Customer Reviews

The Black Path

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

As a reader who has read all of Henning Mankell's Kurt Wallender mysteries, Karin Fossum's Conrad Sejer mysteries, Kjell Eriksson, Arnaldur Indridason, and Mari Jungstedt, and the best of the British, Peter Robinson, Reginald Hill, P.D. James, Ruth Rendell, etc., I have to say that the discovery of the books of Asa Larsson are exceptional. The psychology, motivations, and plot devices are so riveting. I have read the first 3 books, in what I understand is to be a series of 6, and they are truly, "I can't put them down" reads. The darkness of the books is in keeping with the Scandanavian tradition, but there is so much more subtlety. The descriptions, the little surprises of language, and the occasional dark humor, are totally involving. I recommend reading the first, second, and third in order, if possible. 'The Black Path', the third of the septet, have left me eagerly awaiting the next three. The intelligence of writing is astonishing.

This is the third book in a series of novels set in northern Sweden. I originally found the first one, Sun Storm, while looking for foreign police procedurals, which I consume voraciously. However, I wouldn't really put these books into that genre -- which might be why some people gave them low ratings.

Yes, there is a central mystery. Yes, there are police people searching out clues. Yes, there is CSI-like pathology stuff. But, by the third book, The Black Path, it is almost secondary.

Asa Larsson and her interpreter have an AMAZING way with words! The images conjured up are amazing and breathtaking. And she builds incredibly rich characters that you watch grow and change and evolve throughout the story. And they are so unforgettable! Rebecka and Sivving and Nalle and Mans and Swen-Erik....

There is a distinct structure to the novels that I am really enjoying, but that is very different from other police procedurals (like those of Mankell) -- so be warned.

This book is the 3d in a crime series focused on Sweden's northernmost town, Koruna, the author's birthplace. In particular, it addresses the fates of girls and boys from difficult backgrounds there who seem to have 'made it' in the greater world - be that capital Stockholm or, in this book, even Africa, in which Swedish mining firms do operate. That greater world may bring money status and money. Butit also may bring murder and bloody violence. The `Black Path' turns out to be both material and metaphorical. Rebecka, the female Stockholm lawyer from Koruna,is still with us, but the focus is now on a Koruna boy who has risen to the top of the worldwide mining industry. A terrible murder, wrought from that industry, pops up back home. Our familiar Koruna woman-man detective team must deal with it. This device still roots the book as a local police procedural. A potential reader of this series best do so in order, beginning with the first, `Sun Storm.' She or he should have an interest in differing environments, but also be on the lookout for the constants in human nature. The series' perspective is woman's, but the action is as violent as any man would require. The series' main axis, however, remains moral, as befits the Swedes.

In Kiruna, Sweden, the corpse of the woman found on the frozen lake did not require an autopsy to see she was tortured. Police Inspectors Anna-Maria Mella and Sven-Erik Stainacke lead the investigation into identifying who the Jane Doe is and why she was so brutally battered.

Anna-Maria learns who the deceased is and her connections as a superstar employee at Kallis Mining, an international company with incredible connections at the top of Sweden, Europe and beyond. Chief Prosecutor Alf Bjornfot knows if they are to make a case against politically connected Mauri Kallis, he needs a special top gun at the scene. He asks attorney Rebecka Martinsson to assist them as they make inquiries into the CEO of the firm whose assistant was found murdered on that frozen lake. Rebecka agrees as she needs work to move past her last harrowing case (see THE BLOOD SPLIT) in which she was physically injured and hospitalized and still emotionally traumatized. None of the participants yet realize how convoluted and complex the motive for the homicide is and how dangerous trying to prove it will be.

This is an exhilarating Swedish police procedural legal thriller. The investigation is enhanced by insight into the lead females especially Rebecka who has not moved past the beating she took on her previous case and though she puts up a strong front still has qualms and doubts. The whodunit is well written with red herrings and plausible twists starting with brainstorming to identify who the victim is. The motive is especially fascinating as it seems just out of reach of the prosecution, the cops and the reader yet all the clues are laid out for the audience to know why. Asa Larsson provides a deep entertaining but icy Northern Swedish homicide thriller.

Harriet Klausner

I have not read earlier titles by Larsson, but I will.

As a police procedural, hmmm. Not really a thriller. As a psychological novel, The Black Path is a fine unravelling of characters. So many characters, in fact, that I had huge trouble keeping them clear in my mind. As a work of fiction, the language is gorgeous, the images beautifully, even poetically expressed. I give full credit to Marlaine Delargy for a superb translation, with only occasional, subtle slips of idiom. The plot is strong, the characters are fully realised and well defined.

Then why four stars? I take a deep breath. Here goes. From page one I was drawn into the internal voice of the protagonist - I think she is the protagonist - Rebecka Martinsson, just recovering from a severely debilitating psychosis. Next, I am literally in the pants of somebody named Leif Pudas. Okay, a new voice, I see it from his eyes, very interesting. He finds a dead body in a fishing hut on a frozen lake. Then comes Inspector Anna-Maria Mella - Can this actually be the protagonist? She is in charge of investigating the mysterious corpse, setting off our police procedural. I am becoming a little worried, being pulled inside the heads of these three characters, one leaping upon the next in quick succession.

It gets more confusing. There is a Lapp child, Ester, who seems not to be entirely present in her own head; there is somebody named Sven-Erik Stålnacke (turns out he is a repeat character in this series), there is a whole family of international high-rollers, each with his/her own fully developed voice, there is even the corpse herself, from inside her head, told fully in flashbacks with flashbacks. Toward the end we even get a brief look into the murderer's head as he is going about committing the original murder -- It goes on, abruptly switching not only inside the heads of many characters, but switching without warning from the present into endless flashbacks: and here's another kicker: the present is written in the past tense, and the flashbacks are written in the present tense. You've got to learn the author's protocol right from the start.

Look. This is a novel well worth reading for the beautiful flow of language, for the fascinating characters and, in the end, for the devastating story. You just have to work it out. You have to concentrate. It's worth the effort. I would request the author to provide a dramatis personae at the start of each novel, just to keep the characters clear as we read.

Go for it. Good luck.

I don't know what they're putting in the water over there, but Scandinavia is producing some of today's most talented crime fiction authors. That includes Asa Larsson whose latest mystery lives up to the promise evident in her first two outings. This is an atmospheric and engrossing (if often dark) thriller which revolves around the shocking murder of a young female corporate excecutive. The two main protagonists, police det. Anna Maria and local prosecutor Rebecka, make an interesting pair as they work together to find the killer. Larsson makes you care about the "why" behind the murder as much as the "who".

I think this is a book you will enjoy if you find the plot summary on the back intriguing. Based on reviews, I decided to read it even though I was not excited by the description and I am so bored that I will not be finishing the book (made it a bit over halfway through). For the first quarter of the book I found the characters interesting enough, but soon after I no longer felt any connection with any of them. Maybe part of the problem is that I didn't read the preceding books first (I didn't realize this was part of a series). Another problem for me is that I am not interested in business and investing, which is the basis for much of the plot.

"The Black Path" by Asa Larsson delivered what I was looking for. Mystery/Psychologice drama with many twists that kept me guessing until the very end. I especially loved the descriptions of the country Sweden, and the translations, which may sometimes make one have to think a moment, instead of just rushing through the read. Looking forward to the sequel which was translated in 2004. Try it, you will not be disappointed in " The Black Path", I promise!

This dark thriller continues the series featuring Rebecka Martinsson, the protagonist of the highly acclaimed "The Blood Spilt." At the start of this complicated tale, Rebecka is being treated for psychotic episodes which resulted from her being stabbed and killing three persons. She leaves her high-paying job in Stockholm to return to Kiruna where she grew up in her grandmother's house. After a short while she is induced to become a Special Prosecutor, a position she accepts.

A dead woman is found on a frozen lake, and the investigating detective asks Rebecka to use her background in corporate finance to check into the victim's background, which leads to uncovering various aspects of insider trading and corporate shenanigans. Expertly translated by Marlaine Delargy, the novel delves deeply into the lives of the several main characters, especially reflecting on Rebecka's insecurities.

The complexity of the characters is matched only by the elaborateness of the story itself. The dark, cold, snowy Swedish north adds to the gloomy mood prevailing throughout. Essentially, the yarn is disturbing and macabre, but hopefully the seeds for a follow-up are sewn. An excellent read, and highly recommended.

There's a lot to admire in this procedural set in the far north of Sweden -- the local atmosphere, a wide range of well-realized characters, an intriguing plot -- but it was spoiled for me by the bloodbath at the end which did not tie up the plot in a satisfying way and tried to do too much.
The two leading female protagonists -- a police detective and a recovering rape and attempted murder victim -- are appealing. The detective reminded me of the character from the movie "Fargo" -- she's sweet and capable all at once. But the book veers off course when it gets into international finance, mining, insider trading and hired killers. I wish the author had stuck more to what she evidently knows very well which is the unique setting above the Arctic Circle where Swedes, Finns and Lapps wage a hard battle against the elements.