I would of course, as every #BlogTour like to thank the team at Orenda Books for gifting me an early copy of FAITHLESS. I am forever grateful and and promise that the review below is 100% honest and of my own views.
To kick off, we have the “blurb” for the book;
Oslo detectives Gunnarstranda and Frølich are back and this time, it’s personal… When the body of a woman turns up in a dumpster, scalded and wrapped in plastic, Inspector Frank Frølich is shocked to discover that he knows her and their recent meetings may hold the clue to her murder.
As he ponders the tragic events surrounding her death, Frølich’s colleague Gunnarstranda investigates a disturbingly similar cold case involving the murder of a young girl in northern Norway and Frølich is forced to look into his own past to find the answers – and the killer – before he strikes again.
So, you want to know what I think?
One thing I will be forever grateful to Orenda (and in part Karen!) is how many new authors they have opened my eyes to! Karen and the team at Orenda deserve nothing but praise for bringing us some fantastic domestic and international fiction. Authors and books that I may not have picked up otherwise! I’m pretty sure there is an award or medal with Orenda’s name on it somewhere. If not, maybe I should make one?
After reading some pretty fast paced crime novels this year, I think I was expecting FAITHLESS to be just as fast – but that wasn’t the case. This book allowed me to slow my brain down and actually get into the story. It had the same effect on me as RUPTURE by Ragnar Jonasson.
Once again I have picked up a book which is further on into a series, but FAITHLESS can be enjoyed as a standalone novel and here is why….
What I always enjoy reading in Nordic Noir is that sense of dark, isolating conditions. As a reader, you can’t help but feel uneasy and sometimes uncomfortable as you feel that sense of claustrophobia throughout. That mixed in with the slow burning nature of the story. in FAITHLESS – it is a great combination that it seems only Nordic Noir novels can get away with.
One thing I really enjoyed in FAITHLESS is the dynamic between the two leading detectives; Gunnarstranda and Frølich. They have this quirky, comedic banter which you don’t tend to read that much in other police procedurals, which I think this is also a trait of some Nordic Noir novels. It allows us as readers to get to know the characters and become invested in them, concerned for what is in store and how they will react.
THAT ENDING THOUGH! Just when you think you know how a book is going to end, and the writer decides “hehe, that would be too easy” and then blows your mind! Ola Dahl performed this manoeuvre beautifully. Orenda know exactly what they are doing when they release books of this calibre!
I think I need to go and lie down in a dark room and recover from my book hangover….
About KJELL OLA DAHL;
One of the fathers of the Nordic Noir genre, Kjell Ola Dahl was born in 1958 in Gjøvik. He made his debut in 1993, and has since published eleven novels, the most prominent of which is a series of police procedurals cum psychological thrillers featuring investigators Gunnarstranda and Frølich.
In 2000 he won the Riverton Prize for The Last Fix and he won both the prestigious Brage and Riverton Prizes for The Courier in 2015. His work has been published in 14 countries, and he lives in Oslo.
FAITHLESS is out now and can be purchased at the following outlets;
Amazon (UK) | Waterstones | Amazon.com | Kobo
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-S.
The P.Turners Book Blog 