Book Review on "Mercy" by Jussi Adler Olsen
“Mercy“ - Jussi Adler Olsen
The crime novel “Mercy“ by the renomated danish author Jussi Adler Olsen is the first one from a book serie about the police detective Carl Morck and his assistant Hafez el-Assad.
As a consequence of a failed operation, which takes place before the point from where the story starts, Carl Morck has been taken off homocide to run a newly created department for unsolved cases.
His first case is concerned with the circumstances around the disappearance of Merete Lynggard, who vanished five years ago of a ferry.
Eventhough everyone else seems to have given up on searching for her and being convinced of her death, Carl and his assistant Assad move off into the dark world around Merete's disappearance to solve her case.
While these two go through the trouble of finding her, Merete sits captured in a small, dark room without any windows. Even after being tortured and held as a prisoner for more than five years, she has still not given up believing in her rescue.
The story switches between the perspectives of Carl Morck, Merete and the abductors as well.
Through the switch of perspectives the reader gets inside views of most of the protagonists.
It helps the reader to understand the story from all different angles with all its perspectives.
While one can can feel the feard and suffer of Merete, one can also sympathize with Carl Morck going through his daily trouble at home and at work, while having many difficulties of solving this insolvable seeming case.
Until the very end the reader remains in the dark abouth wether Carl and Assad are going to find Merete and if they do so, if it will still be in time.
This feeling of uncertainty and the seemingly never ending fight against time add a strong tension to the story and cast a spell over the reader.
In my opinion this book is more than just a standard crime story. Through Adler Olsen's impacable way of writing and the slowly built tension throughout the plot,
The crime novel “Mercy“ by the renomated danish author Jussi Adler Olsen is the first one from a book serie about the police detective Carl Morck and his assistant Hafez el-Assad.
As a consequence of a failed operation, which takes place before the point from where the story starts, Carl Morck has been taken off homocide to run a newly created department for unsolved cases.
His first case is concerned with the circumstances around the disappearance of Merete Lynggard, who vanished five years ago of a ferry.
Eventhough everyone else seems to have given up on searching for her and being convinced of her death, Carl and his assistant Assad move off into the dark world around Merete's disappearance to solve her case.
While these two go through the trouble of finding her, Merete sits captured in a small, dark room without any windows. Even after being tortured and held as a prisoner for more than five years, she has still not given up believing in her rescue.
The story switches between the perspectives of Carl Morck, Merete and the abductors as well.
Through the switch of perspectives the reader gets inside views of most of the protagonists.
It helps the reader to understand the story from all different angles with all its perspectives.
While one can can feel the feard and suffer of Merete, one can also sympathize with Carl Morck going through his daily trouble at home and at work, while having many difficulties of solving this insolvable seeming case.
Until the very end the reader remains in the dark abouth wether Carl and Assad are going to find Merete and if they do so, if it will still be in time.
This feeling of uncertainty and the seemingly never ending fight against time add a strong tension to the story and cast a spell over the reader.
In my opinion this book is more than just a standard crime story. Through Adler Olsen's impacable way of writing and the slowly built tension throughout the plot,