Sun Storm (Rebecka Martinsson Book 1)

This Nordic noir is set in Kiruna in the very north of Sweden during the winter, with the Northern Lights swirling over the scene. Rebecka Martinsson, a Stockholm lawyer, is called back to her native town to help defend the sister of a charismatic Christian evangelist who has been brutally murdered. During the course of the novel, we also learn of Rebecka's own painful story and involvement with the sect which caused her to leave.This is a dark book but it's enlivened by Rebecka's can-do, no-nonsense attitude. She has to deal with the passive and rather useless sister and is soon pressed into looking after her two neglected children. At first, one is not quite sure who the protagonist is because there is also a heavily-pregnant police officer who might be the heroine -- but who fades somewhat as the book proceeds with Rebecka taking the lead. I must say, having lived in Sweden which is one of the most secular countries in the world, I was surprised to find a revivalist movement, which might have been at home in the US Bible Belt, setting up shop in Lapland with folks speaking in tongues. They were only missing snake handling. But whatever, this is a novel.To be brief, this is a very workmanlike and professional job enlivened by the unusual setting which brought it vividly to life as well as the very appealing protagonist. The villains are not as realistic or convincing but this does not detract from one's enjoyment of the story -- although it is a weakness that prevents the novel from achieving the highest standard.

I purchased this novel because of all the glowing reviews. I truly wanted to love the piece but a third way thru, I struggled to maintain interest. The characters are unsympathetic and by the time you reach the ending (Spoiler alert!), you are unsurprised that there were many guilty parties. Of course there were. They were all such jerks to begin with. The victim seems such an uninteresting individual that you are unmoved about his death and his sister is illustrated as such a ditz, one wonders why she would deserve such fealty from the heroine. Finally, the heroine is portrayed as such a high strung, unlikeable character that you find yourself not cheering her on.

There are spoilers in this. Murder mysteries require at least one victim, and in the case of this book no one who died was much of a loss to humanity although their ends may have been a bit to gory. However, I can't stand books that include unnecessary cruelty to animals and after pages worth of one of the best dog characters ever written, the poor little thing is tortured and killed while the reader learns what the dog is thinking towards the end. The point was probably to show how evil and insane the killer is, but when authors seem to gloat over suffering of an animal, I can't stand it. I may even delete the book. Aside from that, Rebecka is interesting , a little different from the usual lawyer character. Anna Maria, the very, very pregnant police officer, is more appealing. The way it presents life in the extreme north of the world may be the most interesting aspect of the book. The book sometimes reads as if it is a clunky translation so it is difficult to decide if it is the author's style or the translators. I would recommend it only for readers who hate dogs. I do plan to try the rest of the series, but if there is more animal cruelty, they will be discarded

If you're a fan of Swedish mysteries, especially in the noir genre, this is a book for you. The novel gets off to a lurid start. A man has been murdered and mutilated inside a church in the small town of Kiruna. His eyes have been gouged out and his hands cut off, and he has been stabbed over and over again. We find out shortly about his charismatic nature, his authoring of a best-selling religious book, and how he has been the central force holding his church together.Rebecka Martinsson, an attorney practicing in Stockholm, receives a call from an old friend named Sanna, the victim's sister. We get the idea that something has distanced Rebecka from Sanna but, nevertheless, Rebecka travels to Kiruna to offer Sanna some help - both emotional and legal.In Kiruna, where Rebecka has history, she is not welcomed. The three pastors of the church where the murder occurred are distant and unwelcoming to both Rebecka and the police who are investigating the crime. The police are puzzled. According to everyone they talk to, the victim was beloved and had no enemies. Yet, the manner of his murder is personal and someone hated him enough to mutilate his body.Rebecka is drawn towards helping Sanna but she also remembers vividly the problems she had when she lived in Kiruna. The atmosphere in Kiruna is dark and secretive and Rebecka must set boundaries in order to keep herself physically and emotionally safe.I enjoyed the page-turning aspect of this novel and the exciting action. However, there was something to be desired in the denouement. It seemed to be over-kill (no pun intended). I love the atmospheric darkness of the cold and often barren Swedish landscape. Living in the sub-arctic of Alaska myself, I can identify with the Swedish winters and the cold. Asa Larson captures the ambiance of the arctic winter and one can almost imagine a frigid air arising from the pages.

I was a bit worried when I finally picked up this book, as I'd waited a long time to read it, and it comes garlanded with awards and rave reviews. Could it live up to its reputation? Emphatically, yes.Rebecka Martinsson is a struggling young lawyer, working insanely long hours to get a foot on the ladder, despite an unsympathetic boss and a corporate environment as cold as the Swedish seasons. She sees on the TV news that an Victor Strandgard, an old friend has been murdered in Kiruna, a remote village in the north. Before she can assimilate this information, she is phoned by a "Moomin troll", otherwise known as Sanna, the dead man's sister, prime suspect for the murder, and Rebecka's ex-flatmate and ex-best friend.Rebecka is forced to jeopardise her shaky career to return to her roots in Kiruna, the place where she grew up, made her childhood mistakes, and began her involvement with the oppressive church group of which Victor was a leading light. We learn that when young, Victor was involved in a car accident, but survived even though his heart stopped. He subsequently wrote a bestselling book of his post-death experience that is the financial mainstay of the Kiruna church and the main source of its success, as Victor refuses to profit by his religion, allowing the church's three unpleasant pastors and their even more unpleasant wives to exploit the situation.Rebecka enters this mixture of past dread and present suspicion determined simply to help Sanna through her interview with the police but get no more involved with Sanna and her troubles. Her resolve is immediately broken by Sanna's mental instability and the physical state of her two children, as well as the increasing likelihood that Sanna was involved in Victor's death. Unwillingly, and to her boss's fury, she becomes Sanna's lawyer, is accused of assaulting a TV reporter, and tries to drag Sanna's children, if not Sanna herself, back into normal functioning.The detectives investigating Victor's murder are the heavily pregnant Anna-Maria Mella, who is supposed to be on desk duty until the birth of her child, Sven-Erik Stalnacke, her deputy who will be covering for her maternity leave, and their odious, publicity seeking boss, Carl von Post. The empathy of Anna-Maria and Sven-Erik for Rebecka and Sanna allows the truth of Victor's death gradually to be realised, rather than being brushed under the carpet by the church officials and the talentless von Post. To find out what really happened, Rebecka has to come to terms with her own past and the hypocrisy of the pastors, as well as face up to Sanna and Victor's demons - most chillingly, to their smug father and complicit mother.This book is incredibly assured; it is hard to believe it is a first novel. The shifts between past and present, rural and city values, old times (symbolised by the most attractive character in the book, the old neighbour Sivving Fjallborg, as well as Rebecka's dead grandmother) and modern relationships, are all told in a spare, compelling and deft style. Everything is made to count, never does the book slip into sentimentality, and I was delighted to read in the author's note at the end of the book that Rebecka is to return because she "is not that easy to get rid of".

Ava Larsson's first novel about the character Rebecka Martinson which was made into a movie and for which a TV series followedExcellent storytelling

The book was as described but as was an American publication it had been replaced by a UK publisher with a different title which I had read so wasted my money

The plot of this novel by Assa Larsson is very well defined. The narrative takes you to really get to know the characters deeply. Since beginning to end it will take you through the story without you even noticing how fast you are "eating" this book. Highly recommended if you like suspense novels.

Very good copy arrived quickly