In the dark of the night
Author : Hakan Nesser
Title : Hour Of The Wolf
Published : 22/11/2012
Pages : 480
Genre : Crime Fiction
Publisher : Pan
In the dead of night, in the pouring rain, a drunk driver smashes his car into a young man. He abandons the body at the side of the road, but the incident will set in motion a chain of events which will change his life forever. Soon Chief Inspector Van Veeteren, now retired from the Maardam police force, will face his greatest trial yet as someone close to him is, inexplicably, murdered.
This time around I have returned to Hakan Nesser and the world of Van Veeteren. There is something I enjoy about these books. They may not be as complicated as many of there counterparts in this genre of books. But he flows well and you can sink your teeth into them on a quiet afternoon, and have an enjoyable time with them.
His cast of characters are always a joy to spend time with, he gives them real lives and personality and thorough out the books gives them time to breathe. If you spend any time with these books they start to feel like friends you see every so often and get to catch up with. And this I feel is the key to his books they are set in the here and now. With crimes that could take place in your own town or city. By the time we get to this the seventh book in the series they are well into there stride and move about each other as you would come to expect any team who have been together for so long. It has to be said that the main hero of this series of books does take some time to show up in this book. And with this more time is devoted his usual team allowing them to stand on there own two feet and carry their parts of the book. In the hour of the wolf, we get to see how one person decision can work like the butterfly effect and spiral out of control so very quickly.
If you are searching for a whodunit then this book might not entirely for you. The killer is delivered to us on a plate at the start although it takes much longer to actually learn his name.The author chose to show how a simple choice of an ordinary man can lead to dire consequences. For me, it was difficult to feel any real sympathy for him, and what he does next is a study into how irrational thinking can get you into an even deep hole than the one you started with. I felt it was an interesting step for the author to take when we get to experience half the book from this mans perspective, and it is thought these chapters that we learn to understand his motives for why he makes so many bad decisions. In doing this we are also left being a few steps ahead of the police. It is only through these actions the other events come into play and this is where the mystery come into the story. I did feel this book contained a little more complex than some of the earlier work. And in doing this makes it stand out for me more.
This is a very well plotted book and the author has clearly taken his time with it to give us the best version of the story he could. Due to the way he writes it makes is to pick up and enjoy the story. It goes past quickly and I found my self-wrapped up enough to let the world happily pass by me. If you haven't had the chance to pick up one of the books in this series I would recommend you give it ago. This particular book does work as a stand-alone and in so doing also would allow a new reader easily get a grasp of what they are getting themselves in for.
This time around I have returned to Hakan Nesser and the world of Van Veeteren. There is something I enjoy about these books. They may not be as complicated as many of there counterparts in this genre of books. But he flows well and you can sink your teeth into them on a quiet afternoon, and have an enjoyable time with them.
His cast of characters are always a joy to spend time with, he gives them real lives and personality and thorough out the books gives them time to breathe. If you spend any time with these books they start to feel like friends you see every so often and get to catch up with. And this I feel is the key to his books they are set in the here and now. With crimes that could take place in your own town or city. By the time we get to this the seventh book in the series they are well into there stride and move about each other as you would come to expect any team who have been together for so long. It has to be said that the main hero of this series of books does take some time to show up in this book. And with this more time is devoted his usual team allowing them to stand on there own two feet and carry their parts of the book. In the hour of the wolf, we get to see how one person decision can work like the butterfly effect and spiral out of control so very quickly.
If you are searching for a whodunit then this book might not entirely for you. The killer is delivered to us on a plate at the start although it takes much longer to actually learn his name.The author chose to show how a simple choice of an ordinary man can lead to dire consequences. For me, it was difficult to feel any real sympathy for him, and what he does next is a study into how irrational thinking can get you into an even deep hole than the one you started with. I felt it was an interesting step for the author to take when we get to experience half the book from this mans perspective, and it is thought these chapters that we learn to understand his motives for why he makes so many bad decisions. In doing this we are also left being a few steps ahead of the police. It is only through these actions the other events come into play and this is where the mystery come into the story. I did feel this book contained a little more complex than some of the earlier work. And in doing this makes it stand out for me more.
This is a very well plotted book and the author has clearly taken his time with it to give us the best version of the story he could. Due to the way he writes it makes is to pick up and enjoy the story. It goes past quickly and I found my self-wrapped up enough to let the world happily pass by me. If you haven't had the chance to pick up one of the books in this series I would recommend you give it ago. This particular book does work as a stand-alone and in so doing also would allow a new reader easily get a grasp of what they are getting themselves in for.
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