A child disappears, and years later, his now-adult brother does as well; when the brother's wife turns to a recovering addict turned part-time investigator to help, the city of Stockholm threatens to explode in Carl-Johan Vallgren's The Boy in the Shadows.
Vallgren's thriller has all the hallmarks of Scandinavian noir--gloomy characters, grisly murders, and long-buried secrets--but broadens the horizon with secret military experiments and intimations of curses and black magic. A lot of things thrown in the pot, but the story never stops moving.
Vallgren's novel also benefits from an unusual protagonist and a complex collection of supporting characters and backstories, which in the end tie into the present storyline nicely.
All in all, a satisfying read, and one I consumed quickly.
I borrowed this from the Morrisson-Reeves Public Library in Richmond, Indiana.
Vallgren's thriller has all the hallmarks of Scandinavian noir--gloomy characters, grisly murders, and long-buried secrets--but broadens the horizon with secret military experiments and intimations of curses and black magic. A lot of things thrown in the pot, but the story never stops moving.
Vallgren's novel also benefits from an unusual protagonist and a complex collection of supporting characters and backstories, which in the end tie into the present storyline nicely.
All in all, a satisfying read, and one I consumed quickly.
I borrowed this from the Morrisson-Reeves Public Library in Richmond, Indiana.
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