Thursday, January 1, 2015

(Review) Forty Days without Shadow by Olivier Truc

 
Title: Forty Days without Shadow
Author: Olivier Truc
Pages: 448
Published: December 1, 2014
PublisherLittle, Brown Book UK
Review Copy: Yes

Why did I want this book?
The publisher sent me this book.
Synopsis:
Winter is savage and cold in Lapland. When a priceless local relic is stolen from Kautokeino, a village in the middle of the isolated snowy tundra, detectives Klemet Nango - a familiar face in the rural community - and Nina Nansen, fresh out of the local police academy, are called to investigate. There are just a few days until the locals will host a UN conference on indigenous peoples, and Klemet and Nina are under pressure to retrieve the artefact. When a local reindeer herder is found brutally murdered soon afterwards, Klemet and Nina immediately suspect that the two events are linked. But the villagers don't take too kindly to having their secret histories stirred up and the duo is forced to cross the icy landscapes alone in search of the answers that will lead them to a killer. Set in an alternately savage and dreamlike Lapland, this compelling, award-winning thriller tells the story of a native people fighting to keep their culture alive in a modern world of ruthless destruction.

Cover:
The cover looks very grown up. Almost unusual for me, since I've read a lot of YA during the last couple of months.

Title:
The title says it all: It is an arctic thriller.

Writing style:
The writing style is good. The author seems to have a lot of knowledge. On the one hand, this is great, on the other it got a little bit too detailed sometimes. A thriller lives from it's action, so it wouldn't have been necessary to put that much background-stuff about the country into it.
But I really liked his way to tell this story. It is a good debut. The chapters are written from different points of view, so you get to know the characters very good.

Characters:
We have two important main characters. There is Klemet Nango, an experienced police officer and Nina Nansen, who just finished police academy. It is nothing unusual to pair an inexperienced character with someone who knows how to get a job done. And well, what shall I say? I worked. I also liked the character development of the other characters.

Noteworthy:
It is general fiction and not YA (Just feel like I have to say that since I haven't read anything else than YA recently...

Stuck in my Head:
“Racagnal didn't like being caught unawares. He stared hard at the woman, forcing a smile.” (p. 190)
What I didn't like:
It was a little bit too detailed sometimes.

Quick and dirty:
A good thriller that I can definitely recommend. Specially now during the winter period. Don't know about you guys, but I am having a lot of snow around here, so the book fits very well.
Thank you to ... 
... Little, Brown Book UK, who gave me this review copy in exchange of a honest review!

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