Another wish I was there photo …
A Death in Sweden by Kevin Wignall
I have been a fan of Kevin Wignall since I read People Die in 2004. I have read most of his work and interviewed him a couple of times. He is not exactly a prolific author, so when I heard he had a new book coming out I was excited to check it out. I actually got a chance to read A Death in Sweden a few weeks early thanks to the Kindle First program. But alas, my poor book reviewing habits and the holiday’s intervened and I never posted my thoughts.
Dan Hendricks is a man in need of a lifeline. A former CIA operative, he is now an agent for hire by foreign powers on the hunt for dangerous fugitives. It’s a lethal world at the best of times, and Dan knows his number is almost up. His next job could be his last—and his next job is his biggest yet.
The target sounds trackable enough: Jacques Fillon, who gave up his life trying to save a fellow passenger following a bus crash in northern Sweden. But the man was something of an enigma in this rural community, and his death exposes his greatest secret: Jacques Fillon never existed at all.
Dan is tasked with uncovering Fillon’s true identity—but can he do so before his own past catches up with him?
A Death in Sweden starts with a very memorable scene and the rest of the book seeks in some way to make sense of what happened in that scene; uncover the mystery behind it. As Dan Hendricks seeks to put the pieces together he begins to attempt the same thing in his own life. Who is he really? What does he value and what future does he want for himself?
The problem is that he is caught in the middle of a secret but very real battle between powerful people. Loyalties are murky, trust is hard to come by, and each decision seems to be one of life and death.
The thread that starts with that bus trip winds its way through Madrid, Paris, Sweden, Washington DC, the Middle East, Berlin, and back to Sweden. Along the way, Hendricks has to stay alive, collect enough information and answers to perhaps buy himself time and/or a future, and solve the enigma that is Jacques Fillon. The question is whether the former can help with the later and whether he can survive long enough to find out.
And just to complicate things, Wignall throws in a romantic interest. So Hendricks has another set of emotions and thoughts to wrestle with and find answers to.
A Death in Sweden reads like a mix of genres: espionage, mystery and action thriller. The mystery element is tied to the bus ride that kicks off the novel and the questions that underlay the identities of the two individuals who are the focus of that scene.
The espionage element comes in because the people and agencies involved in seeking to solve these mysteries are spies and governments. Underneath it all is a battle for information and power with political, and life and death, consequences.
The action thriller aspect comes about as the battle moves from information to brute force. Ultimately, Hendricks chooses violence as a partial solution to his dilemma. Sometimes the violence is forced on him and sometimes he goes on the offensive. The action elements don’t dominate the book necessarily but they come in intense bursts.
As noted above, however, weaved into all of this is also a romantic interest. Which forces Hendricks to deal with questions that he was not prepared to wrestle with and choices he had not anticipated. This leads to a contrast, maybe even an incongruity, between the cold and violent nature of Hendricks profession and actions and his relationship with Inger and his thoughts of a different future.
In fact, this is another thread that runs through the novel. Is it possible to truly leave behind a life of secrecy and violence? Can someone like Hendricks settle down and build a “normal” life? The ending hints at no but also leaves it ambiguous.
Starting with that very first review of People Die I have wondered about Wignall’s almost amoral perspective. His characters live and act in a world where traditional morality seems not to apply or must at least be set aside in some sense.
A Death in Sweden shares this perspective in some ways but also incorporates other perspectives. Hendricks is pulled by the loyalty and dedication of a variety of characters he encounters; from Fillon and the friends/colleagues he is seeking to help survive to the families impacted by the history he is trying to uncover and decipher. And his relationship with Inger also involves a pull toward commitment and normalcy.
I don’t want to accuse Wignall of aiming for mainstream fiction or coldly calculating the value of a romantic interest in a book like this, but it did change the feel of the novel for me. Not bad, just different.
A Death in Sweden is a quick and entertaining read. With a nice blend of tension, mystery, action and, yes, a little romance. It isn’t really an action thriller and not your typical spy thriller either. It felt to me more like a mystery with espionage and action elements.
If like me, you are facing the start of a cold and bleak winter, A Death in Sweden would make a good read for an afternoon bundled up on the couch with a hot beverage.
The Journey of the Penguin by Emiliano Ponzi
If you are a literary nerd (I mean that in a good way, honest), a fan of publishers, or just fascinated by book illustration you will want to check out The Journey of the Penguin by Emiliano Ponzi:
To celebrate 80 years of Penguin Books, a charming picture book that tells the imagined story of the penguin who waddled his way into history as the symbol of a beloved publisher
A lonely Antarctic penguin, dreaming of adventure, sets off on a long swim north. Arriving at last in London in 1935, he encounters the chance of a lifetime: auditions are on to find the face of a brand new publishing house. The penguin wins, of course, and so begins an adventure that takes him on to New York and into the hearts of readers around the world.
In The Journey of the Penguin, award-winning graphic artist Emiliano Ponzi delivers a boldly illustrated, wildly imaginative, and terrifically fun story—told entirely through image—that brings to life the “dignified yet flippant” bird chosen eighty years ago by Allen Lane as the name and icon of his revolutionary publishing business. With cameo appearances by legendary Penguin authors including Jack Kerouac, Arthur Miller, and Dorothy Parker, this exquisite, one-of-a-kind book celebrates the enduring appeal of storytelling.
The illustrations really are wonderful and the book sparks the imagination as the reader must tell the story in their own way based only on pictures rather than text. There is a simplicity and elegance about the illustrations. Yet, it is interesting how much action and emotion can be conveyed within that simplicity.
As I said, fans of Penguin Books, Ponzi, and/or publishing and illustration in general would enjoy this gem.
The Massacre: The Life and Death of the Paris Commune by John Merriman
Somewhere my former European and World History teachers are rolling their eyes because I did not remember learning about the Paris uprising of 1871. John Merriman in The Massacre: The Life and Death of the Paris Commune does a superb job of describing the events surrounding the uprising.
Here is a brief summary from the publisher’s website:
The Paris Commune lasted for only 64 days in 1871, but during that short time it gave rise to some of the grandest political dreams of the nineteenth century—before culminating in horrific violence.
Following the disastrous French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, hungry and politically disenchanted Parisians took up arms against their government in the name of a more just society. They expelled loyalists and soldiers and erected barricades in the streets. In Massacre, John Merriman introduces a cast of inimitable Communards—from les pétroleuses (female incendiaries) to the painter Gustave Courbet—whose idealism fueled a revolution. And he vividly recreates the Commune’s chaotic and bloody end when 30,000 troops stormed the city, burning half of Paris and executing captured Communards en masse.
Many would argue that the Communards (or Communists in modern lingo) were wrong for taking over the city. However, Merriman makes a convincing argument that no matter if the Communards were wrong, they did not deserve the slaughter they received from the French national government. The government response was a bit much – using artillery against French civilians is excessive.
Merriman’s account is focused more on the Communards than the French national government. I wish that he spent more time discussing the weaknesses and strengths of the government’s reasons for attacking the Communards. I understand that it was a hectic time (especially with parts of France occupied by the Prussians after the Franco-Prussian War), but I do not think that it was proper to slaughter Parisian civilians – possibly in the thousands.
The book also is an excellent example of how quickly fighting can become barbarous. Merriman discusses the various abuses on both sides. Once atrocities started, neither side gave quarter to the other. I am not one to judge soldiers in combat, but I also do not condone the slaughter of people who have surrendered.
The Massacre is a well-written book on a subject that is not universally known.
The Empty Throne by Bernard Cornwell
The eighth book in Bernard Cornwell’s The Saxon Tales series is The Empty Throne. It is as good as the previous seven books in the series.
Here is a brief summary of the book from the author’s website:
The forces of Wessex and Mercia have united against the Danes, but instability and the threat of Viking raids still hang heavy over Britain’s kingdoms. For Aethelred, Lord of the Mercians, is dying, leaving no heir and the stage is set for rivals to fight for the throne.
Uhtred of Bebbanburg, Mercia’s greatest warrior, has always supported Athelflaed to be Mercia’s next ruler, but will the aristocracy ever accept a woman as their leader? Even one who is Aethelred’s widow and sister to the king of Wessex? As the Mercians squabble and the West Saxons try to annex their country, new enemies appear on the northern frontier. The Saxons desperately need strong leadership, but instead they are fighting for an empty throne and threatening to undo the unity and strength they have fought so hard to achieve.
I love these books. I cannot say enough about Cornwell’s excellent storytelling and writing – I know I am getting redundant with the posts. He brings the characters to life in the reader’s mind. His descriptions of the characters, events, and era are wonderful.
The plot keeps the reader guessing on which way the story is going. The different characters are easy to like and hate. The chaos of Saxon England at war is captured perfectly. In Cornwell’s portrayal, the politics of that era was as cutthroat as the politics of today (many of our politicians would feel right at home back then).
The Empty Throne is well-worth the read and I cannot wait for the next book in the series.