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25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Well-plotted psychological thriller/ police procedural - an Insp Sejer mystery, December 10, 2010
This review is from: Bad Intentions (Paperback)
Karin Fossum is my favorite Scandinavian crime novelist (I also like reading the works of Johan Theorin, Ake Edwardson, Arnaldur Indridason, etc.). Her novels have a way of delving into the psyche of individuals and exposing people's innermost thoughts, desires, and flaws. Her writing style is minimalistic yet she is credibly able to convey complex characters and plots that engage the reader.
"Bad Intentions" is another novel in the Insp Sejer series. Insp Sejer is one of my favorite characters in crime fiction - a meticulous and astute policeman, he is always able to sense something amiss as he pieces the clues of a crime together in order to solve it. Sejer is a multi-faceted character which makes reading about him even more interesting, especially as readers familiar with his character are able to see him evolve as the series progresses.
The story is about friends, Axel and Reilly who have picked up their friend Jon for a trip to a remote cabin, presumably to lift their friend Jon's spirits (Jon is a very troubled young man). The trio row out on Dead Water Lake and a terrible tragedy ensues. Jon dies, and the other two try to cover things up by delaying reporting the incident to the police. When Insp Sejer and his assistant Jacob Skarre (another of my favorite characters in crime fiction) arrive at the scene, they immediately sense something amiss, even though the two young men appear to have colluded to get their stories straight. Yet with no other witnesses or clues, the case is hard to solve until the body of a teenage boy is found several weeks later in a nearby lake.
Like the other novels in the Sejer series, this is a deeply psychological novel, which probes the human conscience, and also touches on friendship and what happens when trust gives way to distrust and paranoia. Most of the Sejer novels take readers into the dark recesses of human minds, explore human frailties, and make us question our own beliefs and assumptions. This is a compelling and rewarding read.
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good, But Not As Great As Other Sejer Books, May 14, 2011
This review is from: Bad Intentions (Paperback)
Fossum's a wonderful writer. Her characters, even the most minor one, are always fully developed human beings, and her settings and events are so well-drawn that you feel you know the places and participate in the happenings and discoveries.
Bad Intentions is excellent Fossum, as usual; but it's narrower than her other books, focusing on the three main characters almost exclusively. It's a lean, spare book, beautifully executed. That makes it a quick read -- memorable, but quick. I'd like to give it more stars, but it went so fast, I was left still hungry.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A well-written suspenseful psychological thriller, August 7, 2011
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
The writers that publishers choose to comment on and extol their new books on the books' front and back covers tell us something about the new book. Houghton chose Ruth Rendell for this "Inspector Sejer Mystery." She wrote "I always await a new novel from Karin Fossum." Rendell is known for writing two kinds of novels, detective mysteries and psychological thrillers. Although Inspector Sejer does try to unravel this case, his appearances in the novel and his contributions to the resolution are minimal. This book falls into the psychological thriller type. This observation is not a detraction of its merits. The book is very interesting. Furthermore, readers shouldn't be put off by it being a psychological thriller. Fossum describes the behavior of several people, but she doesn't delve that deep to annoy readers. She delves deep enough to tantalize her readers.
What happened? A young man is found drowned. His two friends say that he wandered away from their cabin, where they had gone for a week-end rest, and apparently committed suicide. They claim he was upset about something, but don't know what. The youth had a nervous breakdown some weeks past and had been in an institution.
There statements don't ring true. The youth's doctor states emphatically that he was not suicidal. He had developed a close friendship with a very clever outspoken female inmate and enjoyed being with her. The female also assures Sejer that he was happy with her. True, he was bothered. He had a guilty conscience about something. Neither she nor the doctor knew what it was. Inspector Sejer feels that the two youths with whom he was spending time were involved in his death. But forensics is unable to find a criminal cause of his death. All they knew is that he drowned.
The three youths have different personalities. The dead man was very passive. One is very aggressive, intelligent, and continues to remind people that he can control others, what they think and what they do. The third is weak. He uses drugs. He needs a kitten to hug and put him at ease. He is clearly bothered by something. Is it the same thing that bothered the drowned youth? Soon another dead youth is found. He has lain in the water for quite a few months. Is there a connection?
Readers will enjoy this drama and see how the two young men act. Fossum does not reveal what happened until near the end of her book and creates beguiling suspense.
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