Faceless Killers

Cover via Amazon

Title: Faceless Killers
Author: Henning Mankell
ISBN13: 9781400031573
Source: Library Copy
Rating: 1 out of 5

Synopsis from Goodreads: It was a senselessly violent crime: on a cold night in a remote Swedish farmhouse an elderly farmer is bludgeoned to death, and his wife is left to die with a noose around her neck. And as if this didn’t present enough problems for the Ystad police Inspector Kurt Wallander, the dying woman’s last word is foreign, leaving the police the one tangible clue they have–and in the process, the match that could inflame Sweden’s already smoldering anti-immigrant sentiments.

Unlike the situation with his ex-wife, his estranged daughter, or the beautiful but married young prosecutor who has piqued his interest, in this case, Wallander finds a problem he can handle. He quickly becomes obsessed with solving the crime before the already tense situation explodes, but soon comes to realize that it will require all his reserves of energy and dedication to solve.

My Review:

I already wrote about how uninteresting  I found this book to be. Now that I have finished reading it, I feel it was a total waste of time.

Maybe it was the translation? I don’t know. It lacked suspense and urgency, the characters were dull and the plot was boring and poorly written. I don’t know why it was put in the thriller genre. It is neither psychological nor political.

When I read a mystery book, I expect the murderer to be a complex character with enough motive to execute a cold-blooded murder. The murderer’s character should at least be discussed, outlined, debated and focused on to solve the crime. It was surprisingly missing in this book.

The police officers were predictable. Kurt Wallander himself is a bit of a complex character but is not developed enough. I think with more description and emotion the book could have been better. I mean why is he so popular? His colleagues detective Rydberg and Boman were more interesting comparatively. They were at least doing things and were on the right track.

I also expected to read about Ystad’s landscape, scenery, surrounding, which makes the setting of this novel. Unfortunately, there is none, except the repetitive ”the wind was blowing”.

Do the next books in the series get better? I don’t know. I might give Wallander another chance but not anytime soon.

I had no motivation to go on reading this book but I thought it might grown on me and there would eventually be something startling or maybe there was something I am missing but really the book was quite forgettable.

Truth

…by Peter Temple.

Inspector Stephen Villani is the head of Homicide. He is called to a swanky hotel where a young woman — a girl — is lying dead. Possibly a prostitute. However, the hotel owners don’t want to make a big deal of the death. They respect their clients’ privacy and given the recent opening, want it to be big. And news like this is detrimental to their prospects. So begins a cover up. And more murders. Villani and his team attempt to solve the murders while at the same time, he has to deal with personal issues — a failing (or failed?) marriage, a 15 year old daughter gone astray, a brother who is possibly dealing with bikies and drugs and a father who won’t leave his property despite bushfire threats. The whole case gets very political with the important people possibly involved and trying to get Villani off the case. To no avail.

This book won the Miles Franklin Award and the Victorian Premier Literary award in 2010. All I found myself thinking was — how??? Am I missing something? The book didn’t do much for me at all. There were too many characters and I got lost as to who was who. It seems like a fast paced action that probably would be more suited to the TV than to a book because you just get lost. Villani’s character is probably the only one that seems to grow and that the reader gets an insight into. Everyone else is just there. I don’t know if that makes much sense. But honestly, I struggled to read this book and even the ending wasn’t worth it for me.

I give it a rating of 1. If you have read this book, please tell me if I’m missing something!!!

Until next time,

Cheers!!!

P.S. This has been cross-posted on my personal blog

The Tattooed Man

…by Alex Palmer.

Commander Paul Harrigan is called to a gruesome murder scene in the northern suburbs of Sydney. Four people are dead. One is a Senator’s ex-wife. Another, his teenage son. The third is someone unknown. And finally, one is a corrupt detective from the police force, Mike Cassat who has been missing. In a mummified state. They have all been shot in the head.

As Harrigan searches for the killers, he becomes embroiled in a mess around corruption, politics, terrorism, fraud, biotechnology and espionage. With the help of his girlfriend Grace Riordan, who works for a specialist anti-terrorism organisation and can’t talk much about her work, and his own team, Harrigan tries to crack the mystery. It takes him to different suburbs in Sydney to rural New South Wales to connections in Africa.

What is Cassat’s connection with the other victims?

Who is or are the killers?

Why is Harrigan’s own son, suffering from cerebral palsy kidnapped?

And will there be any justice?

The book was not great by any standard for mystery and thrillers. It felt like there were several issues trying to be tackled at the same time to the point where it became too far-fetched. So much so, I actually took a break from it and read a whole other book in between. In my opinion, a thriller should be a page-turner…one where you can’t wait to find out whodunit. I didn’t get that feel with this book at all. After all, I was able to take a break! The ending was a bit weird and anti-climactic too…which is saying something when the book wasn’t all that thrilling. And while the characters of Harrigan and Riordan were pretty good, no one else really seemed realistic. All in all, a disappointment for me.

I give it a rating of 1.

Until next time,

Cheers!!!

Note: This has been cross-posted on my personal blog.