The Blinded Man

Um Paul Hjelm, Ermittler bei der Stockholmer Polizei, nach einem aufsehenerregenden Fall aus der Schusslinie der internen Ermittlung zu bringen, initiiert sein Chef die Neugründung einer Sondereinheit, zu der Hjelm umgehend abgeordnet wird. Deren Aufgabe ist die Klärung dreier Morde an schwedischen Wirtschaftsgrößen sowie(vermutlich) weitere Tote zu verhindern. Die ersten Spuren führen zu einer Geheimloge, dann in osteuropäische Mafiakreise. Doch diese versuchen auf einzigartige, brutale Weise klar zu machen, dass sie mit diesen Verbrechen nichts zu tun haben.
Dahls Ermittlerteam hebt sich wohltuend ab von den sonst so häufig schwermütigen, depressiven KollegInnen. Es sind normale Menschen, von denen dennoch jede/r auf eine Art show more besonders ist: der ehemals steroidabhängige Bodybuilder, der jetzt im Chor singt; der frühere Staranwalt den sein Gewissen zur Polizei brachte; Chavez, ein stadtbekannter Jazzmusiker. Charaktere die Interesse wecken, auch über den Fall hinaus.
Der Fall selbst ist verzwickt: Scheinbar sichere Fährten erweisen sich als falsch, führen jedoch so ganz nebenbei zur Aufdeckung von anderen Verbrechen. Ebenso beiläufig werden eine Reihe von gesellschaftlichen Problemen miteinbezogen: der alltägliche Rassismus, Flüchtlingsproblematik, Korruptheit und Verkommenheit der obersten Schicht - fast schon ein bisschen viel was Dahl sich hier vorgenommen hat.
Till Hagen als Vorleser macht seine Sache gut. Ohne sich in den Vordergrund zu drängen, verleiht er den Personen und Geschehnissen den Ton und die Betonung die es braucht, um alles vor sich zu sehen.
Alles in allem ein spannender aber auch unterhaltsamer Krimi, in dem selbst Erotik und Humor nicht fehlen. show less

There are a lot of great Scandinavian authors - Steig Larrson, Jo Nesbo, Asa Larrson; Arne Dahl is not one of them. I am kicking myself for finishing this book; I knew well before the halfway point that this was no more that a 1/2 star, and yet I finished it - I didn't care how it ended, I was raised to clean my plate. Blah! Where to start. I don't think the author did a lot of research into police procedure. At one point he has three police officers fly to a southern city to interview someone that could have been interviewed on the phone !? There were little forensics, little evidence of knowledge of modern police investigation. There is little sense of urgency even though victims are being murdered every other day. But most jarring show more was the prose. It was stilted. At times dialog was speechy, most of the time it didn't feel real. There are three references to Dirty Harry within 20 pages, three times within a limited number of pages a different character comments along the lines of "people who don't know, talk; those who do know, don't talk" or some such nonsense. Cops burst into an apartment using a battering ram, they then run into the apartment "noiselessly". Two cops meet each other for the first time in a police station - here's the description of their introduction: "Norlander", said Norlander. "Jonsson", said Jonsson". Here's a not untypical chapter ending, 'He smiles and understands. And yet he understands nothing.' Deep, huh!? Here's one more, a description of two cops waiting for colleagues 'They waited, enveloped in the metal casing of their car.' This was all very distracting, I would read some of these sentences, and stop, dead still, wonder what was that I just read, go back, read it a few more times...What makes absolutely no sense at all to me though is how some of our esteemed reviewers and bloggers across the pond are generally positive in their comments and fail to mention the points I raised above. show less

Please Note: I read and reviewed this book in May, 2011 from a copy I received from the Amazon Vine program in exchange for an honest review. Just adding formatting and that disclosure. All opinions are my own.

About the Book: Misterioso is the first in the A-Group series from Arne Dahl, a published author in his native Sweden. You can tell he is an experienced writer by how smoothly this story runs, and by how it sucks you in and keeps you in. Originally published in 1999 in Sweden, it has now been released in the U.S.

My Synopsis: Paul Hjelm arrived on the scene of a hostage situation - an ethnic Kosovor Albanian who, with his family, had been in Sweden a long time, but now due to a legislative ruling he was due to be exported back to show more Albanian. Hjelm, wanting to make sure the hostage taker would not be killed, rushed in and talked his way into the office, then shot the Kosovor in the arm to cause him to drop the shotgun he was holding.

Hjelm was in the process of being investigated by Internal Affairs and certain that he was going to be fired when, instead, he is brought into a new, elite team of detectives whose sole duty would be to track the worst murderers and serial killers across Sweden, starting with one who is targeting businessmen across Sweden.

My Thoughts: One of the best things about this novel is the extreme care taken to give each of the characters a strong background and various motivations. While they occasionally clash, especially in the early days, the team soon becomes cohesive and close-knit. There are some truly funny moments in this book, too, which I always enjoy. This is a fast-paced book, with lots of twists and turns and the killer is kept mysterious until well toward the end. This is definitely a book that any lovers of thrillers, mystery and suspense will enjoy - don't miss it! show less

I've just finished this, and I have to admit I'm quite breathless: the momentum in the last quarter is genuinely exhilarating!

I daresay this will make an excellent TV series (on BBC4, from Spring 2013), primarily due to its references to fashionable concerns like the banking crisis, thrilling action sequences, the absence of overly repulsive violence, the presence of (more or less) tasteful sex etc. Also, the extremely sketchily drawn characters (or should I say symbolic ciphers?) can perhaps be more clearly delineated on TV.

Presumably in the interests of realism, the characters are forced for long periods to follow what to the reader are obviously false leads. This can get pretty tedious. And, despite its pretensions, I found the novel show more shallow: references to existential angst and so on are just that, references, failing to convince and seeming simply to have been bolted on almost at random.

Although the text reads fluently, much mention of what, to this reader, is apparently inane laughter perhaps suggests a sense of humour which has been lost in translation.

A fellow reviewer here is aghast that this been compared to Henning Mankell's Wallander novels, but I think the two series share much in common, namely that in spite of the thrills and spills effectively delivered, both ultimately add up to less than the sum of their parts: I've never understood what all the Wallander fuss was about, and this leaves me with the same sense that maybe I'm missing something? show less

I saw the tv series a couple of years ago; picked up the book and was still impressed.
there is a thoroughness to the story, you see all the blind alleys that the police have to investigate as well as the threads that will lead to the real culprit coalescing. it did help to have faces for the characters (all except Hultin!)
Competent and entertaining, with flashes of beautiful descriptive scene setting

This one is a little different than the other Nordic offerings. Not so much a mystery as a solid police procedural, great development of characters though. Will definitely be reading more from this author.

Paul Hjelm is a cop who achieves notoriety by gunning down a hostage-taker. Internal Affairs are less than impressed with his actions, but public approval saves him. Still, he gets transferred to join a new team in Stockholm called the A Unit.

The A Unit has been asked to investigate the strange murders of some of Sweden's leading industrialists, all despatched with two shots to the head. The method of their killing, along with other evidence, suggests some kind of organised crime connection, and Hjelm and his new colleagues pursue that line vigorously, some employing the carte blanche they have been given to get a result.

Like all good Scandinavian cops, Hjelm is a brooding type with personal problems; in his case his wife is leaving him show more due to his workaholism. I felt this was a little cliched and a little too unchallenging to put him up there with great brooders like Erlendur, Varg Veum and Wallander.

While Dahl signals early on who the villain is, that does not detract much from the plot. There are plenty of twists and some moments of shock before the denouement, and some of the means by which the A Unit solves the crime are quite original. As the first book in a series, I certainly think Misterioso shows enough promise to give the next book a whirl. show less