The Preacher [Paperback]

Camilla Lackberg (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 2008

Mystery book.

Product Details

• Paperback: 422 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins (2008)
• Language: English
• ASIN: B002AH9WI2
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,080,742 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Born in 1974, Camilla Läckberg graduated from Gothenburg University of Economics, before moving to Stockholm where she worked for a few years as an economist. However, a course in creative writing triggered a drastic change of career. Her first six novels all became Swedish No. 1 bestsellers. She lives in a suburb of Stockholm.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Long-winded and not as engaging as "The Ice Princess", November 26, 2009

By 

Z Hayes (TX, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Preacher (Hardcover)

"The Preacher" is Swedish author Camilla Lackberg's second police procedural mystery, and I have to say that I preferred her first, "The Ice Princess". In this follow-up novel,also set in the Swedish coastal town of Fjallbacka, a female German tourist's body is found atop two skeletons which turn out to be the remains of two young women who went missing in 1979. Patrik Hedstrom, the policeman who helped crack the murder case in "The Ice Princess" returns in this second novel with a much more prominent role. He is now married to Erica, the author from the first novel who played a major role in solving the murder in "The Ice Princess". Though it isn't necessary to read "The Ice Princess" before this second novel, there is quite a bit of background information provided in the first novel about some of the recurring characters such as Erica, Patrik, and Erica's sister Anna. Patrik is put in charge of the investigation, and as the investigators dig deeper, they find that all clues point to the Hult family, comprising patriarch Gabriel, his wife Liane, children Linda and Jacob, and also Gabriel's estranged nephews Robert and Stefan and their mother Solveig. When another young girl goes missing, Patrik and his team find themselves racing against the clock to locate the girl, even as they find themselves faced with dead ends and false clues.

"The Preacher" is quite weak in comparison to "The Ice Princess" - firstly, I was disappointed that Erica does not play a major role in this investigation. Instead she is relegated to playing the expectant mom and wife who has to deal with pesky relatives invading her home during the hot summer months. In "The Ice Princess", Erica played a very important role in the murder investigation and I had come to genuinely like her character so it was underwhelming to see her character take a backseat to Patrik's role as chief investigator in this second installment. Though Patrik is a likable enough character, he lacks the charisma of other major characters in series such as Inspector Sejer in Karin Fossum's novels which are far superior than Ms. Lackberg's novels (the quality of writing, characterization, etc). The story itself could have benefited from better editing, it tends to plod at many points in the novel, and some story arcs could have been omitted. One in particular is the story about Anna, Erica's sister - her domestic problems continue in this second novel, but prove to be more of a distraction and annoyance than an engaging story arc. Final verdict - "The Preacher" is not as engaging as "The Ice Princess", and there are other Scandinavian mystery authors whose works I find more interesting, such as Karin Fossum, Johan Theorin, Arnaldur Indridasson, Henning Mankell, Steig Larssen, etc.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "We can't afford to be as conventional as we normally are...We have to consider what's even highly implausible.", May 1, 2011

By 

Mary Whipple (New England) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Preacher: A Novel (Pegasus Crime) (Hardcover)

(3.5 stars) As readers of Camilla Lackberg's previous novel, The Ice Princess, have discovered, Fjallbacka, Sweden, a small fishing village in western Sweden, holds many secrets, some of them involving murder. Chief Investigator Patrik Englund is enjoying a much-needed vacation when he learns that a six-year-old has discovered a woman's naked and beaten body near a ravine. Underneath that body are the skeletons of two more women who disappeared in 1979. Autopsies prove that all three had been slowly tortured over the course of many days before merciful death interceded. Through flashbacks to 1979, when the first deaths occurred, the story develops into a murderous saga which may involve the Hult family, whose family patriarch, Ephraim Hult, was a highly successful evangelical preacher, and whose two sons Johannes and Gabriel had supernatural healing powers when they were children. Ephraim is now dead, and his sons are enemies as a result of Ephraim's will.

The author spends as much time on the lives and motivations of her characters as she does on plot development, and when yet another young girl disappears from town, Patrik and his crew (which also has their own frictions and rivalries) realize they may have a chance to find her before she dies of the same tortures which were inflicted on the previous young women. Dozens of complications, which are revealed through the family backgrounds, psychology, and interactions of the police officers, the victims, and the various members of the Hult family keep the tension high as Lackberg involves the whole community in a wide assortment of clues and red herrings.

Although the dialogue is often wooden and clichéd, the author's emphasis on characters and why they behave as they do give a depth to this novel that straight action-mysteries do not usually have. Flashbacks in italics inserted throughout the present day action reveal the thoughts of an imprisoned female victim from 1979, held in a cold dark place, as she tries to cope with another day of torture. Blackmail, revenge, an obsession with power, seething resentments spawned by injustice, and love and passion are all motivating forces which one sees here through the various characters. There are, however, many implausibilities in the plot. A number of characters, some of them repeating, add little to the story line except diversion. Erika's sister's problems, a big part of The Ice Princess, for example, continue here as a distraction, and the late addition of the character of Kennedy Karlsson, with his unusual background, seems to be a convenient way out of a messy plot issue.

It is easy, however, to see why Camilla Lackberg is the best selling author in Swedish history, outselling even Stieg Larsson in number of books sold: She has written nine #1 sellers in Sweden, good escape novels (of which the Ice Princess is #1 and this is #2) that keep the reader entertained, involved in the action, and willingly "suspending disbelief" throughout. Two more of her pop novels are already being translated for the US market (by Steven T. Murray, translator of the Stieg Larsson books and those by Henning Mankell), and one would hope that her later novels will show her increasing growth as a novelist. Mary Whipple

The Ice Princess: A Novel

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The Preacher, September 3, 2010

By 

NoWireHangers (Sweden) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Preacher (Patrik Hedstrom 2) (Paperback)

"The Preacher" (Predikanten) is the second of Camilla Läckberg's mystery novels. I haven't read the first one, The Ice Princess, but that didn't cause any trouble for me as this works as a standalone novel.

A young girl is found murdered together with the remains of two young girls who were reported missing 24 years ago and never found. Patrik, a local police, tries to find the murderer and figure out the connection between the murder and the previous disappearances. Meanwhile, his wife Erica is at home, pregnant, and there's quite a lot of focus on their family life and especially a subplot involving Erica's sister Anne's problems with the men in her life that takes a bit too much focus off the main plot, the murder mystery, without adding anything to the novel. It's still a decent mystery novel with a well constructed mystery, although I can think of some minor plot holes that I won't go into so as not to spoil anything.

The Preacher is a readable but not great mystery novel. 3 stars.