The Boy in the Suitcase

When you read Kaaberbøl and Friis’s first collaborative effort, The Boy in the Suitcase, there is no roughness to indicate there is more than one author at work. The translation, by Kaaberbøl herself, is also smooth, making it easy for the Danish-deficient reader to get lost in a good book.

And a very good book this is, too. In the first scene, a woman has been persuaded to pick up a suitcase at a train station by a frantic friend. Before she puts the heavy case in her car, she decides to see what’s inside, and is surprised to see a small boy.

"His knees rested against his chest, as if someone had folded him up like a shirt. Otherwise he would not have fit, she supposed. His eyes were closed, and his skin shone palely in the bluish show more glare of the fluorescent ceiling lights. Not until she saw his lips part slightly did she realize he was alive."

What follows is a choppy series of scenes from various points of view. A man in Denmark gets a picture of the boy and a phone call asking if he accepts a deal. A man dreams about a family he doesn’t have and fantasizes about a house outside Krakow where he hopes to live with the woman he loves as soon as he’s finished one little thing. A woman watches her son play in the sand at a park. And then there’s Nina Borg, who had just lost the moral high ground in a confronts an abusive man who is coaxing an immigrant woman away from the shelter where she’d sought refuge. Before she can catch her breath, she gets a phone call from a friend who is desperate and needs a favor. She wants Nina to pick up a suitcase at the train station. As she says to Nina, “you know about such things.”All of these fragments lead up to the opening scene and Nina’s impulse to make the little boy safe.

Nina does, indeed, know about the things desperate people do, and about the reasons a small boy might be drugged and smuggled into Denmark. She works with immigrants who have come to Denmark without papers. She doesn’t trust Danish authorities who are quick to deport her desperate clients, but she realizes she’s caught between them and people who would kill her without compunction. She is a complex character who feels compelled to save the world, but can’t spare any attention or affection for her own children. She’ll fly to Africa to work with refugees, not so much because the Africans need her as that she feels a need to put herself into extreme situations. She’s an irritating mess, but the authors trust their readers enough to give us a less-than-ideal protagonist. Throughout the story our sympathy is called on in uncomfortable ways. Of course we feel for the mother of an abducted child, but we also are privy to humanizing elements of the man who carried out the kidnapping.

The authors have done a terrific job of creating an involving story out of complex contemporary issues by focusing on the particulars: on characters under stress, on the little things that make us care. They also show a great deal of respect for readers. The thrills aren’t mechanical and the way the story is constructed challenges the standard “hero’s journey” recipe for suspense and resolution. Nina Borg is so far from heroic, she calls the very idea of heroism into question. Flaws that are commonly forgiven in male protagonists – becoming so obsessed with a cause that his spouse and children are neglected, bucking authority as a matter of principle, taking life-endangering risks – are harder to forgive when the character is female, and that should make us think. Why do we see some qualities as strengths in men, but somehow disturbing in women? Are heroes who risk everything more selfish than they appear?

One of the reasons I like this book so much is that the authors ask us to participate in making sense of the story and a protagonist complex enough to match. Oh, and did I mention it’s a corker of a story? Three cheers for Soho for adding this terrific series to their already impressive list. show less

THE BOY IN THE SUITCASE (2008) by Lene Kaaberbol and Agnete Friis is the first in the Nina Borg series and if they had stopped with this offering, they would have been remembered in the annals of Nordic Crime fiction forever. This is a dark, disturbing tale of love, hate, greed, necessity, mother's devotion, a fathers pressing needs and... a boy in a suitcase.
Nina Borg is a fractured person, unable to cope with being a mother and wife, willing to throw herself into the needs of perfect strangers as a Red Cross nurse. She is asked to help a long lost friend do a simple thing. All she has to do is open a luggage locker in a train station and bring the contents to the friend.
She finds the suitcase. She finds the young boy. She finds her show more friend dead.
This is a fast paced thriller where you, the reader, are not quite certain about what is going on. Who are the kidnappers, why has the boy been stolen, just how many children are missing, and you can't be certain exactly what country the action you are currently reading is set.
I felt lost many times, but always intrigued, and all my questions were answered. If you like a puzzler of a tale set mostly in and around Copenhagen, this is a great read for you and a killer introduction to the Nina Borg series. She is a most unusual hero, but very interesting. show less

***This book was reviewed for my own enjoyment

The Boy in the Suitcase is yet another example of why I've come to love Scandinavian/Nordic/Icelandic translated books. There's something about the cultures, as reflected in writing, that speaks to me. This mystery/thriller is the first of the Nina Borg Series by Kaaberbol and Friis.

Told through the various lens’ of the main players, we follow a sordid tale of child-trafficking and murder. Nina Borg, responding to a request for assistance from a friend, goes to retrieve a package from a train depot. Only it's not goods she finds, but the limp, naked body of a drugged three-year old. A brush with a terrifying man assaulting the child’s former resting place sends Nina into headlong flight show more in an effort to get the child to safety, and find where he came from. Fearing the child will be dumped in an orphanage, Nina doesn't call the police, but tracks down the information herself. Her trails take her from a clandestine doctor's office, to the red-light district in search of someone who can speak the lad's language, and on to the posh home of Jan and Anne Marquat.

Alternating with Nina’s tale, we get Sigita’s point of view, as the young Lithuanian mother desperately tries to find her missing son Mikas. Through luck and hard work, Sigita tracks him down in Denmark. All the while, two other players are vying for possession of the child, one unafraid to murder in pursuit of his agenda, the other desperate to save a loved one.

It’s always refreshing to see a book where the females do not need to rely on males to get things done. Both Nina and Sigita take matters into their own hands. Indeed, Guzas, the detective, didn't even believe Sigita at first, and Mikas’ father… don't get me started. What an ass. Yet, both of these leading ladies are possessed of utterly human shortcomings. They seem weak, almost passive at first, though they prove far from it. They respond not with balls and sass, like so many female protagonists that need to come across as male. No, they are feminine, responding as mothers, as caregivers, as nurturers. And boy do they get the job done! In protecting Mikas, each becomes a veritable lioness.

I just cannot even imagine Sigita's terror and despair at having her son stolen. It's terrifying to think that any kind of human trafficking still takes place, but I'm not surprised. Both Nina and Sigita have suffered pretty harsh patches in life, shaping the women we meet. I greatly empathise with the part of Nina that is a strong empath. The part that gets abraded by life's injustices, and feels driven and even obligated to personally help everyone she comes across in need. I found I also empathised with Jan and the reasons for his actions. Love drove desperate action.

As mentioned previously, this book is translated. Nina and Sigita's behaviour suggests to me the culture probably values the quiet heroes, the everyday people, quiet courage over badassery. Pragmatism is valued, and reflected in how Nina handled things. She did what needed doing. No questions. No waffling. It also suggests value on a fierce social conscience. Pragmatism is reflected in the writing style too. There is detail, action, movement, but never in overabundance. This cultural milieu seems to favour avoiding the superficial, and valuing a Stoic nature. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the books in the series, to see how Nina grows (and if her family stays together).

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First Line: Holding the glass door open with her hip, she dragged the suitcase into the stairwell leading down to the underground parking lot.

Nina Borg knows she should say no. Just because her friend Karin has asked doesn't mean that Nina should drop everything to help her. But Nina's been a compulsive "do-gooder" her entire life. If someone asks her for help, she helps.

Karin has given Nina the key to a public locker in the Copenhagen train station. Inside the locker is a suitcase. Inside the suitcase is a three-year-old boy. The boy is naked and drugged, but alive. The child raises a million questions in Nina's mind. She may be a compulsive do-gooder, but she is wise to the ways of the world. The best choice for the boy may not be to show more turn him over to the authorities.

While Nina is trying to answer all the questions swarming in her mind, she learns that Karin has been brutally murdered, and she realizes that the boy's life and her own are in grave danger. Somehow, some way, Nina must care for the boy, learn his identity and where he belongs-- and stay out of the reach of a killer.

The first fifty pages of this book moved rather slowly as the authors set their stage. Those pages consisted of short chapters from the points of view of several seemingly unconnected characters, and until I could get a fix on these people and keep them from hopping all over my mind, I'll admit that I was a bit puzzled. If you read this book (and I hope that you do) and you find yourself in the same situation, please please please do what I did: Hang in there!

After those initial pages, everything fell into place-- and I fell under Nina Borg's spell. This woman is far from perfect. Her urge to do good has meant that she often neglects her own family, and her husband has reached the limits of his patience. But when someone like innocent, trusting little Mikas has been stolen for heaven knows what purpose, Nina is utterly incapable of turning her back. She has yet to see a truly happy ending, but she is determined to do everything in her power to see that Mikas's story will have one.

The Boy in the Suitcase could so easily have been another gruesome tale of child trafficking and pedophilia, but it's not. Like Nina, my mind was frantically trying to work out what had happened to Mikas and why. When I realized that the boy had not been stolen for the usual reasons, my unease grew-- and that creepy feeling kept bubbling away just beneath the surface because the authors made very good use of the murderer who's trying to get the boy back and killing anyone who gets in his way. I never knew when that psycho was going to pop out of the woodwork!

This is a highly emotional story of secrets and bad choices. This is a story about terrified, desperate women who've refused to look at the choices they've made until they were absolutely forced to do so. Most of all, it's the story of one brave woman who saw evil being done and refused to look the other way. show less

While Scandinavian mysteries have been popular for some time now, The Boy in the Suitcase stands out because of the female lead, Nina Borg. A "do-gooder" who can't say no even when she knows better captures her exactly. She's cares quickly and a little too much but fortunately she also has investigative skills to support her good Samaritan actions.

The other characters fall closer to the type. Kaaerbol and Friis deliver clear, crisp language and a well crafted story. Through descriptions and actions we understand the emotions, activity, and danger that seems to chase after several seemingly unrelated characters.

The boy's mother realizes his disappearance but is baffled by the absence of any kidnapper's note. As she tries to figure out show more who might have taken her son, we read about how Nina's errand turns into a nightmare of sorts. Nina agrees to pick up a suitcase for an acquaintance and is horrified to find a naked and live three-year-old.

Nina must juggle her professional and familial obligations while trying to help this young boy. The boy doesn't communicate and doesn't seem to understand Danish. Instead of bringing the child to the police, she finds herself feeding him, clothing him, bathing him and trying to track down who may have left the boy inside a suitcase. She finds an unlikely ally and determines that the boy's family might still be alive. As Nina tries to learn more about the boy and to keep him safe, a ruthless mercenary is angry and is on the hunt for the boy and his ransom.

Carefully crafted, suspenseful, and with all sorts of unexpected twists, The Boy in the Suitcase is a gripping and memorable read. If you enjoy detective novels with complex characters set in unusual locations, you'll enjoy The Boy in the Suitcase. It has the unusual advantage of advocating for the rights of women and children - without ever seeming heavyhanded or at all preachy. Just through the subtle selection of the crimes in the novel, Kaaberbol and Friis make us more aware of the particular vulnerabilities of poor children and women.

ISBN-10: 156947981X Hardcover $24
Publisher: Soho Crime (November 8, 2011), 313 pages.
Review copy provided by the publisher. show less

Danish Red Cross nurse Nina Borg becomes involved in an international kidnapping when she agrees to do a favor for a friend. All she has to do is pick up a suitcase from a locker. Nina's world changes when she opens the suitcase and finds a naked and unconscious boy. Meanwhile in Lithuania, the boy's mother is desperate to find her missing son. When the police move too slowly for her comfort, she takes matters into her own hands.

I read a lot of predictable crime novels. This one went in directions I didn't expect. It was actually a 4-star book, but I deducted a half star because I found Nina Borg so unlikeable. There didn't seem to be any good reason for Nina not to immediately take the child to the police. Instead, she spends her time show more running all over Copenhagen trying to decide what to do next. For me, the real hero is the boy's mother, Sigita. As far as I'm concerned, she was the real investigator in this crime novel. If Sigita was the main character in the series, I'd continue reading it without a second thought. Since Nina Borg is the central character, I doubt I'll read another book in the series. There are too many other more tempting books out there. show less

Nina Borg gets a frantic call from an old friend, Karin, telling her to collect a suitcase from a locker at a train station and not to open it until she is someplace private; that Nina will know what to do. When the suitcase is opened she finds a small boy, alive but unconscious. Nina can’t communicate with the boy due to language and so begins to try to find out who he is and where he belongs. The story is told from multiple viewpoints: the kidnapper, his employer, Nina, Nina’s husband, and the boy’s mother. This was an intense crime fiction made more so by Nina’s personal and psychological problems. Nina works with at risk immigrants under often bleak circumstances, having to mentally separate herself from situations in order show more to handle them. Very well written. show less