Sunday 19 February 2012

CRIME REVIEW: Vanished - Liza Marklund

Release Date: 16/02/12

SYNOPSIS:

At a derelict port in Stockholm, two brutally murdered men are found by a security guard. In the same area a young woman, Aida, is on the run from a deranged gunman. Meanwhile, journalist Annika Bengtzon is approached by a woman wanting her story published in the Evening Post. She claims to have founded an organization to erase people's pasts - giving vulnerable individuals a completely new identity. Annika helps Aida to get in touch with the foundation. But as she begins to investigate this woman's story, more bodies turn up and she finds herself getting dangerously close to the truth - that all is not as it seems...This title is previously published as "Paradise".


REVIEW:

Having been switched on the Scandinavian Crime wave a while ago I’ve always tried to keep up with the latest and one of the authors that have been riding the new wave is Liza Marklund. Part of the problem with a book written in another language originally is that so much depends upon the translation and whilst you can have the best in the world some of the phrases won’t always come over or there’s something lost in translation.

Whilst I enjoy Liza’s writing, one of my niggles at the moment is the predictability of the author as a lot of the same devices are used time and again almost as if there’s been a dice roll as to what’s happening. Don’t get me wrong, she does do the story decently but when you can see where it’s going, it can be a little off putting. I want not only surprise but I want it to come as a bolt out of the blue, not something moving at a snail’s pace that I see for quite a way. Add to this other problems that include very clipped sentences and overall I wasn’t that impressed with this story. OK, it was reasonable but when reading a book, I want not only 110% but something to happen that surprises me and sadly that just didn’t happen on this occasion.

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