Hello all! Tuesday means it’s thriller time! I will be doing a book review on a Swedish thriller, She is Never Coming Back, written by Hans Koppel.
Mike Zetterberg lives with his wife Ylva and their daughter in a house just outside Helsingborg. One evening, Ylva isn’t home as expected after work. Mike passes it off as a drink with a work friend, but when she’s still missing the next day, he starts to worry. As Mike battles suspicion from the police and his own despair, he is unaware that Ylva is still alive, just a stone’s throw from his own home. Ylva has been drawn into a twisted plot of revenge and tragedy that leads back into her and her abductors’ shared past…
Pages:- 400
Language:- Swedish (original) translated into English
Genre–Mystery/Crime/Literary
Hans Koppel is a pseudonym for Petter Lidbeck, an established Swedish author who was born in 1964 and lives in Stockholm. It was revealed that Petter Lidbeck is the author behind the name in August 2010.
So I have read some Swedish novels which practically are all mystery novels. If you have followed my blog, you would notice that I have written a blog on a book called The Asylum which is a Swedish novel so this is my third time reading a Swedish novel. Still my favorite is The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larson.
So here goes my review but first, let me start with the things I liked
Things I liked
- To me the plot is intriguing and interesting. Mike Zetterberg’s wife, Ylva goes missing on the day and Mike thought Ylva is hanging out with her colleagues from work as Ylva had told him she was going for a drink. It takes time for Mike to realize that his wife is actually missing and he becomes a number one suspect (which is typical) but not realizing that his wife is being held as a captive in a house just close to his own house and that his wife is observing Mike and her daughter’s life through a TV screen in the room she is being held captive.
- The story begins with a man named Anders who is about to meet a woman he has met online, to be attacked by a man who introduces himself as Annika’s Dad (which made Andres flinch and we wonder why) and the man brutally kills him. The reader ponders why the man and his wife (identity is revealed later on in the book). Ylva was also kidnapped because of what she had done to this Annika girl some twenty years ago and we wonder what did Ylva and Anders and the other two boys had actually done to Annika. We also wonder why Annika’s parents are so bent on seeking revenge, particularly on Ylva.
- Many characters are complex. Take Mike for example who is a vulnerable and over-sensitive husband who wants his wife back. Ylva who must have done something awful to this Annika girl that she is regretting what she did some twenty years ago and at the same time thinking about reuniting with her family. Last but not least is Annika’s parents, Gosta and Marianna Lundin who are still suffering from their daughter’s suicide and is trying to avenge for what happened to their daughter. You have no idea to which character you hate most or like most.
- The story overall is dark, depressing, depict some real-life situations as what would you actually do. Hans has written very well.
- The plot overall is intriguing, interesting, something most mystery addicts would love with twists and turns.
Now, the things I didn’t like…
- OK, I know this book is translated from Swedish to English, but the writing is slightly sloppy and there are some parts that are confusing. For example, the author used all chapter numbers so we are not actually sure if it happens on a present day, past year or a memory. Example, chapter 1 begins with Anders death and the last chapter ends with what really happened to Annika some twenty years ago. It would have been nice and neat if Anders death could be written as a Prologue and Annika’s rape scene could have written maybe as a Epilogue–Twenty Years Ago.
- There are some unnecessary characters, particularly the journalist part.
Overall, I rate this book as
Plot is interesting but sadly a three star because the writing is sloppy and confusing.
Stay tuned for my next book blog–Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon!!
Tropical Girl Reads 