Със своята забележителна проницателност относно противоречивата човешка природа и с безспорния си литературен талант Торкил Дамхауг се утвърди като един от най-харесваните и продавани скандинавски криминални автори. Той е двукратен носител на най-голямата награда за криминална литература в Норвегия – „Ривертон“. „Сигурни знаци за твоята смърт“ идва в България след изключително добре приетите трилъри „Подпалвачът“, „Погледът на Медуза“ и „Смърт във вода“.
Главният герой - Сигурд Удс, е преуспял млад мъж, който е силно привлечен от красивата Катя. Тя обаче упорито крие миналото си, до момента, в който Сигурд я вижда с будещия съмнения босненец Ибро Хаканович. Обхванат от ревност, той го проследява, сбива се с него и го наранява сериозно. Приет в болница, няколко часа по-късно Ибро е открит в шкаф в сутерена с прерязано гърло. Следва втори смъртен случай, който подозрително наподобява първия. Санитарят Араш, беглец от Иран, присъства и на двете местопрестъпления и се превръща в основен заподозрян. Но дали наистина вината е негова?
Бившият съдебен патолог Дженифър Плотеруд, майката на Сигурд, е помолена да се включи в разследването на двете престъпления и да съдейства на криминолозите. Тя дори не подозира до каква степен ще бъде въвлечена в последвалите събития. Макар че личният ѝ живот е достатъчно объркан след раздялата със съпруга й и обтегнатите отношения със синовете ѝ Сигурд и Трюм, тя ще трябва да направи тежки избори и жертви в името на най-близките си хора, може би дори ще бъде принудена да прекрачи моралните си задръжки, за да защити семейството си. Особено след като Дженифър разбира, че Катя, приятелката на Сигурд, по някакъв начин е замесена в цялата история, което поставя сина ѝ в неминуема опасност.
Катя най-сетне се опитва да се довери на Сигурд и той действително се оказва въвлечен в нещо, което може да му коства живота.
Нишките на сюжета се разпростират в неподозирани посоки – от съвременен Осло към войните в бивша Югославия през 90-те, към престъпните банди на суровия квартал „Розенгорд“ в шведския град Малмьо и дори към тежките условия и всекидневните мъчения, които търпят много от жителите на Иран.
Романът е комплексна и многопластова картина на неразгадаемата човешка психика и различните фактори, които ни превръщат в това, което сме.
Torkil Damhaug (1958–) has a degree in medicine with a specialisation in psychiatry. His début novel, Flykt, måne (The Flight of the Moon) caused a great stir when it appeared in 1996. Syk Rose (Ailing Rose) was also well received by the critics.
I thought that this story was frightening and very sad that a young child of eight witnesses a father killing someone with a gun. I am sure other readers will feel the same. As I liked this book I put an extract from the book on my book site www.ireadnovels.wordpress.com Twitter@favouritenovels
Dette var ikke min beste Damhaug. Han forteller og skriver strålende, men her var det for mange personligheter, reaksjoner og situasjoner jeg ikke helt greide å tro på….
I would Like to thank Netgalley and Headline for a review copy of Certain Signs That You Are Dead, the fourth in a series of crime novels set in Oslo.
The novel revolves around 2 main characters Sigurd Woods who gets into some extremely dangerous situations helping his mysterious girlfriend, Katya, and Arash, an Iranian immigrant with PTSD who loses the patient from the blurb and may have more to do with it than he is saying.
This is a difficult novel to review without issuing spoilers as so much happens after these initial events and it is all interlinked. It is very slow to start with the author concentrating on Sigurd and Katya's relationship. A confident 23 year old, Sigurd is making a good living through network marketing. The product sounds extremely dodgy but perhaps that gives an insight into Sigurd's personality as he's not as upstanding as the original impression. His behaviour over Katja's lies is inexplicable, constantly deciding to dump her and then rushing to help her. Arash doesn't make an appearance until 15% into the novel when the patient he is supposed to be moving from A&E to the orthopedics ward vanishes. This is a mixture of very recognisable hospital incompetence and something more. Arash is one of the few likeable characters in a novel populated with people you wouldn't want to spend time with.Like Sigurd he is caught up in events that have nothing to do with him.
Certain Signs That You Are Dead, after the initial slow start, is a fairly high octane read with plenty going on, both action and plot wise. It isn't fundamentally complicated but it switches between points of view, Sigurd, Arash and Sigurd's mother, the pathologist Jenny Platerud and can be allusive in parts so you need to concentrate. I couldn't follow the reasoning behind the title as it's all a bit airy-fairy for me.
I enjoyed this novel so I have no hesitation in recommending it as a good read.
It took me almost two weeks to read this, cause it didn't really grip me at all. Which was quite surprising as I really enjoyed the previous book in this series. Torkil, I know you can do so much better!
Certain Signs that You are Dead is the first book by Torkil Damhaug which I have read and it is the fourth book in the Oslo Crime Files series. Although I hadn’t read the previous books in the series I had no problem getting into this book and it made for a very enjoyable read, I highly recommend it.
Sigurd Woods believes his girlfriend, Katya is having an affair. He has watched her talking with a stranger and now she is leaving him for several days and gives him very little information about what she is doing, it begins to drive Sigurd mad and he sets out to discover the truth about what she has been doing behind his back. But when he discovers the truth behind her mysterious past and what she has been getting up to, he finds himself in a dangerous situation and he must make the decision whether he should help Katya or not. Is their relationship really worth fighting for?
The book is filled with plenty of action, especially towards the end. I thought it was an intelligently plotted thriller and I enjoyed getting to know Torkil’s characters. I found Sigurd and his mother Jenny particularly intriguing. Whilst they both find themselves caught up in this dangerous case they both have their problems at home to worry about. Sigurd’s brother puts a huge strain on the family due to his increasing debt, I thought this was interesting back story to explore and for me it opened up their characters.
If you’re a fan of Jo Nesbo, then you have to give this a go, it’s a series that I’ll be keeping an eye out and I’m keen to read the previous books. Thank you to Millie Seaward at Headline and Bookbridgr for sending me a copy to review.
this book has a good story line, but sometimes you feel lost. maybe because i did not familiar with this kind of writing. it is hard to finish it, but still enjoy reading. i did not know this is the 4th book.
En brukbar spenningsbok med mange tråder å nøste opp. Her er traumatiserte krigsflyktninger, overgripere fra andre verdenskrig, medisinske forskere og brutale ungdomsgjenger. Dersom man klarer å holde tunga rett i munnen er dette en god thriller, men kanskje har forfatteren til tider prøvd å være litt FOR interessant? Enkelte passasjer i boka blir såpass svevende at det går utover konsentrasjonen, men til slutt klarer man å knytte alt sammen på en brukbar måte. Vi møter igjen noen av personene i "Ildmannen" men handlingen har forflyttet seg til mindre urbane områder.
Certain Signs That You Are Dead By Torkil Damhaug. Every killer leaves a trace.
In Akershus University Hospital, a patient disappears into thin air.
That evening, his body is found in a basement box-room, his throat cut.
When retired forensic pathologist Jennifer Plåterud is called in to examine the dead man, she has no idea of just how closely she is involved in the murder herself.
And in the merciless heat of summer, she will be forced to make connections she would have preferred to ignore.. This was a fantastic read with brilliant characters. I couldn't put it down. Even though it was book 4 I still read it. I wanted to know what happened. 5*. Netgalley and headline.