Firewall

Spunti di riflessione

Interessante come sempre, avvincente e profondo. Non il solito giallo, ma secondo uno stile personalissimo Mankell ci conduce in un viaggio nel mondo contemporaneo dove apparentemente l'uomo crede di controllare il circostante senza rendersi conto di esserne diventato irrimediabilmente schiavo. Se prima i livelli di predominio erano semplicemente e brutalmente paritari (essere umano su essere umano) ora si è giunti a sfumature più sottili e invisibili. Le tecnologie, il "progresso", l'automatizzazione, la conoscenza che dovevano rappresentare la liberazione del tempo, il controllo degli elementi, l'ottimizzazione dell'impiego delle risorse e il miglioramento degli standard di vita non hanno fatto altro che creare, show more al contrario, un equilibrio ancora più precario del precedente: quanti sono a chiedersi se un bel giorno tutte le macchine (dalle industrie ai computer, dai sistemi informatizzati alle centrali elettriche) restassero mute, saremmo capaci di farne a meno, di ripristinare un mondo antecedente alla meccanizzazione? Una domanda che fa paura, che si preferisce ignorare, che da un giallo non ci si aspetta. Mankell è tutto questo: quando si giunge al termine dei suoi romanzi, un mistero sembra svelato, ma tanti altri ne nascono ad inquietarci e ad imporci una riflessione. show less

Another dense, well-written Wallander novel by Mankell. There are many strings to this story. Too many I think and there was a dead spot in the middle of the book. The ending was good though a little quick. But the epilogue with the daughter was good. It is Bosch like and help with Wallander's continuing evolution. Looking forward to th enext one.

My first Inspector Wallander book, but not my last. I like this talented, persistent, unwillingly dedicated and utterly flawed detective. I admired the complex plot line which I can't summarise at all, I don't think, without being guilty of a 'spoiler alert'. It really was impossible to follow this story without being gripped, at dead of night, and compelled to read more.It begins conventionally enough with a death at a cash point, and moves smoothly on to two teenage muggers who kill their taxi driver. Two unrelated incidents. Or are they? It'll take you the whole book to find out.

This is the last novel featuring Kurt Wallander as the main character. Mankell has written another book but with Linda Wallander as the lead character. In this last novel, we follow Wallander has he battles a group determined to bring new order to the world through chaos. Homicidal teenagers, back stabbing coworker, all the while battling his own loneliness and despair. Again a very tight plot where the moods and emotional health of the character are what makes you read along.

In this somewhat unlikely tale featuring a plot to destroy the global economy, Kurt Wallander is under investigation for having assaulted a young female suspect, and disappointed in the attitude of his colleagues at the ystad police station who do not give him the support he expects.

While a shadowy American in Angola pulls the strings, people in sweden are murdered: the only clue is a disc, protected by a seemingly impenetrable firewall, and the police use the services of a brilliant young hacker to help them crack the code before it is too late.

Always a loner, Wallander discovers he is even more isolated than he realised when he learns his protege Martisson is undermining him behind his back, and his superior Holgersson has been show more poisoned and does not trust him.

The story is even more bleak and gloomy than usual: Wallander's wife Mona has remarried, his relationship with baiba is over, his childhood friend Sten Widen has sold his horse stud and moved, and so many of his colleagues appear hostile.

The book ends on a positive note though when kurt's daighter Linda, who has toyed with several careers including theatre and furniture restoration, informs him she has decided to becaome a policeman and intends enrolling in the training college. show less

Kurt Wallander is a Swedish detective trying to solve a series of mysterious deaths. At first the only common factor is the time frame in which these people died. A man falls dead after using an ATM, a cab driver is beaten to death, and someone has apparently committed suicide at a power station all within a matter of days. But, as the investigation continues pieces of the puzzle fall into place. Somehow the picture reveals an absurd terrorist plot.

What makes Firewall so entertaining is Kurt Wallander's personality. He is a short tempered detective, good at what he does but not as great at being a divorced dad to his near adult daughter. She finds him overbearing and lonely. I found Wallander and his Swedish police work very strange. show more For starters, Wallander is accused of not doing things by the book and for the most part those accusations hold true. Over and over he considers sharing information about the various investigations with his colleagues but over and over again he finds reasons not to. Also, computers connected to the crimes aren't confiscated, potential witnesses and suspects aren't detained for questioning, and despite rooms being searched several times, key evidence is not discovered right away. Case in point: an office was searched several times and yet Wallander finds a postcard under a computer keyboard days later.
I found some parts of Firewall predictable. Wallander is single. At his daughter's urging he joins a dating service. Within days he gets a letter from a potential match. Right away I knew this "response" was trouble, for the letter is slid under his door - no return address or postmark. Wouldn't Wallander have read how the service works and wouldn't he have found a nondescript letter without a postmark a little suspect?
All in all Firewallwas a good vacation read. It was fast paced and highly entertaining. show less

Another great Wallander, and sadly I am coming to the end of them. This one did have the sense of an ending, Wallander realizing that he will never be anything but a policeman and seeing the world around him change. The mystery was complex but not as near disturbing as the previous, the villians are not quite right but it does not seem as awful. There was enough from their point of view to heighten the tension in various spots and enough twists and turns to make it hard to work out the details. There are three more Wallanders, apparently, so I have more to read but I'm now getting curious to read some others works by Mankell as well.