Customer Reviews

Blood Eagle

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

 

 

I wont give a resume of the story seeing you can easily find that elsewhere.

The book is beautifully and intelligently written in a plain yet very poetic language. You get a feeling of getting to know the characters well and sympathize with/despise them as you go along. The author has a good eye to detail and nothing seems immediately as being "far fetched" or just wrong, as it so often does in crime novels. No illogic course of action or almost magical lucky coincidences.

I do agree with the reviewer stating, that the German language bits could have been omitted, although I do understand why he put them in there. It gives a certain authenticity to the story as it is set in Germany. However this is not a major dsiturbance. Just a thought.

The book dosen't start out slow. We are just taken along the inspector as he and his crew discover more and more in their search for the mad killer. There is a lot of material that dosen't lead anywhere immediately, but it dosen't slow the story down. It only gives the novel many delightful twists and turns and makes sure the reader always stays alert.

The ending, however is way to short and simple. The buildup is very very good, but the ending is unsatisfying. There are too many unaswered questions and loose ends. At least two or three chapters are missing.

In the end though, it is a very enjoyable book and I would recommend to everybody. Well done.

In Hamburg, Germany, two women (from a very different background) are murdered in the same horrible, ritualistic manner. To make things worse the killer teases the investigating detective Jan Fabel with emails. The more Fabel digs into the case the stranger and more complex it becomes. Old Viking myth, obscure religious cults, political intrigue and gang rivalries are just the tip of the ice berg. And the police has only limited time to prevent the killer from striking again...

Essentially the book features solid police work, including all the real life dead ends. It also contains very likeable characters.
Unfortunately due to internal police power plays and police jurisdiction it takes almost a quarter of the book before the story really gains momentum. Then the book offers more than just one storyline. First it is just a simple hunt for a very sick killer. But then the story starts to spread in very different directions and dimensions: Gang rivalry for the red light district, drug wars, involvement of foreign crooks, deep undercover police missions, traitors, real estate speculation and fraud, involvement of the high society and politicians and much more!
As a result you will find ample twist and turns in the book. But you also wonder how many cases the detective needs to solve at the same time! Is there a big connection, a common link? Everything part of the murder investigation or just a big smokescreen for the reader?

The slow beginning is contrasted by the ending which is just too simple and too quick. All of a sudden the book is over - with a need for a possible sequel. Even if everything is explained and somehow fits together in the end the final pages are far from satisfying. (Deadline pressure?) With all that happened before I had to expect more.
If the solution is logical or believable is something I am still worried about. Maybe a bit less complexity would have been better.

Another aspect to be mentioned concerns the language:
I do not have any idea why a British author placed the story in Hamburg since it could have taken place everywhere, basically. As a result there is definitely too much German in the book - most of it is superfluous.
Small examples: "...the pretty young receptionist was a Polizistin..."' Or also "'Okay, give me a Käsebrot go with it'." To make things worse the author then has to explain the German words. "The Rathaus is the Hamburg's city hall, home to the Hamburg state government..." (No need to tell us, Craig, if you just simply used English!) It also contains German words that are not really used anymore for decades ("Schutzpolizist" instead of plainly using "Polizist").
For those able to understand German the text must sound funny or strange and is even wrong some times. For those not able to understand it reading might be tough sometimes. In most cases the German word could have been translated easily.

Bottom line:
The book is a lot more than just a simple chase for a maniac killer. Its complexity is what lifts it among many others of its kind. Overall I liked it and would recommend it. It has its (language) flaws and with a better ending I would have rated it with one more star. On the other hand I am not sure if I will read the follow up from Craig Russell...

Two women are killed in the same horrific, ritualistic manner. The murderer taunts the police with e-mails. It seems clear that a serial killer is at work, selecting victims at random and living out some twisted fantasy.

But, as Jan Fabel and his murder team investigate further, nothing is as it first seems. They are drawn into a dark half-world of Viking myth and legend, of obscure religious cults, of political intrigue and of a violent struggle to seize control of the city.

And as Fabel desperately races to track down the killer before more killings take place, he and his team come face-to-face with a cold, brutal menace they could never have predicted.

A greater evil than they could ever have imagined.