Nobels testamente

Annika Bengtzon (Chronological Order) #6

by Liza Marklund

En mördare i aftonklänning tar sig in på Nobelfesten i Stockholms Stadshus. På dansgolvet i Gyllene Salen skjuter hon Nobelkommitténs ordförande rakt genom hjärtat. Annika Bengtzon dras ofrivilligt in i dramat inte som journalist, utan som vittne.

Det vänder upp och ner på hela hennes tillvaro. Äktenskapet knakar och hennes anställning hotas. Snart befinner sig Annika mitt i en våldsam historia av terror och död som utspelar sig genom flera sekler. Var hon än letar hittar hon spåren efter samme man: Alfred Nobel, den omåttligt rike uppfinnaren som instiftade Nobelprisen och dog en tragisk och ödesmättad död. Till slut befinner hon sig livsfarligt nära sanningen.

Nobels testamente är den sjätte, fristående romanen om journalisten Annika Bengtzon. Den utspelar sig tidsmässigt direkt efter Den röda vargen.

Genres: Crime, Fiction, Swedish Literature, Mystery, Thriller, Sweden, Scandinavian Literature

454 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Scandinavia’s undisputed queen of crime fiction, Liza Marklund is the No. 1 international bestselling author of the Annika Bengtzon series.

Liza Marklund was born in 1962 in the small village of Pålmark, close to the Arctic Circle in Sweden. She is an author, journalist, columnist, and goodwill ambassador for UNICEF. She is also co-owner of Piratförlaget, one of Sweden’s most successful publishing houses. Since her debut in 1995, Liza Marklund has written eleven novels and two nonfiction books. Liza co-wrote the international bestseller The Postcard Killers with James Patterson, making her the second Swedish author ever to reach No. 1 on the New York Times bestseller list. Her crime novels featuring the gutsy reporter Annika Bengtzon have sold more than 13 million copies in 30 languages to date.

Liza Marklund worked as an investigative news reporter for ten years and as an editor in print and television news for five. Today, she also makes documentaries for television and writes for various newspapers. Her topics are often women and children’s rights. Liza has made documentaries about children with HIV/AIDS in Cambodia and Russia, and a series about domestic violence, Take a Little Beating.

Liza is also a popular columnist since 20 years. Her columns have appeared in various Swedish and international newspapers and magazines, including Financial Times in the UK, Welt am Sonntag in Germany, Dagbladet Information in Denmark, and Ilta-Lehti in Finland. She is a regular columnist in Swedish tabloid Expressen and Norwegian daily Verdens Gang. Today, Liza and her family divide their time between Stockholm in Sweden and Marbella in southern Spain.

Reviews

[Mihaela Abrudan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cartea e mai degrabă un episod din viața lui Annika Bengtzon decât un thriller. Niște secvențe, nicio anchetă, trei crime și niște personaje haotice.

[Manny · Rating 4 out of 5]

You'll be hearing more about this hitherto unknown Swedish thriller: Yellow Bird, who made the three Millenium movies (Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, etc), are apparently going to film it. Remember you read it here first.

But back to the book. It's harder than I expected to review Nobels Testamente, #6 in the Annika Bengtzon series, because it's really three books in one. The surface story is a fairly conventional thriller set in the world of Swedish biotech research. The chairwoman of the Nobel Prize committee has been spectacularly murdered while she's dancing at the Nobel Dinner; Annika, as usual, just happens to be a couple of metres away, and becomes involved in the case. This part of the story is fun, but I had a hard time suspending disbelief. I have worked at several research institutes and visited many more, and to say that Marklund is exaggerating doesn't begin to cover it. But if you're not another researcher, you may be happy to buy her version of the research world.

The second thread is about Alfred Nobel's life. I didn't know that much about Nobel, and found it very interesting. Some bits of it seemed so unlikely that I was sure she had to be making them up: in fact, I quickly found out that it was all true. I don't want to give any of this away, since it's important to the plot, but I assure you that you'll be startled as well. There's considerably more to this guy than inventing dynamite and establishing the Nobel Prize.

So... the thriller and the history were OK, but, as usual in the Annika Bengtzon books, the thing that really grabs you is her descriptions of everyday life, in particular the heartbreak of being a working mother. The only author I can think of who is better at voicing women's frustration and anger is Fay Weldon, and Marklund runs her close. Let me tell you the sequence I liked best.

Annika's come into some money, and has just moved from Kungsholmen, a friendly but moderately downmarket part of Stockholm, to Djursholm, an expensive suburb. She feels out of place and the kids are having problems at their playgroup. It becomes clear that Kalle, her six year old, is being bullied by the bigger kids in his class. Her marriage is also in trouble. She knows that Thomas was seeing someone else, but he doesn't know that she's found out. Neither of them will admit what's going on and they're barely talking to each other. Thomas starts working longer and longer days, concentrating on his new career at the Justice Department. He feels he's headed for great things.

Everything explodes the day that Thomas is due to make his key presentation to the Minister and his associates. He's been preparing it for over a year, and is in agony of anticipation when the phone rings. It's the playgroup. Kalle has fallen from the climbing-frame and hit his head. They think it's a concussion. How soon can Thomas get there?

Thomas tells them to call Annika, who's supposed to be free that day, but her mobile is switched off. The woman at the playgroup is starting to sound seriously angry. He doesn't know what to do. In the end, he runs through his presentation as quickly as he can, then hightails it back to Djursholm. To make things even more complicated, he's invited his boss and some other important people to dinner that evening.

Annika, who's been out sleuthing, suddenly remembers her mobile is off. She turns it on again, and gets eight increasingly frantic messages. She's overcome with shame and guilt. For a moment, it crosses her mind that this is insane, surely she ought to be able to leave her mobile switched off for four hours without the sky falling? But, in fact, that exactly how things are if you're a working mother in the early 21st century. She left her mobile off, and the sky is about to fall. She makes it home, and finds a tearful Kalle and a stony-faced Thomas. Annika's heart is bursting. The only good bit of news is that the hospital ran a PET scan, and Kalle definitely doesn't have a cerebral hemorrhage. They'd thought for a few minutes that maybe he did.

She spends the rest of the afternoon fussing over Kalle and feeling terrible. Dinner, which has originally been intended as an elaborate gourmet experience, is drastically curtailed. Thomas is unimpressed with her food. Towards the end of the evening, there's an unpleasant scene with their neighbor, who's been consistently harassing them since they moved in. Thomas feels Annika has let him down there too.

Next afternoon, when she goes to pick up Kalle from school, she has a word with his teacher. She assumes that Lotta has had a serious talk with the bullies' parents? The teacher looks uncomfortable. They took the line that boys will be boys, she says. It was difficult to get them to understand that this was not a trivial incident.

Without quite knowing how she got there, Annika is truly desperate. Things are difficult at work. Her busband doesn't love her any more. The kids at school could have fatally injured her son, and might try it again. She feels she has nothing to lose. The following morning, she takes Kalle to school again. She can see the two boys who regularly pick on him playing in the sandbox. She goes over to the bigger one and put her face really close to his.

"Benjamin," she says quietly, "you're never, ever to hurt Kalle again. If you do, I'm going to come to your house when you're asleep, and I'm going to kill you."

She knows it's completely wrong, that an adult should not say such a terrible thing to a small child, that there will certainly be consequences, but she does it anyway. And there are terrible consequences, more terrible in fact even than Annika has been expecting.
_____________________________________________

For everyone else who's in post-Millennium withdrawal, help is approaching. The better Liza Marklunds are an acceptable substitute, and according to several Swedish sources they will start filming this one at the beginning of 2011. Annika is being played by Malin Crépin:



A moment's search on GIS will turn up several rather hotter pictures, if that's what you're after.
_____________________________________________

It's been released! The Swedish premiere was yesterday. You can see a trailer here.

[Book Him Danno · Rating 5 out of 5]

Waiting for these books to be translated is sheer torture, it almost makes me want to give a try at learning Swedish.


All the excitement of the cutthroat world of modern scientific research. I know that statement sounds silly, but Liza Marklund through her investigative journalist Annika Bengtzon brings the tension of the world alive. When you are talking millions of dollars of research grants floating around, you are going to bring out the worst in a lot of people.

The mystery was solid, Nobel prize committee member is assassinated during the after party of the awards ceremony. Who did it and why? Annika, who was literally dancing next to the victim, was the best eyewitness. Immediately she receives a gag order from the police, but that doesn’t stop her from digging into the case.

I do not think most people realize how much money is floating around the research world if your work is successful, and more importantly, first. Put any random group of people in a situation wherein being first is the difference between wealth and poverty, you are going to see some dirty tricks. Watch any reality show like Survivor and you will see the same behavior. Having a PhD. will not make you play any nicer at all. It makes you all the more nasty because you at least understand exactly what is at stake.

Liza Marklund has given us another solid Nordic Noir series featuring a compelling heroine. Waiting for these books to be translated is sheer torture, it almost makes me want to give a try at learning Swedish.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

LAST WILL
Liza Marklund

Liza Marklund was one of the first Swedish authors, after Mankell Henning, that I read. She immediately became a favorite, but was very difficult to find. Now she is a #1 NY Times bestselling author and is printed in the US by Emily Bestler, one of the Simon & Schuster group.
Annika Bengtzon is the headstrong and independent reporter. She has been through difficult times in her past and feels she has a tenuous hold on her present. The printed newspaper she works for, has laid her life on the line for, gives her a sense of identity, is giving way to new media forms, which gives her a sense of instability, along with her boss and co-workers. Her husband had an affair and she cannot forgive him. She has moved into a large house in an upscale suburb, with a hostile neighbor and her son being bullied at his new school. Normal everyday life. Annika must have her investigative reporting to hold herself together.
One of the interesting aspects of this book is the plot woven around the Nobel Peace Prize and Alfred Nobel, the Swedish man who devised the plan for the prize. To set the stage for the plot, Marklund opens the book at the dinner for the Nobel winners and the important people who are invited to the dinner dance after the presentation. Representing her paper, Annika is having a dance with a reporter from the competition, when a woman is shot. The woman looks into Annika’s eyes as she crumples to the floor, dead. Chaos is immediate at on the dance floor, but the story skips to follow the murderer out of the building and through her escape, without telling us who she is or why she killed the woman at the Nobel Prize dinner.
The police arrive and put Annika on a disclosure ban so she cannot report on what happened. The boss who is trying to get rid of her, puts her on indefinite leave of absence. Annika continues to investigate, because she just can’t stop herself.
The Annika Bengtzon books are raw and violent, with non-stop tension. For your own enjoyment, read the books in order – it is worth looking for them. Annika is not always likable, nor are the other characters, but they are real. She is strong, yet feels utterly helpless when her son is bullied. She loves her husband, but is hurt and angry over his betrayal and allows her anger to drive him away. She is straightforward and outspoken, and on the side of the weak, and has no patience for bigotry or snobbery.
Last Will is an interesting read for the information of the Nobel Prize, but the characters are the strong part of this series. You’ll be hooked.

[Lindsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is another exciting installment in Liza Marklund’s series featuring crime reporter Annika Bengtzon. In this sixth book, we find Annika attending the Nobel Prizewinners’ dinner in Stockholm, covering this glamorous and prestigious event for the tabloid Evening Post newspaper. Then, as Annika is dancing with journalist Bosse from the rival evening newspaper to the one she works for, shots are fired on the dance floor. Finding herself caught up in the chaos that ensues, Annika is questioned as a witness, and is desperate to get back to the newsroom and tell her story, but this isn’t as straightforward as she or the paper would hope.

Further murders occur, and Annika starts to trace the links between the crimes, but remains in a difficult situation as a reporter who is also a key witness to events. The author brings in a host of modern day concerns including terrorist and security threats and the treatment of those accused, the workings of scientists, researchers and drug companies, and the challenges and demands facing the newspaper in it’s attempts to be current and relevant in the age of the Internet with it’s offering of immediate online news coverage. Annika is as doggedly determined as ever to find out the truth; why was the victim at the Nobel Prizewinners’ dinner targeted and killed? What secrets are hidden at the medical institute at the university? Who is the cold-hearted killer at work here? There is a fascinating series of short narratives interspersed amongst the main storyline, which detail aspects of the life of Alfred Nobel himself, and which cleverly link in and add to the main plot.

There are troubles for Annika at home, too, despite hoping to land her supposed dream family home in the countryside, the relationship between Annika and husband Thomas is decidedly rocky, and the pleasant new neighbourhood doesn’t seem to be as perfect and friendly as it might have first appeared. Once again she is trying to balance motherhood and her career, though a fortuitous event means that she has more money than before at her disposal. But danger is never far away for Annika and the more corruption and lies she uncovers as she edges closer to the truth, the more she must fight to keep herself and those she loves the most safe from harm as the novel builds to a dramatic and nail-biting conclusion.

I love this series, and I really enjoyed this latest installment, another addictive page-turner that I read quickly. I like the short chapters that jump about so that at one moment we hear about Annika’s family life, then about the situation in the newspaper offices, then about what the killer or suspect is up to; this keeps the novel very engaging, fresh and pacy to read. I was perhaps not quite as fond of this one as I was of both The Bomber and Vanished, but Last Will is certainly still an entertaining, fast-paced and welcome addition to the Annika Bengtzon series, well translated again by Neil Smith, and I am already looking forward to the arrival of the next book.

[Krista (CubicleBlindness Reviews) · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the sixth book following newspaper reporter Annika Bengtzon, Last Will is a focus on the famous Alfred Nobel and his contributions to the development of the Nobel Prize awards. In the opening chapter Annika is witness to the shooting of one of the Nobel prize committee members Caroline Von Behring. The elusive killer-for-hire named The Kitten has made her way into the party after the Noble Prize awards have been given and shoots 2 people on the dance floor, only to make some of her worst mistakes ever. 1. She looks right into Annika’s eyes after stepping on her foot, and 2. She misplaces her shoe upon fleeing the scene. This puts Annika right in the middle of the police investigation as she is the key eyewitness to the shooting. She is immediately placed with a gag-order to not reveal any of the details of what she saw or the case, which puts her in a bind with the newspaper agency she works for.

Annika is already reeling with the pressure of finding her husband has cheated on her, and they will be moving houses soon, but now her job is in jeopardy because she cannot report on the events that she witnessed.

There are several aspects to this story that come together. We get a very flawed main character with her hands full of money, marriage and work problems. She is so close to losing her sanity that at times I really thought she was going to break. The author puts her through so much you can only help but wonder if she is going to make it out ok. The detail and information that is given to the reader about Alfred Noble was very well researched and interesting, the parts about him and his life were some of my favorite chapters. Annika does a lot of investigating of her own, digging into the Nobel committee’s lives and their jobs as scientists. Which is were I want to add a warning label here that this book does contain some animal research and at least one very disturbing cat surgery scene. And last but not least the reader gets some very interesting inside knowledge of the inside workings of a newspaper agency and procedures that a reporter may experience. As the author herself ran a newspaper and knows the ins and outs of that business, it shows through.

The shootings at the Nobel Peace Prize event is just the beginning of numerous others, and as the body count raises, the deeper involved Annika gets, but are the police going to be able to arrest the murderer before Annika gets too deeply involved?

Annika is smart, but she’s stubborn and having a bad time of life, and this time she’s having to go it alone.

My review for www.tarasharp.com

[Minty McBunny · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read the fourth Bengtzon book, The Bomber, a few months ago & found it utterly gripping, I really liked Annika and looked forward to reading more of her exploits. Last Will was the only other Marklund book my library had, so I picked it up despite it being the 6th in the series.

I average about 15 books per month and in my life I have stopped reading approximately 10 books midway through. This was the 11th. From the outset, I found Annika's attitude irritating and her existential crisis regarding her job, her marriage, and her place in the world to be annoying and unsympathetic. The crime at the heart of the novel held very little interest for me and I got bogged down in the medical and science terminology. I understand that I might have been more in tune with Annika had I read the book that came between The Bomber and this one, but I still find it hard to fathom a way that I could ever have been excited about the story as presented here. Around page 200 I realized that I was struggling to get through each page, that I was never inclined to pick book up once I'd put it down, and that if I closed it now and walked away, I'd never be curious to find out what happened. So I did just that. I may go back and get the first book in the series and see if that one is closer to the enjoyment level of The Bomber, then go from there. But Last Will gets two paws way down.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Investigative reporter Annika Bengtzon is attending the ball that followed the Nobel Prize award ceremony.

She becomes a witness to the murder of Christine von Behring who was the chair of the committee to select the prize for medicine.

As a witness who came eye to eye with the killer, Annika can't wait to get back to the newspaper to write her story. However, as the sole witness, police place her on a disclosure ban. She's prohibited from reporting what might have been the story of a life time in case she reveal something vital to solving the murder.

Frustrated at not being able to do her job and dealing with a husband who doesn't seem to appreciate her, she continues to look into the killing. She speaks to other people involved in the Nobel committee and finds that everything isn't as it should. She also becomes a target for the killer.

Markland has a talent for writing suspense and for prose as we read the character's words and get a clear picture of events. I enjoyed reading this book and its well developed plot.

[Wortmagie · Rating 3 out of 5]

„Nobels Testament“ ist der sechste Band der Krimiserie „Annika Bengtzon“ der schwedischen Autorin Liza Marklund. Ich kannte Marklund bereits; vor Jahren habe ich ihre „Mia“-Romane gelesen, die auf einer wahren Begebenheit basieren. Ich wusste, dass die „Annika Bengtzon“-Bücher existieren, hatte jedoch nie Interesse an der Reihe, weil Krimis nicht zu meinen bevorzugten Genres zählen. Dennoch beschloss ich im November 2019 impulsiv, „Nobels Testament“ zu lesen. Ich sah darin die ideale Möglichkeit, mein Blog-Projekt zum Literaturnobelpreis, das mich einige Zeit beschäftigt hatte, mental abzuschließen. Es kümmerte mich nicht, dass ich die Protagonistin nicht kannte und mir der Kontext der Vorgängerbände fehlte. Mich interessierte nur der Fall, der eng mit der Nobelpreisverleihung zusammenhängt.

1895 verfügte Alfred Nobel in seinem Testament die Einrichtung einer Stiftung, die außergewöhnliche Leistungen in den Disziplinen Physik, Chemie, Frieden, Literatur und Medizin honoriert. Über 100 Jahre später gilt das elegante Bankett im Stockholmer Stadshuset, das die Nobelpreisverleihungen offiziell abschließt, als kulturelles Großereignis. Die Journalistin Annika Bengtzon nimmt im Auftrag des Abendblattes teil. Sie gönnt sich einen letzten Tanz, bevor sie zurück in die Redaktion muss, um von rauschenden Roben, dekadenten Speisen und endlosen Dankesreden zu berichten. Plötzlich hallen Schüsse durch den Goldenen Saal des Stadshuset. Der Preisträger für Medizin bricht getroffen zusammen. Auf der Brust seiner Tanzpartnerin, der Vorsitzenden des Nobelkomitees des Karolinska Instituts, breitet sich ein blutroter Fleck aus. Im anschließenden Chaos verbietet die Polizei Annika, über den Angriff zu schreiben. Sie ist empört und hat nun ein persönliches Interesse an der Lösung des Falls. Wer war Ziel des Attentats? Der Preisträger, dessen Stammzellforschung umstritten ist? Oder die Vorsitzende des Komitees, das ihn auszeichnete? Annika beginnt zu recherchieren und erfährt bald am eigenen Leib, dass die Welt der medizinischen Forschung wesentlich rauer ist, als sie sich vorstellen konnte.

Die „Annika Bengtzon“-Reihe von Liza Marklund betrachtet Kriminalfälle aus der Perspektive des Journalismus. Die namensgebende Protagonistin arbeitet bei der fiktiven Stockholmer Zeitung Abendblatt und organisiert ihre investigativen Recherchen demzufolge nach einer anderen Herangehensweise als die Ermittlungsbehörden. Sie verfügt über wenig offizielle Befugnisse, hat dafür jedoch einen Draht zu den Menschen, sodass sie ihr häufig bereitwillig Informationen geben. Außerdem zieht sie Querverbindungen, die die Polizei übersieht, weil ihr mehr Spielraum für unkonventionelle Gedankengänge offensteht. Da ich mit stereotypen Krimis, die sich um Ermittler_innen drehen, meist Schwierigkeiten habe, fand ich Annikas ziviles Vorgehen sehr erfrischend. Ich denke nicht, dass sich für mich während der Lektüre von „Nobels Testament“ durch meine Unkenntnis der Vorgängerbände schwerwiegende Nachteile ergaben. Es war nicht problematisch, Annikas Rolle zu entschlüsseln oder zu verstehen, wie sie arbeitet. Trotzdem kann ich natürlich nur den Ist-Zustand beurteilen, den ich in diesem sechsten Band vorfand. Ihre Beziehungen und ihr gesamtes Privatleben erschienen mir katastrophal chaotisch und ungesund. Ich hatte das Gefühl, ihrer Ehe beim Scheitern zuzusehen, zu bezeugen, wie sie sich von ihrer grässlichen besten Freundin ausnutzen und emotional erpressen lässt und es insgesamt nur gerade so hinbekommt, alles irgendwie zusammenzuhalten. Dadurch erntete sie bei mir keine Sympathie, ich mochte sie nicht. Glücklicherweise war das kein Hindernis, denn Annika interessierte mich ohnehin kaum. Ich las „Nobels Testament“ schließlich wegen des Falls, nicht, um die Hauptfigur kennenzulernen. Dieser konzentriert sich auf den Nobelpreis für Medizin, der jährlich vom Nobelkomitee des Karolinska Instituts verliehen wird. Mein Vorwissen zur Vergabeprozedur des Literaturnobelpreises erwies sich als hilfreich, um mich in diesem Kontext zurechtzufinden, weil das Karolinska Institut ganz ähnlich vorgeht. Ohne dass mich Liza Marklund darauf hinweisen musste, wusste ich, was das Attentat auf Preisträger und Vorsitzende des Komitees bedeutet. Prinzipiell fand ich die Idee, einen Krimi im Umfeld der medizinischen Forschung anzusiedeln, glaubhaft und plausibel. Dort wird um gewaltige Summen gewetteifert und der Konkurrenzdruck ist legendär, sodass ich mir gut vorstellen kann, dass in dieser Atmosphäre auch mal zu drastischen Mitteln gegriffen wird, um ungeliebte Rival_innen auszuschalten. Die Verbindung zu Nobel als Person erschien mir hingegen fadenscheinig und allzu forciert. Obwohl ich die Informationen, die der Roman zum Privatleben des schwedischen Chemikers und Erfinders bereitstellt, zu schätzen wusste, weil sie ihn für mich lebendiger werden ließen, hätte der Krimi auch ohne diesen inhaltlichen Schlenker wunderbar funktioniert. Die Parallelen ergeben sowieso nur in der Fantasie des Täters (oder der Täterin?) einen Sinn.

Für mich erfüllte die Lektüre von „Nobels Testament“ von Liza Marklund ihren Zweck: ich war danach fähig, das Kapitel des Nobelpreises in meinem Kopf abzuschließen. Es störte mich nicht, dass ich durch meinen kurzentschlossenen Quereinstieg in die Reihe viele Anspielungen auf die Vergangenheit der Protagonistin nicht deuten konnte. Sie war mir von Anfang an ziemlich egal und die Eigenschaften, die sie im Verlauf des Romans zeigt, weckten lediglich meine Antipathie. Der Fall hingegen, der mich motivierte, das Buch zu lesen, war spannend, ich fand allerdings, dass ausgerechnet die Integration von Alfred Nobel nicht überzeugend gelang. Ich verspüre demnach überhaupt kein Bedürfnis, die weiteren Bände der „Annika Bengtzon“-Reihe kennenzulernen. „Nobels Testament“ war ein einmaliger Ausflug.

[Elina Mäkitalo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tämä ehkä enemmän 2 1/2.

Kirja on melko pitkään pelkkää jaarittelua, vaikka kertomukset Nobelin elämästä olivatkin mielenkiintoisia niin en oikein tiedä miten se liittyi tarinaan muuta kuin löyhästi lopussa. Muutamat tapahtumat tapahtuvat kovin nopeasti ja pinnallisesti, olisi voitu makustella enemmän näitä päätapahtumia varsinkin kun kirjan tyyli on alussakin todella hitaasti etenevä. Kyllä tämän luki ja luen varmaan myös sarjan muutkin osat mutta ei todellakaan parasta mitä olen lukenut.

[Helena · Rating 3 out of 5]

Vähän häiritsi, että olen lukenut sarjaa väärässä järjestyksessä ja toisaalta se, että useimmat Annika Bengtzon -dekkarit luin jo useita vuosia sitten. Tähän osaan toi omaa mukavaa lisämakuaan se, että kirjassa kerrottiin paljon faktatietoa Alfred Nobelista ja Nobel-palkinnoista. Ajankohtaiseksi kirja tuli myös sen kautta, että siinä kehiteltiin rokotetta vakavaa virusta vastaan - koronaa ei kuitenkaan osattu pelätä vielä julkaisuvuonna 2006.

[Raven · Rating 3 out of 5]

Intrepid journalist Annika Bengtzon is back in the latest crime thriller by Swedish author Liza Marklund set in and around the world of medical academia and Nobel Prize selection. Annika not only finds herself witness to a shooting at the Nobel Prizewinner’s dinner but finds herself professionally ostracized from her job at the Evening Post unable to report on the events she has witnessed and placed on enforced leave. Needless to say Annika persists with her enquiries and as the body count rises finds herself embroiled in a plot amongst the higher echelons of the world of medical academia that leads to threats against her own life and that of her family.

With an incredibly multi-stranded story line I thoroughly enjoyed the depth of research that Marklund brings to this book in the realm of medical science and the intense rivalries and secrecy that exist amongst this group of elite scientific professionals and gratifying that there was such a good representation of women amongst this elite group. Throughout the course of the novel much is learnt about scientific investigations into diseases that continually defy cure such as MS, dementia and so on and Marklund effortlessly weaves what could be quite dense scientific jargon into easily understood and fascinating detail. She also sheds light on the whole convoluted process of selection for the accolade of the Nobel Prize and there is an incredibly interesting subplot centred around the life and scandals of Alfred Nobel’s life that is central to the main plot and the motivations of both victims and murderer.

Likewise we have a greater depth of characterisation of Annika who once again is juggling the demands of family and career but who is encountering extra personal stress carrying the knowledge of her husband’s infidelity, the problems that her young son is encountering at the hands of bullies and their move out of the city next door to a frankly deranged neighbour.There is also an intriguing ‘will she won’t she’ situation with the temptation of the gorgeous reporter Bosse who drifts in and out of the plot tempting our erstwhile heroine. Annika has much to deal with…

Marklund once again proves her credentials amongst the Scandinavian crime posse presenting the reader with not only a perfectly researched and gripping plot line where much can be learnt about a subject not normally addressed in the crime genre, but fuelling the plot with her wonderfully observed characters intermingling the constraints and challenges for Annika in balancing the demands of her job with her emotional life and the danger that this places her in. An excellent read.

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another enjoyable episode in this series of books featuring Annika Bengtzon. The cracks are appearing in her relationship with Thomas, for all that they have just moved to their dream house in the suburbs. Dreams are not all that they seem, and life back in the city is beginning to look more attractive again. Kalle is being bullied at pre-school,and severe cuts are being made in her work force at the paper. Meanwhile her accidental involvement as a witness to the murder of a scientist at the Nobel Prize celebrations and a consequent non-disclosure order being imposed upon her by the police result in Annika being sent on gardening leave. Being Annika, she cannot find satisfaction in unpacking and settling into their new home, and she manages to begin investigating the murder and gets deeper into the workings of the Karolinska Institute, which hosts the Nobel Prize programme. It is a fine story with plenty of suspense and tension, and a very dramatic and life-changing climax for Annika.

[Tina Tamman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Who and how decides that a novel is a thriller? I picked up this book thinking it was but looking at it now that I've finished it, can't see the word anywhere. On the cover, however, it does say, "Twists and turns you never see coming".
Well, the twists and turns there may have been but they left me cold. At first I thought that it was all to do with the female assassin and it was right not to feel anything for her but later, when the female investigative journalist Annika Bengtzon became the centre, I didn't care about her either. She had neighbour problems and house problems and work problems and marital problems, but they didn't interest me. Even her relationship with her children - a key aspect in the life in any investigator - seemed just sugary and predictable.
I was really diappointed in this book. Not only does the storyline disappoint but also the writing. In a translation of course one never knows whether to blame the translator or the author. And I learnt far less than I expected about the Nobel Pize to which the title refers.

[Victoria Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

Last Will is by far my most enjoyable read *and I've read them in order once I realized they were a series) of Liza Marklund's novels to date.

Annika Bengtzon, a reporter for the Evening Post, is attending a Nobel Prize Award Ceremony banquet in the hopes of finding a story worthy of a front page headline.

A female assassin known only as “The Kitten” has been hired to kill Caroline von Behring, a member of the Nobel Prize committee at the Nobel Prize Award Ceremony banquet. The Kitten ends her target’s life but comes face-to-face with Annika. The Kitten and Annika make eye contact, Annika recalling she had yellow eyes.

A gag order won't allow Annika to share her story.

[Mickey Hoffman · Rating 2 out of 5]

A depressing novel chocked full of gory details including animal torture. I wouldn't have finished the book if the torture had begun earlier in the story. By the time it came in, about 3/4 of the way through, I wanted to see who dunnit so I kept reading, but won't read another of this author's books.

[Sophie Houston · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not a book for animal lovers.

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eh ..

[Mike Cuthbert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Annnika Bengtzon is a reporter and mother. She is going through her paper’s diversity drive to offer more on-line services and the print results suffer and appear to be about to suffer more. Because she is an eyewitness to a shooting at the Nobel festivities in the Stockholm City Hall, her status at the paper changes. A prominent member of the Nobel Science committee is the victim. Annika, because of her eyewitness status, is forbidden by law from writing about it. She is part of the murder investigation. Thus begins a wonderful, beautifully researched novel about the Nobel Committee, animal and biotech research, the Karolinska Institute, family tensions, children and more. Annika becomes more than a reporter on the case as there are questions that deserve and demand answers in addition to the identity of the murderer. We know her to be called “Kitten,” a skilled assassin who is soon on the trail of others, including Annika herself. There is another murderer, less professional than Kitten, who is doing in both scientists and their experiments and Annika runs into that killer as well. Thomas, her husband, is involved in a controversial government proposal that will identify persons who might commit a crime in the future, especially terrorism, and has had an affair with Sophie. Annika flirts with a rival reporter, Bosse, and feels some attraction for him but does not get into messy detail with him. A neighbor in Annika’s new neighborhood has a painting of Beatrice Cenci, a correspondent of the romantic Alfred Nobel. She inspires him, in the 19th century, to write poetry, a novel and a play, “Nemesis.” The play has had only one production, in 2005, in Stockholm, but the name lingers on and figures in Marklund’s novel. Did I fail to mention her detailed research into the life of Nobel? Then there is the crude next-door neighbor who keeps driving his Mercedes across her lawn to get to his driveway and who breaks up a dinner party by plowing up her flower garden. A novel with this much research could turn slightly or even mostly dull, but Marklund keeps the pages turning as her several plots unwind. Henning Mankell, noted Swedish novelist, calls Marklund “The Queen of Scandinavian Crime Fiction.” On the evidence of this effort, I would not argue with his judgment!

[Aneliya Petrunova · Rating 5 out of 5]

En mycket välskriven kriminalroman och en av Liza Marklunds bästa. I "Nobels testamente" får vi en gång till träffa Annika Bengtzon, Kvällspressens journalist som utmanar både rättsväsendet och samhället med sina utredningar. Den här gången blir hon vittne till ett mord på Nobelmiddagen. Vi får också följa med i hur hennes privatliv utvecklas. Kriminalhistorian i sig är ganska originell - ovanliga motiv och en ovanlig mördarfigur. Det enda som är lite besvikande är slutet - enligt min åsikt är det något abrupt, vilket i och för sig också kan vara en fördel, men det kändes inte så i just det här fallet. Därför skulle betyget egentligen ha varit 4,5 i stället för 5.

Bokens andra starka sida, förutom själva kriminalfallet och Annika Bengtzons utredande av det, är de viktiga frågorna den diskuterar - om terrorism (som blir mer och mer utbredd i dagens samhälle) och hur hotet hanteras av staten (det gäller egentligen alla länder, inte bara Sverige), om de mänskliga rättigheterna i vårt nya terrorhotade samhälle, samt en del allmänmänskliga frågor som relationer och barns uppfostran.

[Terese]

Hmm, jag vet inte vad jag tycker. Har läst denna bok ett par gånger tidigare, för längesedan.

Nu retar jag mig rätt mycket på Annika framförallt. Det kanske man inte får, men jag kan inte hjälpa det. Hon är mer intresserad av att publicera sina artiklar än att hjälpa polisen lösa brottet. Överhuvudtaget har hon en ganska ohövlig personlighet och tror att hon kan göra lite hur hon vill utan att ta nån som helst hänsyn till nån annan.

Och hennes man är inte mycket bättre han och jag fattar inte varför hon inte har slängt ut honom för längesen. Kanske för barnens skull men dem är han ju ändå inte så intresserad av att ta hand om.

Om man bortser från de irriterande karaktärerna så är väl själva berättelsen ganska bra. Det är lite spännande att läsa en deckare som utspelar sig i den miljön. Jag fick inte riktigt ihop vad Kattungen och den andra mördaren hade för koppling till varandra, och jag fattade inte heller vad han som blev instängd i frysrummet hade gjort. Men det beror antagligen mer på mig än författaren.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Each one gets better! This starts off with high adventure -- an assassin is acting on carefully laid plans to eliminate someone at the Nobel Awards banquet. Annika is in attendance, and meets eye to eye with the woman seconds before shots are fired and pandemonium ensues.
Annika is put silenced from talking about what she witnessed by police, and her paper puts her on paid leave for 6 months while it all plays out. Yet Annika can't stop digging on her own and continues to investigate the scientists at the K. Institute -- made all the easier when she finds that her new neighbor works there. Annika continues to get pulled into the middle of several additional murders all stemming from the scientific community. Meanwhile her husband and her are estranged and her best friend Anne is not being a very good friend. In fact, Thomas and Anne are annoying in their utter disregard for Annika and if I didn't know it was all building towards something -- it would be intolerable. (It still is). Annika is a bad ass and once these leaches are not sucking the life out of her - it will be better.
This ends on a cliff-hanger and I wanted to hit "next" on the "netflix play button" -- but this time around, I don't have Lifeline lined up or I would already be reading it.

This is book 2, or book 6 depending on how it's ordered.
I've read 1 (5) and 4 (8). Now I need 3 (7) (Lifeline).

[Erica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Romanens komplexitet försöker fånga förhållandet mellan internationella hotar och vetenskapliga framsteg och hur dessa saker kommer till att påverka ett lands pressfrihet, till och med personliga integriteten.

Jag tyckte att handlingen verkade falla i mitten - det gick lite trögt att hänga med i skiftet från ett mord och spioneri till huvudpersonens personliga liv. Jag erkänner också att jag måste se boken igen för att förstå hela användningen av Nobels testamente genom boken.

Läsarens notat: jag började med denna boken pga en språkkurs i 2014 när jag var en nybörjare med det svenska språket...det var ett riktigt typ 'slog' över de nästa tio år, men det förbättrades min språkförmåga. Kul att äntligen klara av det!

[Hanna · Rating 2 out of 5]

crime writers try not to finish the whole plot in the last two pages challenge :|

honestly, the story had interesting parts. i do like mysteries based on real people and problems, but this one fell through completely. so much was said and nothing at all at the same time, and honestly the ending just felt rushed and forced. it could easily have been much better, if she just cared to actually combine the different plots in a more realistic way. i also started to really hate the main character after a while. i remember liking some earlier books in this series much better, so maybe its just a case of a writer who should stop writing the same series, because it’s bound to eventually get watered down to nothing.

[Hans Brienesse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once again a thriller in the typical Swedish fashion. Not only do we get a great plot we also get a look into the daily lives of people. Annika Bengtzon is involved in the scenarios here without actually solving them which is good; she gets involved in the subplots as well and instead of being the central character is only a peripheral. The end notes show just how much research is involved in making a novel not only gripping but authentic as well. I enjoyed the excerpts from Alfred Nobel's own thinking. All in all a very good read. Four stars only because in my book five stars is Exceptional.

[Rosemary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another Annika Bengstom murder mystery solved with this feisty journalist, coping with her friend 'Q' in the police who keeps her from reporting, and her unhelpful unfaithful husband. Just when you think something else cannot go wrong it does...right at the end (I will not spoil it) so you have to read the next thriller to find out what happens. This one is a bit improbable about the Nobel for medicine, but you get some good information on Alfred Nobel's life and, Hey, its a great listen as one walks the dog.

[Margaret Joyce · Rating 4 out of 5]

The 6th in the Swedish crime series with Annika Bengtzon, clever reporter for an evening tabloid as protagonist, delivers a devilishly intricate plot set in Stockholm, surrounding the murder of the chairperson of the Nobel Prize committee. The interrelationships amongst the wide-ranging cast of characters are brilliantly portrayed, and the suspense is deftly maintained throughout the 404 pages. A great read.

[Maja · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was really different than what I normally read, it was in swedish, firstly, adult, contemporary crime, and also set in a culture I am familiar with and can understand.
Because even though I am extremely in tune with american culture and social norms, living with an american dominated internet and having read MANY american authors and books, there is no familiarity or sense of home. This had that, which definitely was nice.

[Zully Mustafa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nu puteam să ratez o carte din seria Annika Bengtzon, deși recunosc că acum sunt mult mai interesată de viața femeii ăsteia și de deciziile pe care le ia, decît de marile ei investigații jurnalistice. Aici, știm că e mai inteligentă decît o șleahtă de polițiști pe urmele unor mari criminali căutați de Interpol sau CIA. O carte ușoară, de vară, fără bătăi de cap.

[Magnus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another good story by Lisa Marklund. My only real doubt about the book is how does Annika get anything done (and is able to be good at anything) with such strong inferiority complex?
Also, I know she's a journalist but the fact *Everything* important happens in her vicinity starts to feel slightly too convenient.