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Vik & Stubø #1
Minkä taakseen jättää
The Finnish version of Anne Holt : Det som er mitt.
Yhdeksänvuotias Emilie katoaa matkalla koulusta kotiin. Jäljelle jäävät vain reppu ja kimppu leskenlehtiä. Kuusi päivää myöhemmin kidnapataan pikku Kim. Hän löytyy nopeasti. Kuolleena, ruumiissaan lappu SAIT ANSIOSI MUKAAN.
Inger Johanne Vik, tutkija ja pienen lapsen äiti, on yhtä järkyttynyt kuin muutkin maanmiehensä. Kun Norjan Keskusrikospoliisi pyytää häneltä apua jutun ratkaisemisessa, hän kieltäytyy, vaikka hänellä on tausta FBI:ssa ja hän on juristi ja psykologi.
Mutta sitten katoaa jälleen yksi lapsi. Oslon bussista numero 20, keskellä ruuhka-aikaa. Inger Johanne ei enää voi kieltäytyä tehtävästä…
Yhdeksänvuotias Emilie katoaa matkalla koulusta kotiin. Jäljelle jäävät vain reppu ja kimppu leskenlehtiä. Kuusi päivää myöhemmin kidnapataan pikku Kim. Hän löytyy nopeasti. Kuolleena, ruumiissaan lappu SAIT ANSIOSI MUKAAN.
Inger Johanne Vik, tutkija ja pienen lapsen äiti, on yhtä järkyttynyt kuin muutkin maanmiehensä. Kun Norjan Keskusrikospoliisi pyytää häneltä apua jutun ratkaisemisessa, hän kieltäytyy, vaikka hänellä on tausta FBI:ssa ja hän on juristi ja psykologi.
Mutta sitten katoaa jälleen yksi lapsi. Oslon bussista numero 20, keskellä ruuhka-aikaa. Inger Johanne ei enää voi kieltäytyä tehtävästä…
416 pages, hardback
First published January 1, 2001
138 people are currently reading
2246 people want to read
About the author
Anne Holt
57 books641 followersAnne Holt was born in Larvik, grew up in Lillestrøm and Tromsø, and moved to Oslo in 1978. She graduated with a law degree from the University of Bergen in 1986, and went on to work for The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) and then the Oslo Police Department, earning her right to practice as a lawyer in Norway. In 1990 she returned to NRK, where she worked one year as a journalist and anchor woman for the news program Dagsrevyen.
Holt started her own law practice in 1994, and served as Minister of Justice in Cabinet Jagland for a short period from November 25, 1996 to February 4, 1997.
In 1993 Holt made her debut as a novelist with the crime novel Blind gudinne, featuring the lesbian police officer Hanne Wilhelmsen. The two novels Løvens gap (1997) and Uten ekko (2000) are co-authored with former state secretary Berit Reiss-Andersen.
Holt is one of the most successful crime novelists in Norway. She has been published in 25 countries.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Holt started her own law practice in 1994, and served as Minister of Justice in Cabinet Jagland for a short period from November 25, 1996 to February 4, 1997.
In 1993 Holt made her debut as a novelist with the crime novel Blind gudinne, featuring the lesbian police officer Hanne Wilhelmsen. The two novels Løvens gap (1997) and Uten ekko (2000) are co-authored with former state secretary Berit Reiss-Andersen.
Holt is one of the most successful crime novelists in Norway. She has been published in 25 countries.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 336 reviews
December 2, 2023
This is the first Anne Holt's book that I read. Maybe I expected more from it, but this is generally a good do-not-put-down thriller with twists and unexpected events.
There is a serial killer on the loose who is kidnapping children of different ages and genders. Police Commissioner Stubo is the head detective on the case. He has his drama in his past and tries very hard to find the killer, who doesn't leave any clues except a note "You got what you deserved" on the bodies of the killed children. He decides to contact Johanne Vik, a former FBI profiler and a divorced mother, who has a difficult daughter on her hands and is not ready to be involved in any investigation.
Parallel to the main plot, Vik is doing a small investigation into an old case of an innocent man who was sentenced to life imprisonment but was released after 9 years without an explanation.
In my opinion, the book is too long and the story is not very fluent, but it could be due to the translation.
There is a serial killer on the loose who is kidnapping children of different ages and genders. Police Commissioner Stubo is the head detective on the case. He has his drama in his past and tries very hard to find the killer, who doesn't leave any clues except a note "You got what you deserved" on the bodies of the killed children. He decides to contact Johanne Vik, a former FBI profiler and a divorced mother, who has a difficult daughter on her hands and is not ready to be involved in any investigation.
Parallel to the main plot, Vik is doing a small investigation into an old case of an innocent man who was sentenced to life imprisonment but was released after 9 years without an explanation.
In my opinion, the book is too long and the story is not very fluent, but it could be due to the translation.
January 4, 2017
"Now you've got what you deserved".
Scandinavia is one of the birthplaces of crime fiction. With novels selling millions of copies from Norway, Sweden and Denmark, it is easy to see why they have attributed a loyal fan base, with many published works being adapted for the big and small screen. Novelists and Nordic natives like Jo Nesbø, Hakan Nesser and Hanning Mankell are regularly touted the best in the business.
Child abduction and murder is at the cornerstone of this novel, my first of 2017 and my re-entry into reviewing on Goodreads. I held high hopes for this book; a Scandinavian writer who came highly recommended. The synopsis on the back of the book said:
A killer is on the loose. Three children have been abducted. The bodies of two returned to their mothers along with a desperately cruel note…I settled in my favourite chair in my home library, lights off, lamp on, and prepared myself for that eerie setting, desolate characters and complex subject matters that typically leaves me wanting more. Sadly, it didn't happen. It wasn't that it was a bad novel; there were some clever elements in it. But for me, it just didn't cut the mustard of what I've come to expect from writers in this part of the world.
YOU GOT WHAT YOU DESERVED.
My library, my sanctuary.
The author, Anne Holt is a Norwegian crime fiction writer who has written two series of crime fiction books, one featuring Hanne Wilhelmsen, and one with psychologist and profiler Johanne Vik and Detective Inspector Adam Stubo (Vik/Stubo) of the Oslo police, as the main protagonists. I have not read any of the Wilhemsen series and have two more books in the Vik/Stubo series waiting for me to read. Perhaps this series gets better as time progresses, or maybe it is not as good as the Hanne Wilhelmsen series? Maybe it's translation, with different translators for each series? I just don't know, but I am prepared to hang in there to find out. After all, Anne herself spent two years working for the Oslo Police Department and served as Norway's Minister for Justice for a period, and over 7 million copies of her books have been sold in 30 languages. That's some cred!
Initially titled "What Is Mine", but published in England as "Punishment", I somehow felt that this book was an infliction or imposition of a penalty as retribution for my offence of deserting Goodreads in 2016. *sigh*
It can only improve from here - right? Happy new year and Good Reading in 2017!
November 23, 2016
Punishment (entitled What Is Mine in the US) is the first in the series which sees Detective Inspector Adam Stubo of the Oslo police pairing up with university lecturer and former FBI recruit, Johanne Vik. Already very successful in Europe, the first in this series is an absolutely enthralling novel which grasps the reader from the first few pages when a child in abducted and sets in motion a sinister sequence of abductions and murders which strikes fear into the heart of every parent in Norway. Chilling and clearly well planned, the perpetrator demonstrates almost ruthless ability to execute the campaign. When the first child, Emilie Selbu, is abducted on a short cut walking home from school, not even Adam Stubo can envisage the horrors of coming head to head with the twisted logic of someone so determined to oversee their sinister mission. With little progress and next to no clues, a frustrated Stubo turns to academic Johanne Vik in a last ditch bid to bring the final child home unharmed. Johanne Vik with a college degree from the US and her experience with the profilers of the FBI mean her knowledge is critical in processing the actions of a depraved lunatic. The obvious response of the media is that this is the work of a paedophile, but Johanne is well aware that matters might not be as simple.
The hand-written notes left with the bodies of the children that are returned all indicate the work of one perpetrator, who is intelligent enough to change his patterns of behaviour, striking on different days and in scattered locations throughout the country, with children of both sexes and random ages. Stubo and his team work through list after list, trying to find a connection between the children or parents, from their mutual acquaintances through to their history of employment. It is the notes which confirm their link, a detail unreleased to the media and when the first two returned children are determined to have died of unknown cause, the lethal perpetrator seems to have orchestrated the perfect murder. With two children returned dead and the fate of the first abducted child, nine-year-old Emilie, still up in the air, the stakes are increasing by the day. The hand-written notes all read, "Now you've got what you deserved", but just who is the chilling message aimed at? The child, the mother, society or the police? Anne Holt consciously keeps her readers aware of the race against time with a timeline on the occurrences and chilling glimpses into the mind of the perpetrator, from his own childhood memories to his day to day routine and obsessive cleanliness.
Whilst both of the leading characters are what might be termed as oddballs, I found their portrayals curiously engaging and highly realistic. Johanna Vik is a single mother sharing joint custody of her six-year-old mentally handicapped daughter, Kristiane and it is obvious that she finds coming to terms with her daughters disability a stumbling block. The child's father and her laid back ex-partner Isak is simply content to have a happy child, but for Johanne the inability to find a label which fits Kristiane's condition is something that she endlessly pursues. It is almost as if having a child with a developmental condition and the ensuing onerous demands was never part of the focused Johanne's life plan for she is a woman who looks ahead, works extremely hard and is unprepared for any hiccups along the way. Frequently irascible, she finds it difficult to manage the demands of motherhood with his research and university lecturing, quickly getting irritable whilst Isak takes everything in his stride. Her ability is, however, unquestionable and the internal discourse of Johanne brings readers closer to her feelings and provides an innate feel for her character. Sympathetic and sensitive Detective Inspector Adam Stubo is a man of fifty-four with a very long history, once on track for a shot at the top job in the NCIS, only for the tragic death a year and a half ago of his wife and only daughter to see him return to his Detective Inspector role. Sergeant Sigmund Berli who works alongside Stubo is often highly sceptical of his approach, making the role of Johanne an essential sounding board. The heated brainstorming sessions in which Stubo and Vik thrash out their theories, with sparks flying and tempers fraying is brilliantly portrayed, but with a curious connection quickly bonding the pair together.
Already engaged in a separate research project, Johanne is initially distant and inhospitable to the overtones of Stubo as he attempts to interest her in the bizarre case that is holding the country's media in its thrall. Her own young daughter fills Johanne with an instinct to shut out the nightmares of the serial killer on the loose, but the temptation to outsmart a perpetrator with a warped sense of justice is a tantalising prospect. Elderly Alvhild Sofienberg was once employed by the Norwegian correctional service with responsibility for preparing appeals for royal pardons. The heavily criticised sentencing of Aksel Seier has always fixated the elderly lady, convinced of his innocence and the disappearance of the case papers and his hushed up release some years later has stayed with her. Engaging Johanne as part of a research project that looks at media interest in high profile cases, within a week Johanne follows Aksel's trail to the US, intending to discover his side of the story and unexpected release. However the harsh treatment of Aksel by the Norwegian authorities has left him unaccustomed to friendly overtones and ambivalent to the interests of a woman who believes his story. When Johanne returns empty handed to Alvhild, she is tasked with one final mission in pursuit of uncovering the truth. As Johanne works both cases she has the romantic tension of her tie-up with Adam threatening to get in the way of proceedings.
The translation by Karl Dickson is excellent, flowing wonderfully and with a clear understanding of the parlance and colloquellisms that mark British English usage. Intelligent, insightful and thought-provoking with a clear focus on inviting the reader to ponder their own opinions and reflect on the behaviour of society, particularly attitudes to the mentally handicapped and the stigma that it brings, this is a stimulating novel. This is a series that I intend to follow and the clear familiarity of the author with the subject matter and the role of a psychological profiler to aid the police in the most sensitive cases was instrumental. Anne Holt's willingness to portray the heated debate between the styles of Stubo and Vik and their own beliefs, raising and ruling out ideas along the way makes for an involving read.
Punishment is a fast-paced and engrossing read, which replicates the intensity of a prolonged and high profile case and a novel that so enthralled and captivated me, that I raced through it, holding my breath most of the way. It is no wonder that Anne Holt is referred to as the "godmother of modern Norwegian crime fiction". Remarkably the part of this novel surrounding the miscarriage of justice of Aksel Seier was inspired by a true story and despite the connections between the two cases, of both Aksel Seier and the abductor stretching plausibility, this did not mar a remarkable reading experience.
The hand-written notes left with the bodies of the children that are returned all indicate the work of one perpetrator, who is intelligent enough to change his patterns of behaviour, striking on different days and in scattered locations throughout the country, with children of both sexes and random ages. Stubo and his team work through list after list, trying to find a connection between the children or parents, from their mutual acquaintances through to their history of employment. It is the notes which confirm their link, a detail unreleased to the media and when the first two returned children are determined to have died of unknown cause, the lethal perpetrator seems to have orchestrated the perfect murder. With two children returned dead and the fate of the first abducted child, nine-year-old Emilie, still up in the air, the stakes are increasing by the day. The hand-written notes all read, "Now you've got what you deserved", but just who is the chilling message aimed at? The child, the mother, society or the police? Anne Holt consciously keeps her readers aware of the race against time with a timeline on the occurrences and chilling glimpses into the mind of the perpetrator, from his own childhood memories to his day to day routine and obsessive cleanliness.
Whilst both of the leading characters are what might be termed as oddballs, I found their portrayals curiously engaging and highly realistic. Johanna Vik is a single mother sharing joint custody of her six-year-old mentally handicapped daughter, Kristiane and it is obvious that she finds coming to terms with her daughters disability a stumbling block. The child's father and her laid back ex-partner Isak is simply content to have a happy child, but for Johanne the inability to find a label which fits Kristiane's condition is something that she endlessly pursues. It is almost as if having a child with a developmental condition and the ensuing onerous demands was never part of the focused Johanne's life plan for she is a woman who looks ahead, works extremely hard and is unprepared for any hiccups along the way. Frequently irascible, she finds it difficult to manage the demands of motherhood with his research and university lecturing, quickly getting irritable whilst Isak takes everything in his stride. Her ability is, however, unquestionable and the internal discourse of Johanne brings readers closer to her feelings and provides an innate feel for her character. Sympathetic and sensitive Detective Inspector Adam Stubo is a man of fifty-four with a very long history, once on track for a shot at the top job in the NCIS, only for the tragic death a year and a half ago of his wife and only daughter to see him return to his Detective Inspector role. Sergeant Sigmund Berli who works alongside Stubo is often highly sceptical of his approach, making the role of Johanne an essential sounding board. The heated brainstorming sessions in which Stubo and Vik thrash out their theories, with sparks flying and tempers fraying is brilliantly portrayed, but with a curious connection quickly bonding the pair together.
Already engaged in a separate research project, Johanne is initially distant and inhospitable to the overtones of Stubo as he attempts to interest her in the bizarre case that is holding the country's media in its thrall. Her own young daughter fills Johanne with an instinct to shut out the nightmares of the serial killer on the loose, but the temptation to outsmart a perpetrator with a warped sense of justice is a tantalising prospect. Elderly Alvhild Sofienberg was once employed by the Norwegian correctional service with responsibility for preparing appeals for royal pardons. The heavily criticised sentencing of Aksel Seier has always fixated the elderly lady, convinced of his innocence and the disappearance of the case papers and his hushed up release some years later has stayed with her. Engaging Johanne as part of a research project that looks at media interest in high profile cases, within a week Johanne follows Aksel's trail to the US, intending to discover his side of the story and unexpected release. However the harsh treatment of Aksel by the Norwegian authorities has left him unaccustomed to friendly overtones and ambivalent to the interests of a woman who believes his story. When Johanne returns empty handed to Alvhild, she is tasked with one final mission in pursuit of uncovering the truth. As Johanne works both cases she has the romantic tension of her tie-up with Adam threatening to get in the way of proceedings.
The translation by Karl Dickson is excellent, flowing wonderfully and with a clear understanding of the parlance and colloquellisms that mark British English usage. Intelligent, insightful and thought-provoking with a clear focus on inviting the reader to ponder their own opinions and reflect on the behaviour of society, particularly attitudes to the mentally handicapped and the stigma that it brings, this is a stimulating novel. This is a series that I intend to follow and the clear familiarity of the author with the subject matter and the role of a psychological profiler to aid the police in the most sensitive cases was instrumental. Anne Holt's willingness to portray the heated debate between the styles of Stubo and Vik and their own beliefs, raising and ruling out ideas along the way makes for an involving read.
Punishment is a fast-paced and engrossing read, which replicates the intensity of a prolonged and high profile case and a novel that so enthralled and captivated me, that I raced through it, holding my breath most of the way. It is no wonder that Anne Holt is referred to as the "godmother of modern Norwegian crime fiction". Remarkably the part of this novel surrounding the miscarriage of justice of Aksel Seier was inspired by a true story and despite the connections between the two cases, of both Aksel Seier and the abductor stretching plausibility, this did not mar a remarkable reading experience.
September 19, 2024
There are probably not four full stars, but this one is the best Anne Holt product I've read and there are at least eight or ten of them. The story has deepness, the plot is promising, Mr. Stubo is quite adorable, there are some fine words said.
On the wrong side, there is a real big coincidence in the final pages and there are FAR TOO MANY characters named with A. Let's count a few: Anders Mohaug, Aksel Seier, Asbjorn Revheim, Asli, Astor, Alvhild ...
On the wrong side, there is a real big coincidence in the final pages and there are FAR TOO MANY characters named with A. Let's count a few: Anders Mohaug, Aksel Seier, Asbjorn Revheim, Asli, Astor, Alvhild ...
November 7, 2021
Libro de narrativa pausada, pero muy intrigante. Excelente caracterización de los personajes, muy creíbles. Presenta dos investigaciones en paralelo que, aunque son totalmente diferentes, con el transcurso de las páginas se puede empezar a sospechar que tienen alguna conexión... no digo más para no echarles a perder la sorpresa...
Buen desenlace, atípico para este género, como si la suerte interviniera para desbaratar todos los planes. Un título perfecto para la novela, aunque se descubre su verdadero significado en las últimas páginas. Muy recomendable.
Buen desenlace, atípico para este género, como si la suerte interviniera para desbaratar todos los planes. Un título perfecto para la novela, aunque se descubre su verdadero significado en las últimas páginas. Muy recomendable.
June 20, 2016
My View:
What a fabulous read! Chapter one and a child is abducted, immediately the heart quickens, the tension on the page is palpable, the tension I am feeling is sky high. Works of crime fiction where the victims are children are never an easy read – Anne Holt however has managed to write her victims (and their deaths) with a sensitivity that gave me permission to continue reading and to enjoy this well written narrative.
Well rounded characters, multiple viewpoints, historical crime and current mysteries, this book has it all. The characters are flawed, yet ordinary everyday people. Ordinary yet bewitching…you will want to know more about them, you will care for them and be concerned for their outcomes. It is a testament to the high calibre of the writing when a reader cares for the individuals created in the mind of a writer and introduced to you by mere pen and ink.
I want to read more by this author, this is definitely a series I will follow.
Originally published in 2001 this narrative has lost nothing with the passage of time, in fact the theme of “male entitlement” is just as relevant today. An excellent read!
What a fabulous read! Chapter one and a child is abducted, immediately the heart quickens, the tension on the page is palpable, the tension I am feeling is sky high. Works of crime fiction where the victims are children are never an easy read – Anne Holt however has managed to write her victims (and their deaths) with a sensitivity that gave me permission to continue reading and to enjoy this well written narrative.
Well rounded characters, multiple viewpoints, historical crime and current mysteries, this book has it all. The characters are flawed, yet ordinary everyday people. Ordinary yet bewitching…you will want to know more about them, you will care for them and be concerned for their outcomes. It is a testament to the high calibre of the writing when a reader cares for the individuals created in the mind of a writer and introduced to you by mere pen and ink.
I want to read more by this author, this is definitely a series I will follow.
Originally published in 2001 this narrative has lost nothing with the passage of time, in fact the theme of “male entitlement” is just as relevant today. An excellent read!
November 27, 2025
3.5 not bad
January 15, 2024
Încep prin a spune că titlul cărții este tradus prost: Eroare judiciară- nu se potrivește deloc cu "Ce este al meu", care dpmdv este mult mai potrivit și reflectă exact substratul poveștii. Este perfect, păcat că nu l-au păstrat. În fine. Să revin la poveste.
Mi-a plăcut mult. Este o carte care te ține în priză, fără să-ți dea palpitații.
Ce îmi place mie la cărțile astea scrise de autori norvegieni, este că deși au multe personaje greu de ținut minte, deși sunt super dure (ca subiect abordat), se citesc ușor, te prind în mreje și te țin captiv până la final. Eu asta am pățit.
Bineînțeles că aici avem parte de o sumedenie de personaje si o încrengătură de situații care efectiv te țin lipit de carte.
Avem una bucată psiholog (Inger), care investighează un vechi caz de eroare judiciară. (Un bărbat a fost acuzat și încarcerat pentru uciderea unui copil). În același timp poliția este pe urmele unui criminal în serie care răpește și ucide copii. Detectivul de caz, îi cere ajutorul lui Inger și astfel, împreună încep să descopere adevărul.
Adevărul ăsta este o nebunie imbarligata, nici nu am bănuit măcar care e legătură dintre personaje.
Acțiunea merge pe mai multe planuri: Inger cu familia ei, cazul ei... detectivul cu propria dramă si investigația căreia nu-i dă de cap, precum și legatura pe care o dezvoltă cu Inger... criminalul cu propriile fantome și încă o grămadă de personaje care aparent par să n-aiba nicio legătură unul cu altul... dar au.
Să vă zic de ce n-am citit cartea asta până acum? Pentru că alegerea copertei este groaznică, titlul nu m-a atras, dar acum după ce am terminat primul vol, abia aștept să le citesc și pe celălalte 4. Seria o pot asemui un pic cu Helen Grace, pentru că este în același stil.
A, si cu Călătoresc singura seamănă. Oricum, cartea merită. Celor ce citesc thrilere si cărți cu criminali în serie,le va plăcea.
Cartea e precum un puzzle pe care filă cu filă îl asamblezi ca la final să ai imaginea completă.
Foarte bună scriitura si bine structurată povestea. Merita 5 stele și ajunge direct în raftul favoritelor.
Mi-a plăcut mult. Este o carte care te ține în priză, fără să-ți dea palpitații.
Ce îmi place mie la cărțile astea scrise de autori norvegieni, este că deși au multe personaje greu de ținut minte, deși sunt super dure (ca subiect abordat), se citesc ușor, te prind în mreje și te țin captiv până la final. Eu asta am pățit.
Bineînțeles că aici avem parte de o sumedenie de personaje si o încrengătură de situații care efectiv te țin lipit de carte.
Avem una bucată psiholog (Inger), care investighează un vechi caz de eroare judiciară. (Un bărbat a fost acuzat și încarcerat pentru uciderea unui copil). În același timp poliția este pe urmele unui criminal în serie care răpește și ucide copii. Detectivul de caz, îi cere ajutorul lui Inger și astfel, împreună încep să descopere adevărul.
Adevărul ăsta este o nebunie imbarligata, nici nu am bănuit măcar care e legătură dintre personaje.
Acțiunea merge pe mai multe planuri: Inger cu familia ei, cazul ei... detectivul cu propria dramă si investigația căreia nu-i dă de cap, precum și legatura pe care o dezvoltă cu Inger... criminalul cu propriile fantome și încă o grămadă de personaje care aparent par să n-aiba nicio legătură unul cu altul... dar au.
Să vă zic de ce n-am citit cartea asta până acum? Pentru că alegerea copertei este groaznică, titlul nu m-a atras, dar acum după ce am terminat primul vol, abia aștept să le citesc și pe celălalte 4. Seria o pot asemui un pic cu Helen Grace, pentru că este în același stil.
A, si cu Călătoresc singura seamănă. Oricum, cartea merită. Celor ce citesc thrilere si cărți cu criminali în serie,le va plăcea.
Cartea e precum un puzzle pe care filă cu filă îl asamblezi ca la final să ai imaginea completă.
Foarte bună scriitura si bine structurată povestea. Merita 5 stele și ajunge direct în raftul favoritelor.
November 7, 2013
This decidedly creepy thriller is based on the abduction of a series of children and goes back and forth between perspectives: abductor, abductee, investigator... Holt paints a chillingly normal portrait of all the characters - the villain, reluctant hero, police, children are all just normal folk. Their motivations and ultimate actions are occasionally shocking, but the characters feel like someone you know.
Although there are strands of many stories woven expertly in this novel, the main thread concerns an academic who is a reluctant expert on psychological profiling. Johanne's sought out by the Oslo policeman Adam Stubo to help him find the man who has abducted several children and delivered two of them dead to their parents, while finding the motivation for the crimes. Johanne reluctantly joins the investigation and a multi-level partnership begins between her and Stubo. The richness in the story, though comes from the emotional outpourings from characters in several of the side stories: the man who was falsely accused of child abuse many years earlier, the elderly woman who tried to clear his name, a mother with a painful secret about her son. Each character is believably drawn.
Although there are strands of many stories woven expertly in this novel, the main thread concerns an academic who is a reluctant expert on psychological profiling. Johanne's sought out by the Oslo policeman Adam Stubo to help him find the man who has abducted several children and delivered two of them dead to their parents, while finding the motivation for the crimes. Johanne reluctantly joins the investigation and a multi-level partnership begins between her and Stubo. The richness in the story, though comes from the emotional outpourings from characters in several of the side stories: the man who was falsely accused of child abuse many years earlier, the elderly woman who tried to clear his name, a mother with a painful secret about her son. Each character is believably drawn.
February 2, 2012
The United States has no monopoly on the thriller genre. This is something Europeans, in particular Norwegians, have known for some time. But then, they’ve been reading Anne Holt for years.
Anne Holt is one of Norway’s most successful crime writers and her most recent book What is Mine is making its U.S. debut this year.
What is Mine is a serial killer crime novel, the first in what is to be a series featuring Johanne Vik and Adam Stubo, both middle-aged professionals who are caught up in a series of child abductions and murders.
Johanne is a professor who prefers not to talk about the time she spent in the United States learning to be an FBI profiler. Adam Stubo is a police detective whose career has taken a permanent staff following the bizarre accidental deaths of his wife and daughter. He entreats Johanne to help the Norwegian police solve the series of crimes that are deeply affecting the country and changing how their children live their lives.
The book takes a deliberate pace, one that allows us to become intimate with several different characters—from the protagonists to the killer and his victims. Each character is thoroughly drawn and Holt’s constant switching of perspectives lets us see a more complete picture than any one character is able to see. It also allows the pacing to be succinct at the end, giving the reader far more explanation than the police will ever have.
Where the switching perspectives work especially well are two chapters between Johanne and her ex-husband Isak. The reader is able to understand the viewpoints of the estranged parents and to see exactly why the breakup occurred. Their perceptions are about as opposite as you can get. In a novel that centers on the disappearance of children, you see two parents who are totally unalike in how they think a handicapped child should be raised—and yet both equally love their daughter.
The book is very accessible to American readers, though there are certain colloquialisms that may be unfamiliar to them. It is also a novel that works because of where it is set. The ending would be far too coincidental and wouldn’t play at all if it were set in the U.S. However, Holt emphasizes what a small country Norway is, which makes the reader more willing to suspend disbelief.
The story does end up being solved more through chance and accident than through effort on the part of the protagonists. Even though the highly speculative profiling that Johanne eventually offers turns out to be quite accurate, it does little to help solve the crime.
However, these are flaws that one is willing to forgive because it is a well-told story with a great deal of suspense. Holt uses words like a master and gives us characters that are sympathetic and easy to relate to.
There is also something appealing about the innocence of a nation where serial killings are rare. These are crimes that shake the entire nation to its core—crimes that start out as the disappearance of two children. Holt shows us how people start to change their behaviors, curtailing the freedom of children to explore, increasing their supervision, and living with a fearfulness with which they were previously unfamiliar.
I look forward to the next two books in the series and hope that they too will see U.S. publication.
Anne Holt is one of Norway’s most successful crime writers and her most recent book What is Mine is making its U.S. debut this year.
What is Mine is a serial killer crime novel, the first in what is to be a series featuring Johanne Vik and Adam Stubo, both middle-aged professionals who are caught up in a series of child abductions and murders.
Johanne is a professor who prefers not to talk about the time she spent in the United States learning to be an FBI profiler. Adam Stubo is a police detective whose career has taken a permanent staff following the bizarre accidental deaths of his wife and daughter. He entreats Johanne to help the Norwegian police solve the series of crimes that are deeply affecting the country and changing how their children live their lives.
The book takes a deliberate pace, one that allows us to become intimate with several different characters—from the protagonists to the killer and his victims. Each character is thoroughly drawn and Holt’s constant switching of perspectives lets us see a more complete picture than any one character is able to see. It also allows the pacing to be succinct at the end, giving the reader far more explanation than the police will ever have.
Where the switching perspectives work especially well are two chapters between Johanne and her ex-husband Isak. The reader is able to understand the viewpoints of the estranged parents and to see exactly why the breakup occurred. Their perceptions are about as opposite as you can get. In a novel that centers on the disappearance of children, you see two parents who are totally unalike in how they think a handicapped child should be raised—and yet both equally love their daughter.
The book is very accessible to American readers, though there are certain colloquialisms that may be unfamiliar to them. It is also a novel that works because of where it is set. The ending would be far too coincidental and wouldn’t play at all if it were set in the U.S. However, Holt emphasizes what a small country Norway is, which makes the reader more willing to suspend disbelief.
The story does end up being solved more through chance and accident than through effort on the part of the protagonists. Even though the highly speculative profiling that Johanne eventually offers turns out to be quite accurate, it does little to help solve the crime.
However, these are flaws that one is willing to forgive because it is a well-told story with a great deal of suspense. Holt uses words like a master and gives us characters that are sympathetic and easy to relate to.
There is also something appealing about the innocence of a nation where serial killings are rare. These are crimes that shake the entire nation to its core—crimes that start out as the disappearance of two children. Holt shows us how people start to change their behaviors, curtailing the freedom of children to explore, increasing their supervision, and living with a fearfulness with which they were previously unfamiliar.
I look forward to the next two books in the series and hope that they too will see U.S. publication.
August 25, 2020
I was quite surprised to find out this was the first book in the series, since mystery writers normally supply you with a decent amount of the back story of their crime fighters/mystery solvers. This on the other hand was very in medias res. For example, I still have no idea what the protagonist, ex-FBI profiler Johanne Vik, looks like. I don't think Holt ever described her physically (whereas we get plenty of commentary about her male counterpart, Detective Inspector Adam Stubo's, physical appearance and chunky body). Or why she is "ex" FBI, and why she keeps denying she's a profiler when the police seek her out. Vik seems unprofessional in work situations and you have a vague sense that she doesn't really like her 6-year-0ld daughter, who is autistic-ish.
The plot involves young children all over Oslo who are being kidnapped, killed, and then boxed up and sent by courier to their parents. There is a parallel plot involving a Norwegian man wrongly convicted of a child's murder decades ago, who was freed after years in prison and emigrated to Cape Cod, Massachusetts. In the last few pages these plots, which seemed disconnected, are intertwined.
Plot and writing style, like Johanne Vik, are dour. A new dog acquired by the autistic daughter Kristiane is described as having fur "the same color as the contents of Kristiane's diapers when she was at her worst" (it gets even more disgusting, I'll spare you). Kristiane gives the dog the uncongenial name "Jack, the King of America."
Adam Stubo is a 45-year-old grandfather, a widower, who will be romantically paired with Vik by the end of the book (although there is little chemistry between him and the zombielike Vik). Stubo is raising his grandson alone and free to get cozy with Vik due to a sad domestic accident: his daughter had stopped by to clean the gutters as his wife held the ladder. The daughter lost her balance and fell, taking the gutter with her, which impaled her. The ladder fell on top of Stubo's wife and one of the rungs pushed her nose bone into her brain.
Vik seems to be triggered by accusations of keeping lists.
I see no reason to continue with this listless series.
The plot involves young children all over Oslo who are being kidnapped, killed, and then boxed up and sent by courier to their parents. There is a parallel plot involving a Norwegian man wrongly convicted of a child's murder decades ago, who was freed after years in prison and emigrated to Cape Cod, Massachusetts. In the last few pages these plots, which seemed disconnected, are intertwined.
Plot and writing style, like Johanne Vik, are dour. A new dog acquired by the autistic daughter Kristiane is described as having fur "the same color as the contents of Kristiane's diapers when she was at her worst" (it gets even more disgusting, I'll spare you). Kristiane gives the dog the uncongenial name "Jack, the King of America."
Adam Stubo is a 45-year-old grandfather, a widower, who will be romantically paired with Vik by the end of the book (although there is little chemistry between him and the zombielike Vik). Stubo is raising his grandson alone and free to get cozy with Vik due to a sad domestic accident: his daughter had stopped by to clean the gutters as his wife held the ladder. The daughter lost her balance and fell, taking the gutter with her, which impaled her. The ladder fell on top of Stubo's wife and one of the rungs pushed her nose bone into her brain.
Vik seems to be triggered by accusations of keeping lists.
"Give me your shopping list, then we can get this done in a jiffy." [says Stubo.]
"I don't have a shopping list," she said sharply. "What makes you think that?"
"You just seem the type," he said and let his hand fall. "You're the shopping list type. I'm sure of it."
"Well, you're wrong," she said and turned away.
I see no reason to continue with this listless series.
May 11, 2022
What Is Mine is my introduction to Norwegian author Anne Holt and her characters, Johanne Vik and Adam Stubo.
Stubo is a 40-something-year-old detective who lost his wife and daughter to a freak home accident two years prior to this story. Vik has a psychology degree and is a lawyer. She's a single mother raising a young child with a mental disability. The two don't seem to be on paths that would put them as a working team, but the disappearance -- and then the death -- of multiple children -- bring them together.
Along with the main plot of the children's disappearances and murders is a secondary plot involving a possible wrongly convicted rapist and murderer many years in the past that Vik becomes involved with for her research project.
This is a story expertly woven; it's suspense builds as expected in a quality psychological thriller.
Stubo is a 40-something-year-old detective who lost his wife and daughter to a freak home accident two years prior to this story. Vik has a psychology degree and is a lawyer. She's a single mother raising a young child with a mental disability. The two don't seem to be on paths that would put them as a working team, but the disappearance -- and then the death -- of multiple children -- bring them together.
Along with the main plot of the children's disappearances and murders is a secondary plot involving a possible wrongly convicted rapist and murderer many years in the past that Vik becomes involved with for her research project.
This is a story expertly woven; it's suspense builds as expected in a quality psychological thriller.
February 24, 2015
I really hate a DNF but this is definitely one I just can't make myself keep reading. I gave it a good 100 pages and it's just so hard to read. The names are hard for me so I have been renaming all the characters just to try to get the book to flow better. That didn't work though and it's just dragging along. I'm not too fond of some of the happenings in the book either so I just plain ol give up it's time to move onto something I will enjoy more.
November 25, 2017
Not sure about the ending but otherwise a good read.
January 17, 2021
L’atmosfera rarefatta di questo romanzo mi ha subito intrigata. L’avvocato e psicologa Johanne Vik ed il commissario Yngvar Stubø si trovano ad indagare, loro malgrado, su crimini le cui vittime sono bambini. Un giallo inquietante, una lotta contro il tempo, che però non ha l’incedere pressante che caratterizza spesso narrazioni di genere.
Qui c’è spazio anche per inserire sottotrame che portano a interessanti riflessioni universali e c’è la descrizione della Norvegia, e della zona di Oslo in cui è ambientato, come un luogo “piccolo”, direi provinciale, dove tutti devono avere qualche conoscenza in comune e dove fino a non troppo tempo fa si pensava che i più piccoli potessero andare a scuola da soli o in campeggio senza adulti, perché la violenza sui bambini era qualcosa di lontano (il romanzo non è fresco di stampa, è del 2001, ma resta il fatto che quest’affermazione fa pensare ad un paesino, non ad una città capitale di Stato).
La narrazione mi è sembrata molto ben costruita fino a pagina 390. I due “colpi di scena” che poi si susseguono mi hanno lasciato un retrogusto un po’ amaro, perché se è possibile che l’autrice abbia cercato di preparare il lettore a delle coincidenze insistendo sul carattere provinciale della Norvegia, io avrei preferito una narrazione più verosimile.
Nonostante ciò, mi sento di consigliare questo giallo a chi cerca una buona storia e senza dubbio leggerò altro di quest’autrice appena conosciuta.
Qui c’è spazio anche per inserire sottotrame che portano a interessanti riflessioni universali e c’è la descrizione della Norvegia, e della zona di Oslo in cui è ambientato, come un luogo “piccolo”, direi provinciale, dove tutti devono avere qualche conoscenza in comune e dove fino a non troppo tempo fa si pensava che i più piccoli potessero andare a scuola da soli o in campeggio senza adulti, perché la violenza sui bambini era qualcosa di lontano (il romanzo non è fresco di stampa, è del 2001, ma resta il fatto che quest’affermazione fa pensare ad un paesino, non ad una città capitale di Stato).
La narrazione mi è sembrata molto ben costruita fino a pagina 390. I due “colpi di scena” che poi si susseguono mi hanno lasciato un retrogusto un po’ amaro, perché se è possibile che l’autrice abbia cercato di preparare il lettore a delle coincidenze insistendo sul carattere provinciale della Norvegia, io avrei preferito una narrazione più verosimile.
Nonostante ciò, mi sento di consigliare questo giallo a chi cerca una buona storia e senza dubbio leggerò altro di quest’autrice appena conosciuta.
June 20, 2021
This just didn't work for me. I managed about 50 pages before giving up. The writing was good but I just wasn't clicking with it at all. This is a me thing, you may enjoy it far more than I had. I may try this again in the future, when I'm in the mood for a good missing children thriller. 2.5 ⭐
March 22, 2012
This was a really good story. It comes from a true story that actually happened in Norway. Anne changed the story to make it readable and interesting. She did an outstanding job.
February 6, 2019
Vaya sorpresa con esta autora. Me encantó su libro y leeré más de esta serie seguramente. El final fue de lo más sorprendente, la verdad es que no me lo esperaba para nada.
April 21, 2017
The first of the Johanne Vik & Adam Stubø books, PUNISHMENT, is now available in paperback locally. An excellent crime fiction series by Norwegian author Anne Holt, this has been a series that could be (well had to be) read out of order. Now there's something compelling about being able to go back to the start, and work your way through.
Originally read by this reviewer back in 2007, when it was newly translated, PUNISHMENT is the novel that introduces an unusual investigative (ultimately personal) coupling of academic and former FBI profiler Johanne Vik and Detective Inspector Adam Stubø of the Oslo police.
As summarised in my earlier review:
"When 9 year old Emilie goes missing her father is worried but not frantic. She'd done this once before just after her mother died. This time, they don't find her. When a little boy disappears and ultimately is returned to his parents; dead, no obvious cause of death, and a handwritten note: You Got What You Deserved; Oslo starts to worry.
Police Superintendent Adam Stubø, working the case, turns to former FBI profiler Johanne Vik for help. Johanne is already looking into the conviction of Aksel Seier for the rape and murder of a young child many years ago. An old lady really wants to know if Seier was guilty or not. Johanne is not confident that she can help Adam, but he is increasingly desperate for any sort of lead that the Police can get. He and his team make very little progress and they soon have 3 abducted children, two dead and a chance that Emilie is still alive."
The focus of this novel moves between Oslo and that current case of a child killer, and the US and the cold case of Aksel Seier. The two central characters are each, in their own way, obsessed with their respective cases, and the complications that they bring. An odd message from the killer in the current day case, and a dying woman who wants the truth to be found before it's too late for her - and a man who has lived with the consequences of a child killing many years before. Woven into the story of these children and all of their dreadful deaths and the consequences of them, is the story of Vik's own daughter, who is intellectually disabled, and Stubø's own loss of his wife and daughter. Whilst there's no romantic attachment in this initial book, readers of subsequent novels in the series will know that something builds between these two main characters, as their professional involvement increases.
My main quibble at the time still stands - there is a tendency to concentrate on building the central characters quite a bit in PUNISHMENT. If we'd have been lucky enough to read this series translated in order then right from the start it was obvious there were plans for these two, and this initial novel is laying a lot of ground work. Which is a minor quibble in the overall scheme of things - possibly only noticeable because of the round about way in which we got a chance to read the series. Vik and Stubø are a great pairing though, and re-reading PUNISHMENT was an opportunity to remind myself of what a great series this is.
https://www.austcrimefiction.org/revi...
Originally read by this reviewer back in 2007, when it was newly translated, PUNISHMENT is the novel that introduces an unusual investigative (ultimately personal) coupling of academic and former FBI profiler Johanne Vik and Detective Inspector Adam Stubø of the Oslo police.
As summarised in my earlier review:
"When 9 year old Emilie goes missing her father is worried but not frantic. She'd done this once before just after her mother died. This time, they don't find her. When a little boy disappears and ultimately is returned to his parents; dead, no obvious cause of death, and a handwritten note: You Got What You Deserved; Oslo starts to worry.
Police Superintendent Adam Stubø, working the case, turns to former FBI profiler Johanne Vik for help. Johanne is already looking into the conviction of Aksel Seier for the rape and murder of a young child many years ago. An old lady really wants to know if Seier was guilty or not. Johanne is not confident that she can help Adam, but he is increasingly desperate for any sort of lead that the Police can get. He and his team make very little progress and they soon have 3 abducted children, two dead and a chance that Emilie is still alive."
The focus of this novel moves between Oslo and that current case of a child killer, and the US and the cold case of Aksel Seier. The two central characters are each, in their own way, obsessed with their respective cases, and the complications that they bring. An odd message from the killer in the current day case, and a dying woman who wants the truth to be found before it's too late for her - and a man who has lived with the consequences of a child killing many years before. Woven into the story of these children and all of their dreadful deaths and the consequences of them, is the story of Vik's own daughter, who is intellectually disabled, and Stubø's own loss of his wife and daughter. Whilst there's no romantic attachment in this initial book, readers of subsequent novels in the series will know that something builds between these two main characters, as their professional involvement increases.
My main quibble at the time still stands - there is a tendency to concentrate on building the central characters quite a bit in PUNISHMENT. If we'd have been lucky enough to read this series translated in order then right from the start it was obvious there were plans for these two, and this initial novel is laying a lot of ground work. Which is a minor quibble in the overall scheme of things - possibly only noticeable because of the round about way in which we got a chance to read the series. Vik and Stubø are a great pairing though, and re-reading PUNISHMENT was an opportunity to remind myself of what a great series this is.
https://www.austcrimefiction.org/revi...
July 10, 2012
I've been reading a lot of SciFi and Fantasy lately and it's been a while since I've read any good thrillers so I decided to take a break with a Crime Fiction novel. Punishment also known as What is Mine is the first book in a Norwegian series featuring former FBI profiler Johanne Vik. What started off as an exciting story about kidnapped children and a crazed killer, only to be let down by a series of disappointing events that are too convenient and coincidental.
Joanne Vik was brought into the case of missing children by Superintendent Adam Stubo because of her outspoken behaviour on television and her so called expertise. However in this book, Vik hardly uses her profiling skills, instead most of the book has her chasing after another story she is working on for her own academic studies or refusing to help with the investigation.
The book doesn't focus on the investigation either, as most of it happens behind the scenes. We just know that Stubo somehow stumbled on to the killer through his interviews with the victims' mothers and that he knew he found the killer because of his gut instinct as an experienced law enforcer. I thought crime novels would involve more police work or perhaps I'm just spoilt by the clear and precise investigations in Jeffery Deaver's books.
While the tension of the kidnappings was tight, it was broken by Vik's own research into a past case that has no bearing on the current investigation. The linkage between the two cases at the end of the book is so contrived that it should never have got past the editor. I would have bat my eyes to this if this was the only coincidence in the book but no, the killer has to convenient clash with another wanted man in another case. In the end the book is just a bunch of laughable dei ex machinis.
The two main characters, Vik and Stubo are the only redeeming factors in this book. They are fairly interesting and each has their own problems to take care of before they can begin a relationship together. However I wish Holt would have spent as much time on the killer to explain his actions rather than simply cast him as an outcast of society.
I guess I just expected too much from someone who is marketed as the next Stieg Larsson.
(Originally posted at http://www.paperlessreading.com/2012/...)
Joanne Vik was brought into the case of missing children by Superintendent Adam Stubo because of her outspoken behaviour on television and her so called expertise. However in this book, Vik hardly uses her profiling skills, instead most of the book has her chasing after another story she is working on for her own academic studies or refusing to help with the investigation.
The book doesn't focus on the investigation either, as most of it happens behind the scenes. We just know that Stubo somehow stumbled on to the killer through his interviews with the victims' mothers and that he knew he found the killer because of his gut instinct as an experienced law enforcer. I thought crime novels would involve more police work or perhaps I'm just spoilt by the clear and precise investigations in Jeffery Deaver's books.
While the tension of the kidnappings was tight, it was broken by Vik's own research into a past case that has no bearing on the current investigation. The linkage between the two cases at the end of the book is so contrived that it should never have got past the editor. I would have bat my eyes to this if this was the only coincidence in the book but no, the killer has to convenient clash with another wanted man in another case. In the end the book is just a bunch of laughable dei ex machinis.
The two main characters, Vik and Stubo are the only redeeming factors in this book. They are fairly interesting and each has their own problems to take care of before they can begin a relationship together. However I wish Holt would have spent as much time on the killer to explain his actions rather than simply cast him as an outcast of society.
I guess I just expected too much from someone who is marketed as the next Stieg Larsson.
(Originally posted at http://www.paperlessreading.com/2012/...)
December 16, 2015
I really enjoyed this one, the first in the Vik series. I've been reading the Hanne series and greatly enjoying them and was half wishing I wouldn't get them mixed up but they're both extremely different women so there's no danger of that. One thing I did especially notice was the translator for this series goes with English spellings which I prefer.
Something I wondered at which was probably a mistake was that chapter 15 in the table of contents was written this way but all the other chapters were written in roman numerals.
I got lost in translation when Pettersen in the green block was mentioned as I didn't really know what that meant. I've no idea what a children's ombudsman is, either, but Googled that. I got a little confused when the police were talking about people all the victims had in common as it wasn't really clear how they got this list together so I was baffled a bit there.The only mistake I spotted was Marie being used at one point and later on Maria so I still don't know Johanne's sister's name for sure-oh, and a rogue space in Kongs bakken at one point.
I liked Isak and Johanne's relationship and how things work for them both and I loved the name of Kristiane's puppy ! I laughed to myself each time that was mentioned.I felt for Aksel-his story was sad but wasn't the only one. My last remark at the end was "Pretty bloody sad all round, really".So much of what occurred could have been avoided if people had been kinder and more honest with each other which made you think.
I Will certainly be reading the rest of this series, too.
Something I wondered at which was probably a mistake was that chapter 15 in the table of contents was written this way but all the other chapters were written in roman numerals.
I got lost in translation when Pettersen in the green block was mentioned as I didn't really know what that meant. I've no idea what a children's ombudsman is, either, but Googled that. I got a little confused when the police were talking about people all the victims had in common as it wasn't really clear how they got this list together so I was baffled a bit there.The only mistake I spotted was Marie being used at one point and later on Maria so I still don't know Johanne's sister's name for sure-oh, and a rogue space in Kongs bakken at one point.
I liked Isak and Johanne's relationship and how things work for them both and I loved the name of Kristiane's puppy ! I laughed to myself each time that was mentioned.I felt for Aksel-his story was sad but wasn't the only one. My last remark at the end was "Pretty bloody sad all round, really".So much of what occurred could have been avoided if people had been kinder and more honest with each other which made you think.
I Will certainly be reading the rest of this series, too.
July 3, 2010
The first in the Stubo and Vik series set in Norway. Stubo is a policeman who has recently lost both his wife and daughter, and Vik is a female lecturer on criminology who has a mentally handicapped daughter. Stubo courts Vik, first professionally to help with a series of abductions and murders of children, and then personally. The developing relationship between the two is touchingly mature and characteristically (for Scandinavian literature) reserved, and it forms the backdrop for the search for the abductor and murderer of the children. Another plot line takes us, through Vik's research, back to a mid-20th century abduction and murder of a child as Vik questions and investigates the way justice was served at that time. Throughout, I wondered how these threads would come together. Holt did a terrific job of making this happen -- it appears that that the six degrees of separation we talk about in the US may be diminished by several degrees in Norway. Holt left me wanted to read more about both the personal and professional collaboration between Stubo and Vik.
November 28, 2016
The Vik/Stubø series. 2001 Det som er mitt (What is Mine/Punishment. iBook. 5/5+++
What a writer! How is it possible I've only discovered her even though I've been reading Scandinavian authors for two decades!? The first series, I thoroughly enjoy reading. And this the Stubo/Vik series is truly excellent writing. This is the first of five and a lot of time has been given to introduction to the characters before and now, when they come into each other's lives. There are two huge cases, a cold case and a very disturbing current series of crimes being interwoven brilliantly by the writer. Plus extras that are very well done. I cannot recommend these books enough.
Most welcome and I'm happy to start book two.
The tv series Modus is based on the Vik character, moved from Oslo to Sweden....creative licence. Apparently also based on the book Fear Not, by my lists number four.
What a writer! How is it possible I've only discovered her even though I've been reading Scandinavian authors for two decades!? The first series, I thoroughly enjoy reading. And this the Stubo/Vik series is truly excellent writing. This is the first of five and a lot of time has been given to introduction to the characters before and now, when they come into each other's lives. There are two huge cases, a cold case and a very disturbing current series of crimes being interwoven brilliantly by the writer. Plus extras that are very well done. I cannot recommend these books enough.
Most welcome and I'm happy to start book two.
The tv series Modus is based on the Vik character, moved from Oslo to Sweden....creative licence. Apparently also based on the book Fear Not, by my lists number four.
April 19, 2012
A chilling read, a dark and disturbing thriller but a compelling story. Perhaps it is good to remind one that this is crime fiction as the subject matter is unsettling and the facts of the case unspeakable.
However the narrative never dwells on the sensationalism, it is written about with compassion and a degree of empathy, reflected in in flawed relationships of our central characters and their personal tragedies.
Some of the thoughts and voice given to the children in the story reminded me of bits in The Lovely Bones.
Plenty of scope to develop characters in further books, already written so I am guaranteed further reading pleasure when I get round to them.
However the narrative never dwells on the sensationalism, it is written about with compassion and a degree of empathy, reflected in in flawed relationships of our central characters and their personal tragedies.
Some of the thoughts and voice given to the children in the story reminded me of bits in The Lovely Bones.
Plenty of scope to develop characters in further books, already written so I am guaranteed further reading pleasure when I get round to them.
July 9, 2013
What a great story. I love the Scandanavian crime/mystery noir and this was one of the finest. This took place in Norway. Children are disappearing and then being found dead with no apparent cause of death. A policeman seeks the help of a college professor who has written a paper on "profiling". She has had no experience in the field so to speak and things get up close and personal when she is sought out by Detective Stubo for her insights. Excellent story. I will read more by this author for sure.
October 1, 2015
Another mildly depressing police/detective/psychodramas from Scandinavia. I swear, despite what Marina told me, I don't think anyone in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, or Russia ever smiles let alone laughs or has a good time. But, the book is good...good like it feels after you recover from having hit your thumb with a hammer.
September 14, 2007
The book is about a serial killer with no heart . Who kidnappes little kids and than cruely kills them and than sends notes to there mother's saying " you got what you deserve " its a great book i loved it and i truly recommend it.
April 13, 2018
Книга с потенциал, замисъл и интересен край, но не особено добре написана. Оценка 2.5*
March 13, 2016
I wanted to read crime fiction, and whilst The Murder of Halland was a good book (it was the only crime novel I had in the house, with the possible exception of the Peter Grant comic fantasy series), I craved a more traditional plot. A few years ago I enjoyed Holt's 1222, so looked for other Hanne Wilhelmsen novels, but this, the first in her Johanne Vik series, was about half the price.
This is part of the appeal of genre, patterns of events which recur like the steps of an old dance – I know I'd get bored reading the same patterns all the time, but especially after so long away from crime series, book or TV, it's as satisfying as an old jumper or pair of shoes that fit perfectly. The personalities feel quite realistic, but evidently crime writers have to invent increasingly bizarre cases so their books have a touch of originality. Punishment did have its flaws, but I liked the book better than many I give 3 stars.
Quite differently from the way I browse literary novels, I found I specifically want to read about female detectives written by female authors. A lot of (though thankfully not all) literary fiction by women is stuffed with generalisations about women which I don't identify with and which, cumulatively, are alienating. Whereas, I realised, I expected crime novels to be about women who are focused on their jobs and external problem-solving, not on the ruminating characteristic of litfic - and who may have a grumpy, individualist personality similar to the typical male fictional detective. (Hanne Wilhelmsen certainly did.) Johanne Vik, being a psychologist, is a bit more sensitive than Hanne, or Sarah Lund, but she was in many ways the sort of character I was hoping for. She's concerned pretty much only with her job and her mildly learning-disabled daughter (her ex-husband has shared care which means she has weeks where she has time to throw herself into work all waking hours) and there was only * one * of those annoying generalisations made in the whole book, in conversation not narrative, and it was one I've seen others make about both sexes. Vik is pretty good at her work, but she isn't a superwoman and does find herself exhausted and unable to keep up with all the chores. (I sighed audibly in sympathy when the exuberant ex bought their daughter a dog who would also live between both houses. Training and cleaning up after a puppy is just what you don't need on top of everything else!) I also didn't want a book about workplace sex discrimination (which sounds like a big part of Liza Marklund's novels) and Johanne seems unostentatiously respected by all characters, except occasionally her own mother. Her case continues the work of a dying retired woman, born c.1930, who mentions difficulties she had working her way up in the civil service and legal system. With this sort of easy read, you sometimes want a book that fits in with your first- or close-hand experiences, and the picture here of women's status in the workplace did just that as far as I was concerned. Others may regard this aspect as pleasantly utopian, so hopefully a winner for them too.
Other plus points in terms of what I was looking for were that the detectives are not amateurs, they are people who are supposed to be investigating crimes (an academic criminal psychologist researching cases from several decades ago, and a DI on a current case) and that the book was very low on gore and torture, whilst still being far from fluffy. (Particularly gore-free in this case because the killer wanted to leave victims unmarked. I hadn't wanted to read about child murders, but that aspect made the story a little easier to deal with.)
I was hesitant about a series in which investigators become a couple. But the scenes in this first book are simply two people who secretly like the look of one another, bouncing around ideas about their respective work. Both Johanne, and Adam Stubø (who keeps his original name of Yngvar /Ingvar in most translations, everyone except English speakers apparently able to cope with it) have some pain in their past, and Johanne can be really quite standoffish which I liked. But ultimately they are both pretty nice and functional people compared to many characters in literary fiction (who also tend to have less normal jobs) and I liked the contrast of seeing how they related without slushiness or overwhelming intensity.
One inconsistency was the way Johanne was strict about professional boundaries at first, unlike most fictional detectives, but she let them slide later in the book. It would have been difficult to drive the story forward if she'd been impeccably professional throughout, but I wasn't convinced that there was a particular stressor present which meant that she'd change so radically. (She could, perhaps, have insisted on being appointed to some kind of official role in Stubø's case.)
Style: as far as something like this is concerned, I only require the writing to be unobtrusive and not noticeably bad – and it was fine. Occasionally, points were mentioned again soon after we'd been told about them – it felt like watching a weekly drama series in one go on DVD. The thoughts and conversations of the children often sounded as if they were a few years younger than their ages, but on the other hand I wasn't a typical kid.
The plot has several absurd coincidences, one or two of which could have happened in more natural ways The biggest one seems ridiculously unlikely not just plotwise but on a scientific basis - in fairness that's mostly based on research published since the book was written.
With mysteries over the last few years, I've tried not to guess who/whydunnit, but a friend's posts about the Peter Grant books have now made me a little competitive. This one wasn't so obvious, but, coming up with a number of possibilities throughout, it turned out I had guessed most of it a third of the way through, albeit later discarding the idea for a good while.
This book was by no means perfect, but as does-what-it-says-on-the-tin crime fiction, with many of the features I wanted, it was absolutely fine.
June 2014.
Later note to self: This is the one containing a character who seems to be based on Jens Bjorneboe.
This is part of the appeal of genre, patterns of events which recur like the steps of an old dance – I know I'd get bored reading the same patterns all the time, but especially after so long away from crime series, book or TV, it's as satisfying as an old jumper or pair of shoes that fit perfectly. The personalities feel quite realistic, but evidently crime writers have to invent increasingly bizarre cases so their books have a touch of originality. Punishment did have its flaws, but I liked the book better than many I give 3 stars.
Quite differently from the way I browse literary novels, I found I specifically want to read about female detectives written by female authors. A lot of (though thankfully not all) literary fiction by women is stuffed with generalisations about women which I don't identify with and which, cumulatively, are alienating. Whereas, I realised, I expected crime novels to be about women who are focused on their jobs and external problem-solving, not on the ruminating characteristic of litfic - and who may have a grumpy, individualist personality similar to the typical male fictional detective. (Hanne Wilhelmsen certainly did.) Johanne Vik, being a psychologist, is a bit more sensitive than Hanne, or Sarah Lund, but she was in many ways the sort of character I was hoping for. She's concerned pretty much only with her job and her mildly learning-disabled daughter (her ex-husband has shared care which means she has weeks where she has time to throw herself into work all waking hours) and there was only * one * of those annoying generalisations made in the whole book, in conversation not narrative, and it was one I've seen others make about both sexes. Vik is pretty good at her work, but she isn't a superwoman and does find herself exhausted and unable to keep up with all the chores. (I sighed audibly in sympathy when the exuberant ex bought their daughter a dog who would also live between both houses. Training and cleaning up after a puppy is just what you don't need on top of everything else!) I also didn't want a book about workplace sex discrimination (which sounds like a big part of Liza Marklund's novels) and Johanne seems unostentatiously respected by all characters, except occasionally her own mother. Her case continues the work of a dying retired woman, born c.1930, who mentions difficulties she had working her way up in the civil service and legal system. With this sort of easy read, you sometimes want a book that fits in with your first- or close-hand experiences, and the picture here of women's status in the workplace did just that as far as I was concerned. Others may regard this aspect as pleasantly utopian, so hopefully a winner for them too.
Other plus points in terms of what I was looking for were that the detectives are not amateurs, they are people who are supposed to be investigating crimes (an academic criminal psychologist researching cases from several decades ago, and a DI on a current case) and that the book was very low on gore and torture, whilst still being far from fluffy. (Particularly gore-free in this case because the killer wanted to leave victims unmarked. I hadn't wanted to read about child murders, but that aspect made the story a little easier to deal with.)
I was hesitant about a series in which investigators become a couple. But the scenes in this first book are simply two people who secretly like the look of one another, bouncing around ideas about their respective work. Both Johanne, and Adam Stubø (who keeps his original name of Yngvar /Ingvar in most translations, everyone except English speakers apparently able to cope with it) have some pain in their past, and Johanne can be really quite standoffish which I liked. But ultimately they are both pretty nice and functional people compared to many characters in literary fiction (who also tend to have less normal jobs) and I liked the contrast of seeing how they related without slushiness or overwhelming intensity.
One inconsistency was the way Johanne was strict about professional boundaries at first, unlike most fictional detectives, but she let them slide later in the book. It would have been difficult to drive the story forward if she'd been impeccably professional throughout, but I wasn't convinced that there was a particular stressor present which meant that she'd change so radically. (She could, perhaps, have insisted on being appointed to some kind of official role in Stubø's case.)
Style: as far as something like this is concerned, I only require the writing to be unobtrusive and not noticeably bad – and it was fine. Occasionally, points were mentioned again soon after we'd been told about them – it felt like watching a weekly drama series in one go on DVD. The thoughts and conversations of the children often sounded as if they were a few years younger than their ages, but on the other hand I wasn't a typical kid.
The plot has several absurd coincidences, one or two of which could have happened in more natural ways The biggest one seems ridiculously unlikely not just plotwise but on a scientific basis - in fairness that's mostly based on research published since the book was written.
With mysteries over the last few years, I've tried not to guess who/whydunnit, but a friend's posts about the Peter Grant books have now made me a little competitive. This one wasn't so obvious, but, coming up with a number of possibilities throughout, it turned out I had guessed most of it a third of the way through, albeit later discarding the idea for a good while.
This book was by no means perfect, but as does-what-it-says-on-the-tin crime fiction, with many of the features I wanted, it was absolutely fine.
June 2014.
Later note to self: This is the one containing a character who seems to be based on Jens Bjorneboe.
July 17, 2017
Τη σειρά των Βικ και Στούμπο, την άρχισα λίγο ανάποδα, διαβάζοντας αρχικά το δεύτερο βιβλίο της σειράς (μιας και το Μεταίχμιο άρχισε από αυτό) και διάβασα ένα χρόνο μετά (τώρα δηλαδή) το πρώτο. Στο δεύτερο βιβλίο είναι σαν να παρακολουθείς τη δεύτερη πράξη ενός θεατρικού έργου, πολύ ενδιαφέροντος μεν, αλλά που
πρέπει να έχεις δει και την πρώτη πράξη για να καταλάβεις πλήρως την ατμόσφαιρα και τα γεγονότα. Το πρώτο βιβλίο είχε δημοσιευθεί από κάποιες - νεκρές πλέον - εκδόσεις ΟΡΦΕΑΣ και μάλιστα ήταν μετάφραση της μετάφρασης, δηλ. το ελληνικό κείμενο είχε μεταφραστεί από τα αγγλικά που είχε μεταφραστεί από τα νορβηγικά. Πέραν αυτού, η υπόθεση ήταν πολύ ενδιαφέρουσα, τόσο γιατί μαζί με το έγκλημα, αναλύεται και η προσωπική σχέση μεταξύ των πρωταγωνιστών, κάτι που μου αρέσει πολύ στα βιβλία και μάλιστα στα αστυνομικά, αφού οι σχέσεις των ανθρώπων είναι κεφαλαιώδους σημασίας, σε αντίθεση με πολλά βιβλία όπου ο ήρωας είναι φτιαγμένος από κοινοτοπίες και το βάρος πέφτει στη δράση.
Η σειρά αυτή μου αρέσει περισσότερο από τη σειρά της συγγραφέως με την Γουίλιαμσεν, γιατί είναι πιο ανθρώπινη και προσγειωμένη. Θα πιάσω και το επόμενο της σειράς (το 3ο) το συντομότερο δυνατό, [περισσότερο για να δω πως εξελίσσεται η σχέση των ηρώων και λιγότερο για την εγκληματική ιστορία.
πρέπει να έχεις δει και την πρώτη πράξη για να καταλάβεις πλήρως την ατμόσφαιρα και τα γεγονότα. Το πρώτο βιβλίο είχε δημοσιευθεί από κάποιες - νεκρές πλέον - εκδόσεις ΟΡΦΕΑΣ και μάλιστα ήταν μετάφραση της μετάφρασης, δηλ. το ελληνικό κείμενο είχε μεταφραστεί από τα αγγλικά που είχε μεταφραστεί από τα νορβηγικά. Πέραν αυτού, η υπόθεση ήταν πολύ ενδιαφέρουσα, τόσο γιατί μαζί με το έγκλημα, αναλύεται και η προσωπική σχέση μεταξύ των πρωταγωνιστών, κάτι που μου αρέσει πολύ στα βιβλία και μάλιστα στα αστυνομικά, αφού οι σχέσεις των ανθρώπων είναι κεφαλαιώδους σημασίας, σε αντίθεση με πολλά βιβλία όπου ο ήρωας είναι φτιαγμένος από κοινοτοπίες και το βάρος πέφτει στη δράση.
Η σειρά αυτή μου αρέσει περισσότερο από τη σειρά της συγγραφέως με την Γουίλιαμσεν, γιατί είναι πιο ανθρώπινη και προσγειωμένη. Θα πιάσω και το επόμενο της σειράς (το 3ο) το συντομότερο δυνατό, [περισσότερο για να δω πως εξελίσσεται η σχέση των ηρώων και λιγότερο για την εγκληματική ιστορία.
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