In The Shadow of Sadd

I skyggen af Sadd #1

by Steen Langstrup

In the Shadow of Sadd takes you on a bumpy ride through the grimy side streets of a gloomy city somewhere in Europe.

The city could be anywhere in Europe. Sadd could be any mob boss. There is a lot of shady business going on around him, and he has a hand in most of it. This scam, however, he must never know of.

This is the story about a dead body in the back of an old Chevy van, oceans of dirty money, the mentally unstable wife of a rich attorney, and a lot of striped aquarium fish.

In the Shadow of Sadd is co-written by Sara Blaedel, Gretelise Holm, Lars Kjaedegaard and Steen Langstrup. Plot, idea and characters are by Steen Langstrup.

In the Shadow of Sadd received a diploma from the Danish Crime Writers Association.

135 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Dimitris Passas (TapTheLine) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is another little diamond written by four young and full of prospects Danish crime fiction authors, Steen Langstrup, Gretelise Holm, Lars Kjaedegaard, and Sara Blaedel. The structure of the novel is similar to that of another S. Langstrup's novel, titled "Russian Dope". There are four narrations, each written by one of the above authors, which revolve around Jimmy Sadd, a character that we do not meet anywhere in the pages of this novel, a mafia boss in a city that is not named but described wonderfully by all four writers. "In the Shadow of Sadd" is an idea that belongs to Steen Langstrup who writes in a short epilogue saying how he conceived the original idea and then how difficult it was for such a book to be published. Langstrup writes that he left Gyldendal Publications in 2001 and found his "own publishing house, 2 Feet Entertainment and in celebration of my artistic liberty I simply had to give this crazy project a chance". He also adds: "I had to find writers who had the right voices for the characters in each short story". Langstrup won this bet as the characterization in this novella is excellent with protagonists who brought to my mind the first films directed by Quentin Tarantino, "Reservoir Dogs" and "Pulp Fiction".

The plot is a kind of jigsaw puzzle and all the missing pieces are brought forth in the end, leaving no plot holes or unanswered questions. Furthermore, the short length of this novella, no more than 120 pages, makes the pacing all the more fast-tempo and exciting. The reader is bound to be lost in all these strange stories that are all connected with one link, a shadowy character named Jimmy Sadd who seems to take part in all illegal activities that involve a number of people. Some of the characters are more sympathetic than others and nobody is really good or bad in the literal sense. They are all moving in the grey areas that constitute the borders between morality and immorality. In a way, they are close to the characters created by the master of the genre, Patricia Highsmith. When the story is completed,m the reader feels satisfied and truly entertained by this book.

If you like non-linear storylines and enjoy Quentin Tarantino early films, you should give "In the Shadow of Sadd" a fair chance. There is also the exceptional "Russian Dope" written by S. Langstrup that stands at the same level as this one.

[Peter Holmboe · Rating 2 out of 5]

Idéen er underholdende og kreativ: fire forfatterstemmer samlet i ét krimiplot - og alle deltagende er dygtige i genren. Om end jeg personligt foretrækker visse af forfatterne, så er det i det hele taget både potentiale og gode øjeblikke.

På den anden side virker bogen fragmenteret. Hver del står stærkt i sig selv med udviklingsmuligheder, men som helhed falder fortællingen til tider til ro som fire halvafsluttede noveller snarere end en sammenhængende roman.
Det giver en oplevelse af, at de enkelte stemmer ikke i tilstrækkelig grad interagerer eller bygger dramatisk op sammen. Dermed bliver helheden mindre tilfredsstillende, fordi den narrative udvikling virker spredt og mangler et samlet hele eller et momentum fra begyndelse til afslutning.

[Jason Beech · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the Shadow of Sadd is a fantastic novel written by four separate authors, but stitched together without any seams showing.
Each chapter focuses on one of four main characters, all labouring beneath the shadow of Jimmy Sadd, the crime boss we never meet, but definitely learn to fear.

In the first, we meet Bruno, Sadd's henchman trying to rid himself of a body in the back of his van with the help of his brother. In the second we see Paul, a pet shop employee who feeds Sadd's fish in one of the boss' many apartments spread across The City, when he finds something he really shouldn't. In the third, Rikke Berg has just emerged from treatment and is now home knowing that she did not have mental issues, and her husband Christian really is working for the Mafia. When he asks her to move the rat behind the car outside, she steps out into the rain which drenches each of the stories, and finds a human body in a van. She thinks she's been validated. Has she? The final chapter focuses on Paul's (from the 2nd chapter) girlfriend Victoria, a woman who talks filth to customers over the phone for a living, and the part she plays in what Paul found in that secret room. The four main characters come together in this final chapter for a fantastic conclusion.

There was tons to love about this. I like the rain-drenched atmosphere and the claustrophobia it creates keeping these people hunched inside a van, an apartment, a house; all desperate in some way. It's impressive that this feels like the work of one author, instead of four, using a different voice for each character, but keeping the tone of the whole consistent. All four chapters hurt my stomach, worrying about the outcome, knowing what a bastard Jimmy Sadd is, and how he likes to hurt people for the fun of it. The reader never meets the man, but each character's intense paranoia about him tells you everything you need to know.

Though the plot is mostly about massive wads of cash and whether to steal it or not, the book has so much more going on. It's about being trapped, whether by poverty, or by forces much bigger than you, and always looking for that way out.

I loved it so much I bought Langstrup's The Informer once I'd finished.