Longtime readers of Crime by the Book will know much I loved Paris’ BEHIND CLOSED DOORS (I’m still recommending that book, and it’s a couple years old now!), so I had high hopes for Paris’ Summer 2018 release. Unfortunately, BRING ME BACK lacks the tension and menace of BEHIND CLOSED DOORS - and, coupled with a totally improbable plot, it just falls flat, plain and simple. If you’re keen to check out BRING ME BACK for yourself, I would encourage you to pick up a copy from your local library before spending your hard-earned money on it; this book is unfortunately not up to par with the crop of strong psychological suspense novels releasing this spring.
Read MoreBook Review: THE BOY AT THE DOOR by Alex Dahl
It’s hard to imagine a summer read better tailored to Crime by the Book than a Scandinavian psychological suspense novel, aka a combination of my two favorite kinds of crime books—and that’s exactly what readers will get in THE BOY AT THE DOOR by Alex Dahl. A binge-worthy story of suspense with dark and weighty undercurrents, Dahl’s first novel strikes an excellent balance between the melancholy and gloom of Nordic crime and the breezy pacing of your favorite beach read. Yet, despite its well-deserved “binge-read” status, THE BOY AT THE DOOR tackles genuinely difficult themes: most prominently, addiction and the pressures of motherhood take center stage here. It’s a winning combination, and, set against the atmospheric and picturesque backdrop of Scandinavia, Dahl’s tense and menacing story of familial suspense is a summer standout. Add this to your summer reading list and set aside a weekend to tear through its addictive and taut interpersonal mystery.
Read MoreBook Review: THE DYING DETECTIVE by Leif GW Persson
With all the brand-new (and very enticing!) books releasing every week, it can feel really hard to make time to catch up on the slightly older books you may have missed when they first came out—but today’s post is evidence that pressing pause on the new releases can be such a rewarding exercise. THE DYING DETECTIVE by Leif GW Persson released in hardcover in the spring of 2017… and who knows how I missed out on reading it then, but I’m so glad it caught my eye in its newly-released paperback format. This masterful police procedural is every bit a worthy addition to every Nordic Noir reader’s personal library.
Read MoreBook Review: THE GOOD SON by You-jeong Jeong
THE GOOD SON is the first of South Korean writer You-jeong Jeong’s books to be made available to English-speaking audiences—and it’s a must-read, plain and simple. With harrowing precision and unflinching bluntness, Jeong draws readers into the mind of her tormented main character, Yu-jin - a young man with a faulty memory and some very dark secrets. THE GOOD SON will shock with blood and guts as much as it will delight with originality and unpredictability. In Jeong’s masterful hands, this story of memory loss and familial secrets is nothing short of spectacular. All I can hope for (beyond my hope that you pick up a copy of this book upon its release) is that more of Jeong’s work will be translated into English as soon as possible -- I, for one, will be waiting!
Read MoreBook Review: YOU WERE MADE FOR THIS by Michelle Sacks
Why do we love to observe catastrophe? It happens every day, in big ways and in small. We slow down to observe an accident on the side of the road; we seek out with fascination news stories involving all manner of unthinkable events; we pick up crime books like Michelle Sacks’ sharp-edged YOU WERE MADE FOR THIS. Sometimes I’m sure we do these things to better understand our world and all its dark corners—sometimes I’m sure we do it for no reason other than morbid curiosity. In Sacks’ caustic novel of secrets and lies, readers explore the everyday catastrophes of interpersonal relationships. There’s jealousy, revenge, insecurity, betrayals, and a whole lot more to be found within these pages, and it’s this potent blend of all too human experiences that give YOU WERE MADE FOR THIS its bite.
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