The Leopard by Jo Nesbø
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Harry Hole is hiding in a hole in Hong Kong, sleeping his days off, gambling away his time and in the process getting himself deeper in debt, owing money to the Triad. In the midst of such heartbreaking atmosphere, Oslo police sends a one man search team to find out Hole and bring him back to Norway, as his expertise suddenly are in much demand, as another serial killer has started business and have already claimed three clients. His modus-operandi is unique, as he uses an old Belgian torture device called Leopold’s Apple to torture and murder his victims, all female. Hole back in Norway is assigned the case unofficially as he begins to move through the murky waters on Police politics and African colonists to uncover the grisly truth.

I had two reasons for being frightened that I might just end up not finishing this book.
1. 900+ pages. Daunting and somewhat wary-ish. I dont look forward to reading 900+ pages long crime books. 900+ pages mean that the book, in tune with my schedule, is going to be a long read. And, I don’t like a thriller which becomes long drawn, somehow I feel less inclined towards the book after a span of 4-5 days.
2. This was the 8th Hole novel. And I was not sure whether I could tune in into the booka dn the character. As so much has been written about this character and series, somehow I had the feeling that I might miss out or feel left out of the whole “HARRY HOLE” persona. And end up not enjoying as much as I should have liked to.

But, within 50 pages I knew that both the above mentioned points were not gonna stop me from taking as much pleasure possible from reading this book. Make no mistake, this one had all the stereotypes associated with a police procedural featuring a serial killer. It had,
1. A serial killer.
2. Female victims.
3. (most importantly) A disgruntled, broken down police officer who is not much obedient and has constantly been in trouble with his superiors.
4. A plot laced with internal police politics.
But, despite these points Nesbo managed to write a book and create a plot which not only spans from Europe to Africa but also manages to be a fast and furiously twisted ride, with a stereotype protagonist like none other. Cutting, short I loved this book. 900 pages in 4 days flat tells the story.

Lastly, my guess is that Mr. Nesbo is a mentally sick man. No sane person can create murder scenes. One victim’s torture method really made me cringe and read those pages over and over again. Now had he been sane, and just left it at the victims being just murdered, had I been that blown out of my mind. No!! So thank you Mr. Nesbo, your descriptions were gory and grisly, and I enjoyed reading every bit of it.


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The Merry Misogynist by Colin Cotterill
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Disclaimer: Don’t get fooled by the title, this book is neither about the Canadian author David Gilmour nor Sir Naipaul.

First line: By the time the calendar pages had flipped around to 1978, Vientiane, the capital of the People’s Democratic Republic of Laos, had become a dour place to live.

The great Dr. Siri, Laos’ only coroner is facing charges from the Housing Department of his country of subletting his house to a motley group of shady characters. He is faced with the charge of profiting from a house which had been allotted to him for his shelter by the party for free. As he decides to fight these charges, from Madam Daeng’s house cum noodle shop, where Siri is currently staying, by enlisting the loathsome Judge Haeng help in fighting off Comrade Koomki of the housing department, his professional expertise is called into service as a dead body of a woman is delivered to his morgue. With apparent signs of assault, Dr. Siri comes face to face with the fact, that a serial killer is killing off women in the country and it is up to him and his friends(Phosy, Civilai, Geung, Dtui and Daeng) to stop this killer and bring him to justice. Added to this gruesome crime, Siri gets on a personal job to find a mentally unstable Indian, crazy Rajid, who writes ridddles and whose father Mr. Tickoo works in an Indian restaurant.

I normally tend to stay away from the American serial killer crime novels. They are boring. The plots don’t engage me in anyway, and here is where this book scores. Full points to Cotterill, who wrote a serial killer novel and made it every bit interesting, and managed to keep me hooked till the last page had gone by. How did he do this? He kept a sub plot of finding Crazy Rajid, which kept the reader moving back and forth thereby driving off monotony. And, somehow his writing style made the parts which do not deal with the main plot interesting to read. Like Dr. Siri seeing spirits or the conversation between Civilai and Siri, or the scenes where Civilai tries to make people eat the buns baked by him.

Though going by Slash and Burn, I thought that even this book will have a high humor quotient, but it wasnt there. But whatever there was, was enough to add the spice of laughter to an otherwise brutal, chilling and gruesome crime novel.

P.S. Look out for the Communist mottos by Judge Haeng, they are present and they are as effective as ever.


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1222 by Anne Holt
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

First line - AS IT WAS ONLY THE TRAIN DRIVER WHO DIED, YOU COULDN’T CALL IT A DISASTER.
1222 is the eighth book in the series of Crime Novels written by the Norwegian writer, Anne Holt, featuring retired policewoman Hanne Wilhelmsen. The book is set in the town of Finse in Norway, which lies 1222 meters above sea level, thus making it the highest Railway System located in Norway.

A train carrying passengers to Bergen comes under a hurricane and heavy snowfall, and crashes killing the driver immediately. The passengers on board, including the crippled Hanne, is evacuated to a nearby Hotel, where they are provided with food and shelter as the weather conditions goes from bad to worse. Keeping in tune with the nature the internal atmosphere of the hotel gets chilly, as within a few hours of evacuation one of the passengers is found dead with a bullet hole. Hanne being ex-police becomes the natural choice for leading the investigation.

The plot is in style of a classic whodunnit. We have our murder victims, we have more than enough suspects and we also get a closed door atmosphere. Although the total number of passengers from the train numbered up to more than 190, but the writer while creating a suspect pool kept the number within 10, with the other 180 passengers merely being side characters. The blood and gore normally associated with Nordic Crime fiction was absent. But the ending disappointed me, somehow it felt as if the writer suddenly realised that she needs to end the book hence she needs to get someone within the suspect pool to act as a murderer. This abruptness mellowed down a plot which was going strongly and had the capacity of ending with a high note.

Another point where the book fell flat was the translation. Maybe it was because of this translation the book felt disjointed at times, and I found myself skipping paragraphs. So, if one manages to ignore these points, here is a book which is set in a foreign country, surrounded by an atmosphere as chilly as a psychopathic criminal, a plot which is somewhat loose but fast, and equally enjoyable.


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A Pinch Of Snuff by Reginald Hill
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

“ALL RIGHT. ALL RIGHT! GASPED PASCOE IN HIS AGONY.”

Thus started A PINCH OF SNUFF by the celebrated British Crime author Reginald Hill, the fifth instalment of his crime novels featuring the protagonist duo of Andy “Fat man” Dalziel, his “sidekick” Peter Pascoe, and deftly helped by Sergeant Weild. And, not to forget peter’s feisty wife Ellie. The book starts with Peter’s visit to his dentist when the doctor tells him that in a recent BDSM adult movie viewing, of which the doctor was a part of, there was a suspicion on the part of the doctor, that the actress involved was really beaten and that her teeth flew of her mouth in reality, instead of acting the part. Pascoe burdened with such revelations decides to investigate the matter, albeit on his own, as Fat Man Dalziel takes no interest in the accusations and clearly states that Pascoe is chasing wild goose. Things takes a turn when the man in charge of the movie theatre showing the movie is found murdered and his home ransacked. Pascoe like a true detective follows his hunch and we are presented with a slow yet a twisted work of crime writing.

This is probably one of those very few detective duo series where the main work, or rather the main leg work is done by the sidekick. At times I feel that Pascoe is the main character with Dalziel appearing like a visiting consultant only to provide valuable snippets of input and theories. But never once reading the book there is a feeling that one of the two is the main character and the other being the sidekick. Hill manages to portray in such a way which makes them look both equal a partner, which is not present too often in crime fiction. Right from Holmes and Watson, through Poirot and Hastings to Morse and Lewis. Not many writers can claim such feat, but among those who can, Hill is one of them. And; this is what makes this duo such an interesting pair of crime fighters.

The plot was slow, and it was twisted, with a lot of connection between the events that takes place. This book needs time for reading; any plans of finishing it in two days flat would fall flat. But once one third of the book has gone by, the plot thickens and the pace starts building. And since the book dealt with a subject which seldom gets talked about or gets featured in books as a subject for a plot, the reading experience is made even better.


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The Kill List by Frederick Forsyth
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

“Move aside boys, make way for the MAN”
This is the exact impression I had while I was storming through the book called “THE KILL LIST” by the legendary Frederick Forsyth. Time and time again as he had proved earlier, he again proved why Lee Child remarked about THE DAY OF THE JACKAL “This was the book that broke the mould” The books is cat and mouse chase between an American colonel and a Jihadist Cleric. I guess telling more would give away the plot. And with this book he proved again why he stands as a man, in a crowd of thriller “boys” novelists.

Accepted that KILL LIST was no JACKAL. But, it isn’t a dud either, in fact its a taut and fast paced thriller, which involved huge amount of research (as is the case with every Forsyth book), but never did seem to be out of place. And here lies one of his fortes; Forsyth has that uncanny style of incorporating the non-fiction or the research part into a spy thriller in a way that it never becomes too taxing on the reader. As Elmore Leonard in one of his essays regarding tips to writers had said that, “skip the part which the readers tend to skip.” For that the writer must be well aware of what the readers do skip. Forsyth, in my opinion knows that too much on facts and paragraphs in a fast paced thriller will make the reader skip those pages. The reader wants action and speed; he doesn’t want to be burdened with endless facts. But then how can a political thriller be sound and strong without the facts. Be it the endless committees and hit men of the KGB and CIA in the Cold War novels, or be it the various clans and faction of a Jihadist Terror Group. The facts are needed, and Forsyth presents them in a way that they become essential to the reader, that stops him from skipping those pages. In fact they become exciting and interesting to read.

Another one of his forte, he still churns out standalones in a time where crime fiction is infested with series authors. Make no mistake, I am a huge fan of crime series, but somehow my affection for them is limited to detective fiction, and I really dont enjoy spy fiction with a character reappearing as the protagonist time after time. It’s not justifiable, I guess. How can a spy or a political assassin perform time after time again without ever being compromised. It cant happen. And, here is where Forsyth scores big, he writes standalones and creates worship-able protagonists for that single book. Hardly ever has he used the same protagonist more than twice. One for certain was Mike Martin who appeared in the Afghan and the Fist of God. And, another was Paul Devereaux. I guess it takes a Man to create a brand new HERO for every book and make them stand in the tallest way possible. It’s not a cup of tea for the boys.

Why 4 stars then, instead of 5? Two reasons, First the ending came too fast. And, Second,the protagonist almost had a cake walk. The book never gave a single upper hand to the villain. Now that is something I don't enjoy, and this is appearing time after time in his recent works. I love a duel between the two warriors where both the parties have the same ammunition to blast each other to kingdom come, and that creates tension as there comes a situation where anyone can win, as it used to be in his earlier works. Here it was absent. Barring these two points the book was flawless.

So, is Forsyth my favorite spy novelist? Yes he is. For me he is the high priest. I never had any affection for Le Carre’s style, I mean why read a spy thriller if I it is slow and reads like a work of mainstream fiction, I will read mainstream fiction instead. And this is Le Carre’s problem, his book BORES me to death. Neither they are fast, nor do they interest me. So, with Ludlum gone, and Follet not writing spy fiction anymore Forsyth reigns supreme.

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The Shape of Water by Andrea Camilleri
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I was again frightened of being blindsided by a PD James phenomenon of not understanding why the writer is hallowed in the world of crime writing, and whether at all the book I just finished can be considered as crime fiction. But, then I started reading Andrea Camilleri’s The Shape of Water, featuring his protagonist, the great Salvu Montalbano, and immediately felt assured that come what may this reading experience won’t turn into a disaster, and that maybe I will end up liking this book a lot. And, that’s what happened precisely.
The plot of the book is a classic whodunit. A local high flying politician dies under unnatural circumstances, and as the local establishments try to cover up the death by marking it as due to natural causes, Montalbano smells foul and decides to carry on with the investigation. As the victim was a politician, the writer had the opportunity to enlarge the suspect pool, but thankfully he kept it limited within his family and his close associates. The ending was good, and it was laced with a number of twists which made it more enjoyable.
Salvu Montalbano comes out as a policeman who is easily irritated and at times irritates the reader too. Which means, I enjoyed his character. The plot had its fair share of violence, but it also had a nice dose of dark humor. There are scenes in this book which if judged from the point of brutality is very brutal, but still manages to make the reader laugh as it is written with a vein of dark humor.
Definitely a page turner, I enjoyed this book immensely. And, I would recommend this book to anyone who is in search for a page turner, set in a foreign country.


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Bullet for a Star by Stuart M. Kaminsky
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

There is a certain pleasure, which I get, while reading fiction filled with original events and characters. This phenomenon was limited to my WW 2 or Cold War spy novels where actual historical figures were made to appear in the books, given dialogues, and scenes. Stuart Kaminsky’s “Bullet For A Star” his first novel to feature the 40’s era Hollywood based private detective Toby Peters, had the same theme, but with a different colour. Here instead of political figures, the men to feature where actual movie stars of that era. The main plot itself is based on the actor Erroll Flynn, while Humphrey Bogart, Jack Warner and at the very end Judy Garland makes cameo appearances.

The plot centres on Eroll Flynn. Someone is trying to blackmail him, as the studio agrees to pay the blackmailer, Peters is called upon by Warner Brothers to make the payment on their behalf. The whole scheme goes wrong as Peters is blindsided, and soon he finds his gun missing, him a murder suspect with dead bodies piling around him. As far as the plot goes there was nothing in it, which has not been written before. But, there was this added factor of the real actors which added a dose of extra pleasure while reading. There is a scene between Peters and Bogart which would go down as one of my the most favourite scene of all times.

I will certainly recommend this book to everyone. This is not only for crime readers. Stuart Kaminsky, kept his book short and made it interesting. In his part he created a plot centred on living figures, which never turned into a parody. This is by far one of the best P.I. books I have read in recent times.


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