Published by Quercus,
5 March 2020.
5 March 2020.
ISBN:
978-1-78648-617-2 (HB)
The
author needs no introduction as he is Denmark’s Number 1 crime writer and his
books routinely rank high in worldwide bestseller lists. This book, ably translated into the English
language by William Frost, is again a Department Q (cold cases division) thriller and centres on
the nail-biting backstory of the Department’s own Assad.
The
reference to 2117 relates to a refugee fleeing war whose lifeless body is
washed up ashore in the Mediterranean. This is the start of a horrifying chain
of events Barcelona based impecunious freelance journalist
Joan Aiguader has reached rock bottom and is contemplating ending it all when,
watching Breaking News images on a café TV, his reporting instincts kick in and
he hotfoots it to Ayia Napa beach in Cyprus in order to capture a huge, exclusive
scoop and revive his past glories.
The
familiar cast of characters of Department Q is present; there’s an interesting
development in the relationship between Mona and Carl, but that’s not all. The plot is about vengeful terrorist acts,
many years in the making, stitched skillfully into Assad’s sad history and the
close family he was once a part of and running in parallel is an ingenious sub-plot
concerning an online gamer, a Danish teenage psychopath, relentlessly playing
out his savage and homicidal high-stakes intentions.
The
author is a true pro, and keeps the reader on tenterhooks wondering if
the Department will be able to pull off this most challenging of tasks as the
clock inexorably ticks down and edges the team even closer to its cunning and
dangerous adversaries.
Thoroughly
hard-hitting and dark, nevertheless this is a gripping read that cracks along
in the author’s typically powerful and masterly fashion. The suspense and tension never falter and all
the ends are neatly and satisfyingly wrapped up. Highly recommended.
------
Reviewer: Serena
Fairfax
Jussie Adler-Olsen was born Carl Valdemar Jussi Henry
Adler-Olsen on 2 August 1950 in Copenhagen, Denmark. He is a Danish author, publisher, editor and
entrepreneur. Jussi Adler-Olsen's career is characterised by his great
involvement in a wide range of media related activities.
www.jussiadlerolsen.dk/
Serena Fairfax spent her childhood in India,
qualified as a lawyer in England and practised in London for many years. She
began writing by contributing feature articles to legal periodicals then turned her hand to fiction. Having
published nine novels all, bar one, hardwired with a romantic theme, she has
also written short stories and accounts of her explorations off the beaten
track that feature on her blog. A tenth, distinctly unromantic, novel is a work
in progress. Thrillers, crime and mystery narratives, collecting old masks and
singing are a few of her favourite things.
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