Geiger by Gustaf Skördeman

 

A landline rings, just as Agneta Broman, the wife of Stellan Broman, a post-war Swedish TV celebrity who the Swedish viewing public saw as an “uncle” to the nation, is waving her grandchildren goodbye. She answers the phone only to hear one word: “Geiger”. She immediately digs out a gun she’d kept hidden for years, shoots her husband dead, and disappears.

So starts this absolutely brilliant Swedish crime/espionage thriller.

Sara Novak is a vice cop who grew up a friend of the Broman’s daughters, Lotta and Malin. She was always the poor friend, her mother the Broman’s housekeeper, and as the narrative continues we learn the Broman daughters bullied her somewhat. She’s drawn into the investigation and it soon becomes an obsession. 

The police only know that Stellan is dead, and Agneta is missing, and are unaware that she was the one who murdered her husband. But as the bodies pile up and things point to a motive linked to the cold war and the conflict between the Communist East and that Capitalist West, it isn’t long before a nest of international intrigue is discovered.

The publishers billed Geiger as the most gripping debut since I Am Pilgrim, and I have to say I thought the analogy was apt. This is an ambitious thriller, encompassing big themes, not least, the Cold War and its legacy, establishment sex rings and cover-ups. Sara is an interesting protagonist, while Agneta makes for a brilliant antagonist, reminiscent of the anonymous English assassin in Frederick Forsyth’s The Day of the Jackal. In both novels the police and protagonist are unaware of the identity of who they are after until near the end, and this is a device which works as well in Geiger as it did in Forsyth’s classic.

At the time of writing this review, Geiger is my book of 2021. There’s still a good few months to go, so other titles might well surpass it, though I suspect even if this were to happen Geiger would remain a close contender. Either way, this is a brilliant novel and highly recommended. 

Bullet Train by Kotaro Isaka

 

Korean movie-makers have a long history of producing wacky, violent thrillers - Oldboy and Sympathy for Lady Vengeance being the most obvious examples; their horror movies, too, are renowned, such as the zombies-on-a-train fest which is Train to Busan. But in narrative fiction, too, Korean writers often produce works which are similar; The Plotters by Un-Su Kim, is a notable example. Japanese cinema and narrative fiction has its own tradition of such off-beat mayhem, albeit not as well known as Korea’s. But Kotaro Isaka’s barmy novel, Bullet Train, which is being made into a movie, might well bring the country out of its neighbour’s shadow.

The description on the dust jacket reads: “Satoshi looks like an innocent schoolboy but he is really a viciously cunning psychopath. Kimura's young son is in a coma thanks to him, and Kimura has tracked him onto the bullet train heading from Tokyo to Morioka to exact his revenge. But Kimura soon discovers that they are not the only dangerous passengers onboard. Nanao, the self-proclaimed 'unluckiest assassin in the world', and the deadly partnership of Tangerine and Lemon are also travelling to Morioka. A suitcase full of money leads others to show their hands. Why are they all on the same train, and who will get off alive at the last station?”

But this gives only a taste of the mayhem that is to follow. Bullet Train builds the tension slowly but surely from the first page. It isn’t non-stop action, and neither are the gangsters and assassins mentioned on the dust jacket the only ones on the train, or the only ones to feature in the narrative; soon it feels like every passenger and member of the crew is out to kill someone else. That said, the characters mentioned are the main protagonists, and the author takes the time to flesh them out. My favourites are Tangerine and Lemon, a duo who bicker amongst themselves like an old married couple. 

But it’s Satoshi who steals the show. Frankly, I haven’t read a more chilling character since Hannibal Lecter in Red Dragon and The Silence of the Lambs. In this schoolboy, the author constructs a true psychopath, far worse than many of the schlock versions in your average slasher movie, and I imagine far more realistic too.

Bullet Train is a brilliant novel and is wonderfully cinematic. It reads like a story set for the big screen, so I wasn't surprised to learn an adaptation was in the works. I’ll definitely keep an eye out for anything else written by this author.

Seat 7a by Sebastian Fitzek

 

Mats Krüger is a German psychiatrist living in Argentina. Despite treating phobias and other psychological conditions in his professional life, he ironically suffers from aerophobia, an irrational fear of flying. Mats is estranged from his daughter, Nele, after running out on his wife on her death bed and having an affair. Nele is heavily pregnant and Mats is intent on flying back to Germany to be with her at the birth, with the hope of patching things up. But when she books a taxi to take her to hospital for a caesarean, Nele is kidnapped and taken to a derelict dairy. There her kidnapper ties her up and points a live video camera at her. He rants about the cruelty of the dairy industry and what misery cows have to live through. Meanwhile, a mystery caller contacts Mats on board the now airborne flight and orders him to psychologically destroy an old patient of his, who works as a flight attendant on the plane. The caller wants the woman to become psychotic and homicidal and cause the plane to crash, killing all onboard. The caller tells Mats that if he fails to do this, the kidnapper will torture Nele and the baby and kill them.

Thus we have the setup for another madcap psychological thriller by the German author Sebastian Fitzek. Fitzek has made a name for himself with preposterous plots and over-the-top stories. Seat 7a is no different and takes as its inspiration several disasters which have afflicted aviation over recent years. Most notably the German Wings disaster of 2015, which is mentioned during the narrative, in which a disturbed pilot crashed a jet into a mountainside killing all on board. Equally pertinent might be Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, which though as yet unfound, many believe the pilot or co-pilot to have purposefully crashed into the sea (though I think Seat 7A was published before the MH370 disaster). But regardless, these disasters and others like them have led the European Union and others to debate what they can do to stop them, including mandatory blood testing and psychological screening. 

As with one of Fitzek’s previous titles, Passenger 23, the plot of which took place on a cruise liner, Fitzek has clearly researched air travel extensively. For example, he references the safest places to be on a plane during a crash, and those where you’re guaranteed to die. I haven’t checked these facts out for myself, but I checked out some of his research for Passenger 23 and it all proved correct, and so I wouldn’t be surprised if he was accurate here, too. It all helps him to spin a fiendish web of intrigue.

Factual detail aside, Fitzek’s books are always extremely far-fetched and require a suspension of disbelief. But to be fair to him, that’s all part of the fun. He’s the antithesis of a certain type of police procedural writer, who strenuously strives for believability. Instead, Fitzek offers a rollercoaster ride of plot twists and non-stop tension, and if you accept that and run with it, his books are a very enjoyable read.   

Facets of Death by Michael Stanley

 

The Detective Kubu novels by Michael Stanley are an established series and Facets of Death is a prequel, jumping back in time to when Kubu first joined the force as a fresh-faced, fast-tracked detective, straight out of university. As with fast-tracked graduate recruits in police forces everywhere (for example, I’ve heard this is the case in UK police forces, too), Kubu attracts the envy and suspicion of those not on the speedy-promotion route. So he has much to prove and soon gets the chance to do so. When a local diamond mine is robbed of a huge haul of gems, his opportunity to slay his doubters presents itself.

For a good few years so-called Nordic-noir was the big thing in crime fiction. Crime novels set to a backdrop of chilly Scandinavia are still going strong, but for readers such as myself who never really got onboard with the whole Scandi-thing, and who prefer other locales, the steady rise in crime fiction set elsewhere - Australia and South Africa to name just two - has been welcome. The Kubo novels are set in Botswana and I love how Michael Stanley uses the land, wildlife, culture and traditions to bring these stories alive.

Facets of Death is no exception and we have witch doctors, curses, black magic and voodoo aplenty. This is a rich vein which Stanley has tapped in previous Kubu novels (or should that be later novels, seeing as this is a prequel) and it always adds an intriguing dimension to the plot. It’s no exception here, as it adds a unique blend to what is in effect a heist story. 

This is a great addition to the Detective Kubu canon and while it can be read as a standalone, by being a Kubu origin story, it also casts the rest of the series in a new light. I’ve always been a fan of prequels and origin stories and have never understood why some people don’t like them, and I really enjoyed fleshing out the character of Detective Kubu in greater depth.

Vanished by James Delargy

 

Set in the outback of Australia, a young family who have run from their troubles, have now vanished. Lorcan Kane, an analyst employed by a data company which is owned by two brothers with a shady past, has stolen some valuable data from them; Naiyana, Lorcan’s wife, is an activist who has almost bankrupted a major foodstuffs conglomerate, and upset some powerful people in the process; their six-year old son, Dylan, is an innocent along for the ride through no fault of his own. They ran to the abandoned mining town of Kalyee, where they tried to renovate an old wreck of a house. But they soon discovered an illegal mining operation, and with the past chasing them, something happened and they've disappeared. 

Detective Emmaline Taylor is put in charge of finding out what happened to them and it isn’t long before she discovers that it’s something bad. Whether it’s the miners, someone from Lorcan’s past, or someone from Naiyana’s, it’s apparent that the family’s hopes of reinventing themselves in the middle of nowhere has gone seriously awry.

Vanished is told from various character’s perspectives in the past (the period of the Kane family’s stay in Kalyee) and from Detective Taylor’s perspective in the present day (after the family has been reported missing). The narrative pieces together all that has happened, reveals how the family’s dreams soured, and what has happened to them. 

I don’t want to divulge spoilers, so will say no more, but this is a deftly plotted novel which keeps you guessing until the last page. It’s well worth a read.

The Source by Sarah Sultoon

 

Marie is a TV journalist working on the production side (editorial, behind the camera, rather than a presenter or reporter) and employed by a major television news channel. She and her team are investigating a sex trafficking ring and have undercover footage of the traffickers selling a young woman. But just as they are about to broadcast the story, the Metropolitan police announce a breakthrough in Operation Andromeda, an investigation into historical sexual abuse in the army. Andromeda has been an enormous scandal, because although the police secured some convictions, many of the suspects escaped prosecution. Now they claim they have further leads which merit reopening the inquiry, and this overshadows and thus scuppers the sex trafficking investigation that Marie and her team have spent months working on.

Meanwhile, in alternate chapters set in the past at the time the abuse was occurring, we meet Carly, the daughter of an alcoholic and neglectful army widow. As far as Carly is concerned, the only good thing in her life is her baby sister Kayleigh. Carly’s older brother, Jason, is a soldier and he provides the family with food and essentials. But soon he helps groom Carly and her friend Rach for the sexual abuse occurring in the barracks.

The Source is told through two timelines - that of Carly experiencing the abuse and that of Marie, who first is investigating the sex trafficking ring, but when that’s superseded by Operation Andromeda, works on the news channel's investigation of that. From the outset it’s clear Marie knows more about the historical sexual abuse within the military than she lets on, and it isn’t long before both stories, that of Marie and that of Carly, converge.

The Source is a very well-written novel. When I first picked it up I assumed it was going to be a more straightforward thriller set in a newsroom, and as a former TV journalist myself, I had mixed feelings about that. Sometimes such stories seem to me to be a little navel-gazing. But the author, Sarah Sultoon, resisted this, and while the story is ostensibly about a journalist, in fact it’s about much more than that. Instead, the topical issues of historical sexual abuse, how society treats victims of such abuse, and the institutional coverups which often occur in such situations, take centre stage. While the issues touched on are sensitive, this isn’t a gratuitous book, but rather a gripping story that will keep the reader turning the page.

The Old Enemy by Henry Porter

 

Ex-MI6 officer Paul Samson, the protagonist of the author’s previous two novels (Firefly & White Hot Silence) has been tasked with secretly guarding a gifted young woman, Zoe Freemantle. She’s an analyst working for an opaque international NGO and he is guarding her without her knowledge, volunteering in her workplace so as to be in close proximity to her and following her about the streets. One day, while tailing her, he’s attacked and it seems that he was the target, rather than the woman he is guarding. 

 

Meanwhile, his old MI6 mentor, Richard Harland, is assassinated while painting in Estonia. This despite the fact he has terminal cancer. And the billionaire philanthropist, Denis Hisami, is poisoned with a nerve agent while testifying before Congress. It quickly becomes apparent that all three events - the attack on Samson himself, the murder of Harland, and the poisoning of Hisami - are all linked.  Samson decides to find out what is going on and soon becomes embroiled in a labyrinthine plot where nothing is as it seems. 

  

As mentioned, The Old Enemy is the third in the author’s Paul Samson series. While it can be read as a standalone, and it’s not imperative to have read either Firefly or White Hot Silence (the relevant information is drip-fed throughout the narrative of The Old Enemy so that those who haven’t read the previous titles can still follow the plot) it’s much more enjoyable if you have. Luckily, the previous two titles are very well-written, so this is no bad thing. 

  

These are very topical thrillers: Firefly focused on the refugee crisis in the Mediterranean, White Hot Silence focused on far-right groups across Europe and from where they get their funding, while The Old Enemy continues this focus and concentrates on Russian interference in the West’s political systems and Russian killings in the US and Europe. 

  

Like the previous titles, The Old Enemy is skilfully plotted. It’s a fantastic thriller and confirms Henry Porter as a spy novelist at the top of his game. It’s little wonder that the novel comes with a glowing endorsement from Charles Cummings (another leading spy-thriller author) and I can’t recommend this title enough. I have a strong feeling that there will be another Paul Sampson novel at some point, and I for one will certainly read it.