I'm Traveling Alone

To my surprise, I really enjoyed 'I'm Travelling Alone' and I'm now keen to read the other two books in the series.

‘I’m Travelling Alone’ has been on my shelf for five years, unread because each time I picked it up, I rejected it because of its central image. The idea of finding a dead six-year-old girl hanging from a tree in the forest, dressed in an out-moded school uniform, with an airline tag reading 'I'm Travelling Alone' around her neck is chilling. Discovering that she's going to be the first of many is worse. I worried that this book might be one of those that glamorised the ingenuity of the serial killer and asked me to get inside the mind of someone who thinks killing children is OK.

I decided that I'd reached the Read show more It Or Release It point with the book, so I added it as the letter I in my TBR ABC Challenge and read it already half expecting to set it aside part way through.

As soon as I started reading, I knew I was in for a treat. There was no frantic rush to dive into the twisted mind of a serial killer as they thrill to the slaughter of a child. Instead, the focus was on taking the time to build the characters of the two main detectives, Holger Munch and Mia Kruger.

It's easy to see Mia as the main character. She's the thirty-something good looking one with an exceptional ability to put patterns together yet it's Holger the fifty-something over-sized one heading up a Violent Crimes Unit that plucks Mia straight out the police academy and gives her and the other people on his team the space to environment to turn Mia's insights into actionable police work. I came away from the book wanting to know more about both of them.

I'm not going to go into the details of their backgrounds here as part of the fun of the book is in discovering that information as you go along, but I will comment on the aspects of their personalities that appealed to me.

The book opens with Mia living in self-imposed isolation on a remote island in Norway, self-medicating her way through depression and counting down the days to the date on which she has decided to end her life. What struck me most about this was how unsensational the telling of itt was. Mia is presented as being in pain but not as being broken. Her decision is shown as a rational choice and one consistent with who she is. This attitude towards suicide appealed to me. It wasn't a recommendation or an endorsement just a recognition that, in the right circumstances, continuing to live is a choice you have the right not to make.

In some ways, Holger is more complicated than Mia. He has more life and more mistakes behind him. He also has more to lose in terms of people who he loves. I liked his humour and the way he protected and enabled his team. I also liked that he wasn't perfect. He frays around the edges when under pressure and often gives way to anger. Yet his team are immensely loyal to him even when he's at his worst.

I liked that the Mia and Holger weren't a two-man show, they were part of a team, each of whom had something to contribute. The team is virtually drowning in clues and suspects, some clearly set up by the killer as distractions and I liked that it took the whole team to sort through it all and see where the truth lay. I thought the way the team dynamics were displayed, particularly through the use of dialogue, was skilfully done.

One of the strengths of the novel is the pacing. The plot is complicated and the story is told through seperate storylines that you know are related but you don't know how. The speed and sequence in which information was revealing in each storyline ratcheted up the tension and continuously made me reassess what I thought I knew.

I needn't have worried about this book glamorising the serial killer's view of the world. If the book has core message they are 'This shouldn't be allowed to happen to children' and that losing someone to an early death creates a sense of loss that doesn't dissipate over time.

For me, the thing that worked least well in the book was that the bad guys were so odd and yet so organised. that pushed at the boundaries of my willingness to suspend disbelief. Even so, they remained plausible. They also came across as fundamentally broken and were never glamorised.

So, now I have two more books in the series to read 'The Owl Always Hunts At Night' and 'The Boy In The Headlights' and I'm keen to find out what Holger and Mia and the team do next.

I recommend the audiobook version of 'I'm Travelling Alone' narrated by Laura Paton. Click on the SoundCloud link below to hear a sample. show less

A six year old girl is found hanging from a tree by a skipping rope, dressed in old-fashioned clothes, a satchel on her back and a label around her neck saying 'I'm travelling alone'. Two young boys find a second girl and it's clear that a serial killer is at large. Disgraced detective Holger Munch is called back from exile to solve the crimes but Holger needs his brilliant former sidekick Mia Kruger. Kruger is existing only until she can commit suicide and join her sister, she has stockpiled pills and intends to take her life on the anniversary of Sigrid's death. When Munch comes to call she puts off this action to help solve the crime and when Munch's granddaughter disappears it becomes a personal quest.

This book signals the career of show more yet another outstanding Norwegian crime novelist. The two parallel stories - the murders and the strange religious group - intertwine without ever really connecting but contrast beautifully with each other. There are enough twists and turns to keep the most jaded reader engrossed and I particularly liked the comparison of individuals with clear mental illness issues, a criminal and a cop, both functioning at a certain level. The story is cleverly plotted and, whilst some characters are only drawn in outline, the team is interesting and diverse. I look forward to the next instalment! show less

Four six-year-old girls are murdered in succession. They are found dressed in old-fashioned clothing made to match that of dolls, and they carry satchels with school texts that don’t belong to them. Each has a Roman numeral scratched on a fingernail—according to the order in which the killings occurred. All have apparently died painlessly, with no evidence of a struggle, from an overdose of an anesthetic agent, and all are found wearing cards around their necks which announce: “I’m traveling alone.”

Holger Munch, a Norwegian detective, who has the same last name as the painter famous for The Scream, is sent to a remote location to convince his former colleague, Mia Kruger, to return to policing. Her remarkable observational show more skills and intuition are sorely needed to solve the case. Mia had gone into seclusion after shooting the addict boyfriend of her dead twin sister, Sigrid—the man who’d introduced her to the heroin she’d overdosed on. Having now lost all members of her immediate family and having recently experienced a psychological breakdown, Mia feels unbearably alone. She has been intending to join her dead sister by using booze and psychoactive drugs in combination. Munch doesn’t know it, but by traveling to the remote island where Mia lives in order to convince his respected colleague to join the investigation into the killing of the girls, he is actually saving her life. Soon the two discover that the current case is linked to one from six years back, in which an infant was stolen from a maternity ward. The case is also mysteriously connected with the activities of an apocalyptic sect, known as The Church of Methuselah, run by the elderly, charismatic Pastor Simon, with the assistance of his 27-year-old acolyte, Lukas.

Bjork creates a twisty-turny plot, with a large number of characters, most of whom come with interesting backstories. The pacing is good, and the almost 400-page book reads more quickly than might be expected. Having said that, I was ultimately a little disappointed with what was revealed about the personal history and motivations of the serial killer. I wish the psychology (or psychopathy) of the perpetrator had been more nuanced and credible. In spite of this, however, I still found the book fairly engrossing and a diversion from my usual reading—which has lately been less than thrilling and far from rapid. show less

A six year old girl is found hanging from a tree, with a satchel on her back and an airline tag around her neck which reads “I’m travelling alone”. Holger Munch, head of the Violent Crimes Team, and highly experienced police inspector, is charged with re-establishing his previously disbanded specialist team to investigate the murder. However, there is one vital member of the team who is missing and Munch is determined to track her down before starting the investigation. This is his former partner, Mia Krüger, a brilliant but deeply disturbed detective whose actions had caused the team to be disbanded. She has retreated to an isolated island, with every intention of committing suicide on a specific, fast-approaching date but Munch show more manages to persuade her to join him and the team. It is only when she looks at the evidence that a clue is picked up which everyone else has missed: on the little finger of the girl’s hand the number one has been scratched. Mia is convinced that the killer will strike again and her prediction soon proves to be correct.
This is a well-written story in which the tension is maintained throughout and the psychological insights are convincing. The back stories of the two main characters form a running thread throughout the narrative and I very quickly found myself becoming very involved in how their experiences were affecting the ways in which they related to other people, as well as the ways in which they carried out their investigations. In addition to the investigations into the murders, there are other sub-plots which influence the development of the story; these are credibly and skilfully woven into the main plot. One is the abduction of a baby from a maternity hospital six years earlier. Another theme centres on the existence of a secretive Christian group which has set up a well-guarded base in the local woods: are these people involved or are they just rather weird? A third major storyline is Holger’s relationship with his adored six year old granddaughter and, when she appears to be threatened, the case becomes intensely personal. Yet another plot involves the fate of two young brothers who are seriously neglected by their parents and who, after discovering one of the victims, become central to the main plot. The interleaving of all these plots is skilfully done and adds a palpable urgency to the developing story. Although seemingly disparate at the start, by the end of the story all these threads are brought together in a convincing way.
I very quickly became engrossed in this “Nordic Noir” story and thought that all the characters were very well portrayed, even the apparently minor ones, each of whom had an important contribution to make to the developing story. These wonderful characterisations added a real sense of intimacy to the story-telling and, when I finished the book, I found myself reluctant to let most of them go! However, I don’t have to for long because, to my delight, I see that the next in the series, The Owl Always Hunts at Night, is now available, so I am looking forward to getting to know Holger, Mia and the team much better. show less

This atmospheric debut novel is far smarter and more subtle than its slightly clumsy cover title and marketing blurb suggest. I almost left it on the shelf – put off by the suggestion of a serial killer preying on kiddies on international air-flights. But I gave it the benefit of the doubt and was rewarded with a well-plotted, mature and intelligent thriller.

ITA introduces a police investigative team with the emphasis on the lead duo. This pair shares many similarities with Saga and Martin from The Bridge: a savant-style female lead, brilliant but vulnerable and slightly out of step with society, paired with (in ITA) her mentor, a worldly-wise, feet firmly on the floor male detective. The dead body found in the woods pulls both of show more them back from the brink of obscurity and isolation, and entangles them in a complex and thought-provoking investigation.

The bit-players are also interestingly drawn, from the protective teenage boy living in the backwoods, who takes care of his neglected younger brother, to the high-tech/hacker who is seconded to the task force without knowing exactly what he’s getting involved in.

The short chapters switch perspectives between half a dozen concurrent plotlines, a tactic which can be used to artificially enhance an otherwise unremarkable story. In this instance it ratchets up the intrigue while keeping all the key players on the move, gradually drawing the disparate elements together.

The writing and translation are rather more ‘plain’ than ‘poetic’, but it’s far from superficial. The author contrasts the bleak hinterland of rural Norway with the thrum of the city, and deftly uses the plot to explore the darker side of the human psyche. ITA examines the loss of a loved one and the destructive tendencies this can unleash – ranging from murder to conspiracy to suicide. The way that different characters react to similar experiences forms the skeleton of the story, over which the author skilfully drapes the more obvious plot of the police procedural.
(There's more thoughts on plot and character over at http://www.murdermayhemandmore.net )

Enjoyable on many levels, then. I look forward to reading the next thriller from this author.
8/10 show less

L'avevo letto nel lontano 2013, quand'era uscito (al tempo ero proprio fissatissima con i crime nordici, ne prendevo a bizzeffe), fa strano dire lontano ma è così. E so che mi era piaciuto già al tempo. Ora posso confermare che sì, è un grandissimo libro. Un grandissimo thriller nordico, specificatamente ambientato in Norvegia. Una Norvegia suggestiva, criminale, ma che ha molto da dare.

I personaggi principali, Holger Munch e Mia Krüger, mi sono piaciuti ancora di più rispetto la prima volta che, purtroppo, ricordo ben poco. Ricordo che mi erano piaciuti come il libro in sé ma non ricordavo bene ciò che succedeva. Certe parti sì, ce le avevo impresse in qualche angolo della memoria, ma la maggior parte del libro era come show more leggerlo una prima volta.

La storia principale, macabra e triste, si connette con le storie dei due protagonisti. Uno, Munch, ancora non del tutto ripresosi dal divorzio di anni prima. L'altra che prevede, pianifica, di riunirsi con la sorella con un gesto finale.

Bello, poco da dire. Scorrevole nel suo, l'ho letto un pochi giorni nonostante non avessi la minima voglia di leggere qualcosa. Ma questo mi tirava a sé e mi ha catturata. Lo consiglio veramente tanto. show less

I’m Traveling Alone is a terrific suspense novel written by Samuel Bjork. I was caught up in the story immediately and the momentum never slowed. Yes, there are a lot of characters and a lot is going on in the book, but I didn’t find it difficult to follow. Bjork blends the stories well, dead six-year-old girls dressed in doll’s dresses and a creepy religious cult in the middle of a Norwegian forest. One may be reminded a bit of the Stieg Larsson-Lisbeth Salander books, minus the sex and the gore. Holger Munch and Mia Kruger are a great team, and while I did a bit of page flipping at the end, wanting more, I hope this is the beginning of a new Scandinavian crime series.