start a series anywhere but with the first book, and this is exactly why. The fact that I didn't read the first book first may be part of what tempered my enjoyment of this one, so that's definitely a personal reaction and not a technical flaw with the book. Had I been invested in these characters after having read the first, I would probably have found the beginning sections of the book more compelling.
As it was, I thought it took too long to get to the case itself. Once the case comes to the fore, the book gets a lot more interesting. The aspect that struck me the most was the social commentary. As an American reading this, it's pretty eye-opening to get a view on what non-Americans think about our culture and its effects on the world. I don't want to give the plot away, so it's hard to address this aspect specifically. Suffice it to say I was interested in what this book had to say about serial killers and about violence in the U.S. in general.
The characters are good, but I sometimes had trouble keeping track of who was whom. Again, this may be partially due to my not having read the first book. They felt like distinct people to me, it was just that I had trouble connecting the name with the particular character's attributes. Perhaps most interesting of all to me was Jorge Chavez because I found it enlightening to gain some insight into race relations in other countries. I also found Nyberg's story compelling as it deals with his facing up to his past sins and trying to find a way forward. The conclusion to it felt realistic to me without being pat or trite.
As for the central mystery, it's a little hard to discuss without giving too much away. I liked how the book took my presumption of what it would be about and turned it. It really made me think about the way the U.S. interacts with our allies and how those allies view us and our behavior. There are some gruesome scenes that do an excellent job of making the reader examine and weigh the costs of U.S. policies.
One of the reasons why I enjoy Scandinavian crime fiction is that it's reflective and tends to ruminate on a lot of big themes as opposed to just offering flashy action. This book was no exception, but it didn't suck me under. Overall, it was a good read, but not one I'd place high on my list of great fiction of the genre.
Full review:
I'm a fan of Scandinavian crime fiction, so I was eager to read this book. While I enjoy psychological tension, this book started too slowly for me, and it took quite a while for me to get into it because I was waiting for the plot to happen. Once it did, I was much more engrossed in the book, but it didn't grab me as much as some similar books I've read. Some minor spoilers to follow.
Part of my problem may be that I picked this book up before reading the first. I felt lost every now and then as the book referenced the case solved in the previous book. Normally I don't start a series anywhere but with the first book, and this is exactly why. The fact that I didn't read the first book first may be part of what tempered my enjoyment of this one, so that's definitely a personal reaction and not a technical flaw with the book. Had I been invested in these characters after having read the first, I would probably have found the beginning sections of the book more compelling.
As it was, I thought it took too long to get to the case itself. Once the case comes to the fore, the book gets a lot more interesting. The aspect that struck me the most was the social commentary. As an American reading this, it's pretty eye-opening to get a view on what non-Americans think about our culture and its effects on the world. I don't want to give the plot away, so it's hard to address this aspect specifically. Suffice it to say I was interested in what this book had to say about serial killers and about violence in the U.S. in general.
The characters are good, but I sometimes had trouble keeping track of who was whom. Again, this may be partially due to my not having read the first book. They felt like distinct people to me, it was just that I had trouble connecting the name with the particular character's attributes. Perhaps most interesting of all to me was Jorge Chavez because I found it enlightening to gain some insight into race relations in other countries. I also found Nyberg's story compelling as it deals with his facing up to his past sins and trying to find a way forward. The conclusion to it felt realistic to me without being pat or trite.
As for the central mystery, it's a little hard to discuss without giving too much away. I liked how the book took my presumption of what it would be about and turned it. It really made me think about the way the U.S. interacts with our allies and how those allies view us and our behavior. There are some gruesome scenes that do an excellent job of making the reader examine and weigh the costs of U.S. policies.
One of the reasons why I enjoy Scandinavian crime fiction is that it's reflective and tends to ruminate on a lot of big themes as opposed to just offering flashy action. This book was no exception, but it didn't suck me under. Overall, it was a good read, but not one I'd place high on my list of great fiction of the genre.