(Oringe Psychiatric Hospital in Denmark)

THE PURITY OF VENGEANCE is the fourth installment of Jussi Adler-Olsen’s “Department Q” novels.  As with the first three this latest work draws the reader in almost immediately employing a complex plot line and a marvelous translation from the original Danish by Martin Aitken.  As is usually the case, the story line centers around the Copenhagen police detective Carl Morck, who permanently resides in the basement of police headquarters because of his ability to irritate his superiors. No matter how the officials upstairs at headquarters try and keep Morck away from major cases, he seems to outdo himself as he is able to crack cases that have been filed as “unsolved” for years.  The mission of Department Q, whose real name translates into “the Department of Cases Requiring Special Scrutiny,” is to reexamine old case files and ascertain whether he and his assistants; the ever surprising Assad; and Rose, whose personality can morph into her alter ego Yrsa, at any time.

The novel begins at a dinner honoring members of the medical community when suddenly, Curt Wad, a physician who heads the Purity Party, an organization that believes “that we ought not to prolong life in cases where it has not the remotest chance of becoming reasonably dignified,” (30-31) verbally abuses the spouse of one of the award recipients.  Wad accuses Nete Rosen of having had numerous abortions before she was married.  When her husband, Andreas confronts her later that evening while driving home she admits that Wad’s accusations are true.  Andreas decides to end their marriage and as he does, a distraught Nete jerks the steering wheel resulting in a crash that kills her husband.  With a window into the plot, Adler-Olsen introduces a number of other story lines into the narrative including an old case that Morck and company have resurrected involving Rita Nielson, a brothel owner whose disappearance in 1987 was deemed to be a suicide, despite the fact there was little evidence to support that conclusion.  As the author takes the reader back and forth from 1985 to 2010, the sister of former policemen, who also runs a brothel, has acid thrown in her face.  The last strand involves the resurfacing of a shooting that resulted in the death of one of Morck’s colleagues and the paralysis of another.  Out of the blue, Morck, who was also shot during the incident, finds his judgment questioned and there are hints that the death and paralysis of his colleagues was his fault.  It is interesting how Adler-Olsen introduces these strands and how they all seem to come together presenting Morck and company with a number of difficult tasks.

With her life destroyed, the partially crippled Nete takes back her maiden name of Hermansen and decides to get even with all the people that have treated her unfairly during the years leading up to her marriage.  She draws up a list of nine individuals, however, three are dead and she sets her sights on the remaining six, with the list headed by Dr. Curt Wad.  Interestingly people on the list begin to disappear, but each disappearance could be explained by suicide or an accident of some sort.  But, they all disappeared the same weekend in 1987, but it takes until November of 2010 for Rose and Assad to make the connection. The trail eventually leads top Nete Hermansen and her acts of revenge and the work of Dr. Wad.  Curt Wad fears that his life’s work will be destroyed and using a source within the Police Department works to get rid of Morck and his assistants after the investigation gets very close to him.  How the investigation reaches Wad reflects Adler-Olsen’s ability develop scenarios that seem unrelated, but then coalesce in a surprising fashion.  Once Wad realizes how close the police and a journalist named Soren Brandt are to uncovering his secrets he decides they must be eliminated.  Wad’s actions from this point drive the remaining third of the novel.

One of the most interesting developments for those who have read any of Adler-Olsen’s previous works is the development of the Assad character, as he seems to have gone  from a non-descript person who immigrated from Syria, to one whose past begins to emerge, a past that probably involved Syrian intelligence.  Other aspects of the book that impressed me was how the author portrayed his own feelings about the treatment of people who were deemed to be “untermenschen,” or “unproductive members of society” who did not have the right to live because they were also “morally deficient.”  People were categorized in such a manner by Wad’s Purity Party who promoted and conducted forced sterilization and abortions, but were also a political party that was close to achieving legitimacy as they were about to win seats in the Danish parliament as elections approached.  As Adler-Olsen introduces the views and actions of the Purity Party, it allows him to highlight the problems that people who are not accepted by society and treated inhumanly face.  As the plot begins to reach its climax it produces a very unpredictable ending.  If you are a fan of a really good “whodunit,” then the works of Jurri Adler-Olsen will not disappoint.

(The canals of Copenhagen are wonderful!)

A CONSPIRACY OF FAITH by the Danish mystery writer, Jussi Adler-Olsen is the third in his Department Q series centered on police headquarters in Copenhagen that I have read and immensely enjoyed.  The lead detective remains Carl Morck, who is assisted by his somewhat eccentric sidekick, Hafez el-Assad (not to be confused with the former murdering dictator of Syria, who is the father of the current murdering dictator of Syria, Bashir el-Assad), and his administrative assistant, Rose/Yrsa Knudsen who seems to suffer from multiple personality disorder.  Department Q is located in the basement of Copenhagen’s Police Headquarters and its mission is to solve old cases that have not been closed.  Morck is an interesting character who is a superb detective who suffers from his own demons resulting in his banishment to the basement by the head of the Danish police.

The case Morck is presented with is extremely convoluted and complex.  The story begins with two boys tied up in a boat house, somewhere in Denmark, who fear for their lives.  The older of the two is able to loosen the rope around his wrists and write a message in his own blood on a piece of paper which he stuffs in a bottle and drops into the water.  After twelve years the bottle turns up and Morck and his cohorts begin to try and decipher, and then unravel what the significance of the note is.  After careful examination and excellent police work they are able to discern a good part of the message and learn of the disappearance of Poul Holt, a college student from Ballerup who is afflicted with Asperger’s Syndrome.  Poul is joined in captivity with his younger brother Tryggve, who later in the narrative plays a very important role.  After only a few short chapters Alder-Olsen has drawn the reader into the story and the investigation takes off.

In weaving his narrative, Adler-Olsen develops a second plot that finds a man twenty years senior to his wife who constantly disappears from home, for weeks at a time.  He is deranged serial killer who sets his sights on religious groups.  We find him stalking a particular family from a religious sect called “the Mother Church.”  His wife becomes fed up with him, and she grows suspicious which will almost cause her own undoing.  The primary and secondary plots come together as Morck learns that Poul was a Jehovah’s Witness.  The killer sticks to a routine and a plan for each murder that he follows meticulously.  After dinner with a family from the Mother Church he ingratiated himself with the parents under the pretext of taking their children to a karate tournament.  Once they leave the house the serial killer kidnaps the children, Samuel and Magdalena and locks them up in his boat house.  He would teach this family, as he had done with numerous others that “the evils of this world cannot be kept at bay with weekly devotions and renunciation of the good things of modern life.” (137)  The serial killer’s background explains a great deal of his twisted logic as he had grown up with a strict pastor for a father who was the center of the ultra dogmatic nature of his upbringing.  Adler-Olsen explores the psychosis of extreme religion very carefully as he integrates what appear to be his own feelings about religious zealotry.

The twists and turns in the plot keep the reader on the edge of their seat, and for me the book was very difficult to put down.  Adler-Olsen’s character development is wonderful, and his sarcastic humor through the mouths of Morck and Rose/Yrsa are very entertaining.  The conclusion of the story is difficult to predict as you read on and each scene is presented in vivid detail.  If you have not tried one of Adler-Olsen’s mysteries, this is the perfect opportunity to do so.  You do not have to have read the first two, and to the author’s credit he does not go over a great deal of information from those books.  Having been well satisfied by A CONSPIRACY OF FAITH, I cannot wait to tackle the next two in the series, one of which, THE MARCO EFFECT, was published last week.

(Caravaggio’s, “The Calling of St. Matthew,” 1599-1600)

It seems that each time a Daniel Silva novel involving Gabriel Allon, the master art restorer/Israeli special operations practitioner is published conflict in the Middle East region flares to a new level.  This summer is no exception as Israel trades rockets with Hamas in Gaza; ICIS has taken over large swaths of territory in Syria and Iraq, and the mass killings by the Assad regime in Syria continues.  Silva’s current volume, THE HEIST is a typical Allon yarn with periodic references to world events interspersed.  The book opens with the murder of a former British spy turned art middleman named Jack Bradshaw whose body is found in Lake Como, Italy by one of Allon’s circle of friends, the London art impresario, Julian Isherwood.  From that point on the plot is a bit different from the normal Allon escapade.  It centers on an art scam concocted by Allon to recover the Italian Renaissance painting, Nativity with St. Francis and St. Lawrence, by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio.  As the initial plot unfolds characters from previous novels make their appearance, some with major roles.  Those familiar with previous works by Silva will recognize the assassin, Christopher Keller; Don Aton Orsati, the Corsican mobster; and the Swiss NDB counterterrorism expert, Christoph Bittel.  After reading about two-fifths of the novel the first plot comes to a conclusion and we are exposed to the second that is more in line with the previous formula used by Silva in his Allon series.

(the carnage that is the current civil war in Syria)

During the first part of the novel the reader is exposed to the underworld of the high end art trade that exists, particularly in Europe.  Allon emerges from this section of the story uncovering an ingenious way to preserve wealth that leads to the Assad family in Syria.  Silva’s thesis, based on significant contemporary research seems quite accurate, that the Assad family and their allies have hidden billions of dollars in wealth in banks in many parts of the world.  Realizing that some of this wealth has been frozen by certain governments and more might be in the future, the Assad dynasty uses stolen art as a hedge against any future loss of wealth that might detract from any exile should the dictator of Damascus be overthrown.  At the conclusion of the first plot, Allon realizes that art is a conduit to Assad’s wealth and he has squirreled away billions of Euros across the globe.  Allon designs an intricate sting to try and make Assad’s wealth vanish.  The usual suspects make up Allon’s team; again many have appeared in previous novels.  We welcome Eli Lavon, now an archeologist; Uzi Navot, soon to be replaced as the head of Israeli intelligence; Allon’s now pregnant wife, Chiara; Viktor Orlov, the London based former Russian oligarch; and Nigel Whitcomb and Graham Seymour, both of MI6 among others.  There are a number of new characters as Silva weaves his way through the underside of the European banking system and the intricacies of Syrian intelligence.

It took me a little longer than usual to get hooked on Silva’s plot line, but once I did it kept me in its grip.  To Silva’s credit, he avails himself of any chance to integrate the true background history of the story whenever he can.  In introducing the character of Jihan Nawaz whose family was killed by the regime of Hafez al-Assad in the massacre of Hama in 1982, Silva provides a mimi-biography of the dictator who ruled Syria from 1970 to his death in 2000 and his attempt to wipe out the Moslem Brotherhood who opposed his regime.  When speaking about Russian support for the current leader of Syria, Bashir al-Assad, Silva explains the Russian-Syrian connection and the role of Putin, and the recent Russian seizure of the Crimea.  In fact, had Silva waited a few months and postponed publication he could have worked in further developments in the ongoing Syrian civil war and Putin’s attempts to seize eastern Ukraine and his role in the downing of the Malaysian passenger air plane a few weeks ago.  If you have followed the previous thirteen Allon mysteries, the current episode should be satisfying, but I wonder after fourteen books if Silva’s formula is becoming a little stale.

(Reykjavik, Iceland)

At first, SUN ON FIRE by Viktor Aranar Ingolfsson seems to be the type of mystery that is used as a gimmick at a theater party as everyone becomes one of the characters in the storyline.  Guests are left to determine which of the characters is guilty of murder, and slowly as the narrative unfolds characters are eliminated as suspects.  However, in the case of Ingolfsson’s book the mundane approach just described explodes into a real life “who dun it” as certain characters reveal further information that reflect the complexity of past events in their lives.  The two detectives who are the center of the investigation; Bikir Li Hinriksson, a refugee who survived the Vietnam War; and Gunnar Mariuson, who still lives with his mother and spends most of the novel on crutches, are interesting characters in their own right as they try and piece together the evidence and solve the murder of Anton Eriksson, an import export business type who deals in Asian slave labor and also happens to be a pedophile.

What attracted me to the author was my interest in foreign mysteries, particularly those taking place in Scandinavia.  Since the author is Icelandic and the book’s plot centered on investigators and protagonists in the Reykjavik area it fit right into my area of interest.  The story begins in the Icelandic embassy in Berlin on a Sunday afternoon when the Icelandic ambassador to Germany, Konrad Bjornsson hosts a gathering of eight people and at the end of the day one of them is murdered in the ambassador’s study.  Two Icelandic detectives are sent to Berlin to investigate the murder and the “game” is on.

The action soon shifts to the Reykjavik area of Iceland where the plot grows increasingly complex.  Ingolfsson’s writing is clear and precise reflecting a strong translation by Bjorg Arnadottir and Andrew Cauthery, who capture the sarcasm and cynicism that often appears nicely.  I enjoy the author’s approach as he only uses the first names of his characters once their identification has been established and provides their personal history enhancing the depth of the story.  At the outset, the suspects for the murder include a ceramicist and his helper,  a gay couple involved in the fashion industry, an artist dying of cancer who as a nine year old was sexually abused by the murder victim, and a nationally known poet and his companion.  What emerges is a past that has a tremendous influence on the crime, a hippie commune where many of the suspects had lived in the 1970s, and a number of other characters, including a diplomat and a police chief who were also involved with the commune.  It all makes for a story that has unique twists and turns, and the final resolution of the case leads to two other crimes that will keep the reader totally involved.  Overall I would characterize the author’s approach as an Icelandic version of the Swedish writer Henning Mankell, reflecting how successful the novel is.

I began reading William Landay’s DEFENDING JACOB early in the morning and by nightfall I had finished it.  It is rare that a book can keep my interest that long without putting it down, but in this case Landay’s novel trapped me in my recliner and I just kept reading.  The plot is a complex one, but a story that touches a nerve as it unfolds.  Jacob is a teenager living in Newton, MA and he is accused of killing a classmate who had been bullying him.  His father a District Attorney in Middlesex County is forced to recues himself from the case, and his mom is a typical suburbanite mother.  The story has many unique twists and turns that keep the reader completely absorbed and as courtroom strategy and the effect of the legal system  on a family life is explored Landay raises many points that in real life we are forced to confront but never really think about.

In any criminal trial prosecutors are faced with human suffering, but in order to carry out their legal tasks they must keep their feelings at a distance, particularly dealing with a violent crime.  Landay provides in depth analysis of the prosecution and defense approaches to the trial.  Using Andy Barber, Jacob’s dad as the narrator is a very effective tool.  It is very interesting to think about how Andy reacts and deals with the arrest of his son and it puts into focus how parents deal with the death of children, particularly when their own child is accused of murder.  Landay does a credible job describing what the parents of the deceased child and the accused must go through.  The acts of sympathy on the one hand and the vilification on the other are difficult for all to deal with.  In addition, employing Andy Barber as the narrator, Landay provides an interesting critique of the legal system and the strategies employed by all involved.

Perhaps the most important legal issue that emerges is that of privacy, in particular the role of the internet in our society.  It is difficult for some to imagine the “foot print” that each person uses when they use email, Face book, and the internet in general.  What you write or say can never be totally deleted and things cannot be hidden.  Having taught for many years and been involved with students who were constantly reminded that what they put on the internet can affect their lives, I experienced a number of interesting situations where students had no clue that they could be caught saying and doing certain things.  Landay lays out this societal problem well and integrates its ramifications on the criminal justice system throughout the narrative.

The possible use of a “propensity to violence gene” is also explored by tracing the Barber family tree from a violent great grandfather, to “Bloody Billy Barber, Jacob’s grandfather, to his father Andy.  Though some might argue there is such a gene, it just raises the nature v. nurture arguments once again.  Landay explores this issue in detail and it is interesting to contemplate what it might mean if this were actually true.

The relationship between Jacob and his parents is well thought out.  Issues of unconditional love for one’s child can make parents blind to their actions as it appears in the case of Jacob.  But if one listens to the news were parents are shocked by the actions of their children one can see this is very common in our society.  For the Barbers it would appear very simple, was their son a burgeoning psychopath, or a boy just being a boy.  The theme of victimhood is also a major component of the novel.  Who is the victim here?  Is it the Barber family or the parents of the deceased boy?  How does anyone ever recover from being placed in this type of situation?  Was justice actually served by the legal process Landay described?  What of the Barber family, who once Jacob is accused, stood to lose everything; their sanity, careers, home etc?  The book raises the issue that we all might be damaged in some way, and if we are how one does cope?  DEFENDING JACOB is not the typical murder mystery as it goes beyond the “who dun it” approach by raising many complex personal issues that seem to appear in the media each day.  The book has many twists and turns that will surprise the reader and I recommend it highly and look forward to reading Landay’s other two murder mysteries in the near future.

The HARD WAY is a typical Jack Reacher mystery. Great character development and a plot that keeps the ready interested. The twists and turns as Reacher deals with the usual psychotic opponent this time a former commanding officer, a Blackwater type, who had been outsourced to Africa with his unit. The usual political asides are subtly brought out, ie., gun control, Homeland Security, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. This is the tenth Reacher mystery I have read and it holds up to those that preceded it. If you liked Jack Reacher in the past you will enjoy this one. Jack Reacher is the real deal as opposed to Tom Cruise in the movie!