5/10

Staalesen på sitt beste og det da jeg trodde jeg hadde fått dosen min av Varg Veum. Virkemidlene er forsåvidt kjente og nærmest selvfølgelig har handlingen lange tråder bakover i historien. Denne gangen er godt over halvparten av historien i fortiden fra særlig tre ulike tidspunkt og vår helt spiller en rolle i alle. Vi blir derfor enda bedre kjent med Varg i denne boka, ikke minst fra den tiden han jobbet i barnevernet. Bøkene har ofte blitt dårligere, når vi forlater Bergen, det gjelder ikke d...

Two time winner of the golden Pistol award. Johnny Boy resurfaces. Veum remembers him from early in is working career as a child protection officer.

A rather ho-hum addition to the Varg Veum canon, but whether a result of the author's efforts or the translator it is hard to say. The story spans nearly thirty years, fitfully tracing the tragic life of a client of Varg's from a small boy (Jan Egil) to a thirty-year-old ex-con. A hidden web of relationships becomes clear to Varg as he stumbles along uncovering the truth behind multiple murders and systematic betrayals that have ruined Jan's life. The final scene, though explaining the remaining...

Social worker turned private eye series, combining both worlds. In this one an abused child apparently commits a series of crimes and Veum keeps track of him over the years. The story involves an incredibly complicated genealogy of families, abuse, and crimes as well as a murky criminal conspiracy to smuggle alcohol and drugs. There’s even a 19th century murder thrown in as an allegory that things are not always what they seem. The ending comes out of left field as a literal and figurative car c...

Interesting main character but too much padding, too many coincidences, a predictable villain and an unsatisfactory ending.

3+. It was a 4 until the ending, which left everything up in the air. Complex but not too complex, it follows Varg’s interactions over 25 years with Johnny Boy, whom Varg first met as a troubled 2-year-old.

This author and his characters grow on you! I have not read S’s books in order, but no matter! This one was very complicated. I did not figure it out until the author revealed the villain. I love surprises!

The main character is Varg Veum, a social worker turned private eye. And since I used to be a social worker (for 21 years) these stories really appeal to me - I can identify :) The story goes back in time when he was a young social worker and was sent to the home of "Johnny Boy" a 3 year old boy and possible victim of abuse. We follow the progress of Johnny boy and Varg over a period of several years. The conditions of the home and people involved when johnny boy (Jan Elgin) was first seen by Va...

Set in Bergen and rural Norway, this sad, funny and nearly implausible story follows a social service worker interacting with a wee boy who eventually becomes a criminal. It is a shame that this is Staalesen's only novel available on Kindle. With good reason, Staalesen is very popular in Europe. His protagonist Varg Veum, a social worker turned private investigator, is a sympathetic narrator about how life conspired against Johnny Boy, who keeps turning up like a wooden nickel, first as a baby t...

L'aspetto piu' interessante di quest'opera e' a mio avviso la feroce critica da parte dell'Autore al Sistema Socio-Assistenziale norvegese.Protagonisti del racconto sono un assistente sociale divorziato, Varg Veum, che diventa investigatore privato; un bambino, che seguiamo fino all'eta' adulta, figlio di una tossicodipendente, che viene preso in consegna dai Servizi Sociali, e dato in affido; e un corollario di personaggi colleghi di Varg. Ci sono diverse morti misteriose, che coprono un arco d...

This is my 1st Norway's book that I read and I love it. Sometimes i am confuse with the places because not familiar wih the word nor spelling, but the story is so thrilling made me curious how it will be end. 3 stars for this!

2017 and 2018 all appear to be about Nordic thrillers. This was a pretty interesting read, except I didn’t realise it was #15 of a series. I liked it but not enough to read the first 14. Maybe a couple.

Veldig bra

Geniální práce spisovatele Gunnara Staalesona (68) je ryzí ukázkou severských detektivek. Pokrevní pouta vás vezmou na cestu plnou dramatických zvratů, precizních dialogů a do poslední stránky vás nenechá vydechnout. Hlavním hrdinou je bývalý pracovník Úřadu na ochranu dětí Barnevernet, muž jménem Varg Veum. Události se však točí i kolem jeho chráněnce, chlapce Jana Egila, tedy po česku Jeníčka. Jako tříletého ho s kolegyní odebrali feťácké trosce, která byla v podstatě náhodou jeho matkou. Veum...

I love Varg Veum. This is the book that the author, Gunnar Staalesen, suggests as an intro to the Veum books.

I picked this one to read, as I was recently asked to take part in the blog tour for the authors latest book release ‘Wolves In The Dark’ via Orenda books. I immediately looked up the series/author/subject matter and became intrigued. I really wanted to read an earlier novel in the series and this led me to pick this one, being drawn to the theme of the young man’s life and repercussions his childhood may have had on his future. The novel opens in 1995, Detective Varg Veum receives a call from,

This is my second Staalesen novel. Where Roses Never Die Being my first. This is a solid work - a nice mix of Chandleresque detective story with slight tips of the cap to the social commentary of the Swedish police procedural. There are 20 or so of these novels in print in Norway but the best I can tell only 8 have been translated to English. I have been lucky to find his books on the shelves at Mysterious Bookshop but even then their selection is limited. I can find more in London and will raid...

My favorite neonoir character If you have never met Varg Veum, you should. A modern version of Sam Spade or Philip Marlowe, he walks the same streets they did a hundred years ago. And he is just as interesting, and just as good in a bent sort of way....

4.5--this is another terrific read from Gunnar Staalesen. Not perfect but quite nicely done and translated. The narrator is Colin Mace and he does a good job of several characters and Varg himself.