Wolves in the Dark is an entry into one of my favorite categories: Nordic Noir. It takes place in Norway. Gunnar Staalesen protagonist, Varg Veum, is emerging from a fog of alcoholism and addiction, following the death of his lover. His new beginnings, however, are met with a charge of participating in an international child pornography internet ring.The evidence is damning and no one, other than his new girlfriend, believes he is innocent. It is up to Veum to prove his innocence against all odd...

“Wolves in the Dark” published in 2017 by Orenda Books marks the 40th anniversary of ‘Varg Veum’ and is the 21st book in the series written by internationally renowned author Gunnar Staalesen. Excellent as a stand-alone too, this thriller is intelligent, compelling and well written and even though touches on a very sensitive theme, the story is highly entertaining and enjoyable. Translated seamlessly by Don Bartlett, nothing is lost in translation (as is often the case) and bar some Norwegian na...

All my reviews can be found at http://thebookreviewcafe.comI thought I had made a huge blunder agreeing to review Wolves In The Dark, I didn’t realise it was the 21st book in the series, so I pretty much convinced myself that I would find this a difficult novel to read, I hate starting a series a couple of books in let alone 21! I always find it hard to connect with the characters. I’m thrilled to report that all my worries were unfounded and Wolves In The Dark made for a throughly gripping read...

When your favorite genre is crime, you slowly start to believe you have read the darkest and most twisted stories. But some authors fish their ideas from Hell's pit, and Gunnar Staalesen proved he knows where to find the blackest and most horrific material to work with.Being waken up by the police for an interview can't and is never a good sign. It's a Monday kind of life joke. Like our favorite Norwegian private investigator, the nasty surprise was a cold shower and neither of us had a chance t...

Varg Veum is back in another installment in the series and Wolves in the Dark deals with some very dark subject matter this time.Veum is suspected of being part of a paedophile ring after incriminating traces of child pornography are found on his computer. Thrown into a prison cell, Veum tries to think of anyone from his past who would harbor enough of a grudge to frame him for this truly heinous crime.While in prison, Veum gets a chance to escape, and he takes it! What follows is his quest for

GUNNAR STAALESEN - WOLVES IN THE DARK (2017)Synopsis/blurb......Reeling from the death of his great love, Karin, Varg Veum's life has descended into a self-destructive spiral of alcohol, lust, grief and blackouts. When traces of child pornography are found on his computer, he's accused of being part of a paedophile ring and thrown into a prison cell. There, he struggles to sift through his past to work out who is responsible for planting the material ... and who is seeking the ultimate revenge.

Varg Veum has a rude awakening when police show up on his doorstep and bring him in for possession of child pornography. Veum claims he’s innocent but everything points to the contrary. Soon he finds himself in prison where he tries to piece together the last few cases he’s worked on. Not an easy task since most of those years are a blurry mist due to excessive drinking after losing the love of his life. When an opportunity to escape arises, he quickly takes it and sets out to investigate in ord...

3.5 stars

I have seen every single Varg Veum TV movie there is, but this is the first book I have read. Wolves in the Dark is book 21 so I have missed a couple. Nevertheless, I just knew I had to read this one since I find Varg Veum to be such a fabulous TV characters that I wanted to see how he is portrayed in the books.And, he is, to be honest not showing his best side in the book, after losing Karin some years before has he pretty much spent the years since then drinking which makes it hard for him to

Well, this is my second foray into the world of Varg Veum and I have to say I'll officially follow him wherever he goes! I first met Varg in Where Roses Never Die (review here) and there was just something so compelling about his character that by the end of that book I felt like I'd found a new friend. I know many of you may see that this book is #21 in the series and may think you're too far behind to give it a try but you can most definitely pick this up as a standalone as the author does a b...

Wolves in the Dark was my third Veum book, a difficult read. It has a compelling start with Veum being arrested early morning by what could be considered a pack of wolves, a personification of the police state coming down full force with accusations that shock. How will he defend himself when the police and media are blowing up a sweeping attack on child pornography that Varg is being set up for when he is immediately accused and incarcerated?Years of heavy drinking and blackouts impede, but wit...

Dark thriller set in BERGENThis review first appeared on our blog, where we also talk to the author about BERGEN as stettin:http://www.tripfiction.com/a-very-dar...Imagine being woken at 7.00am by police ringing your doorbell loudly. Imagine them confiscating your computer containing unimaginable images of child pornography – with you actually participating in some of the scenes. Imagine believing you are 100% innocent, but not knowing how to start to defend yourself against such accusations. An...

Wolves in the Dark is the second book I have read by this author. I have to give a mention to the fabulous translation of this novel by Don Bartlett. I’m not always a big fan of books that have been translated but I have personally had no problems with these books and felt that they flow really well.My first introduction to Varg was in Where Roses Never Die. I took to him straight away. If things weren’t bad enough for him as it was in the previous book, things are about to get a whole lot worse...

Find all my book reviews plus author interviews, guest posts and book extracts on my blog: https://whatcathyreadnext.wordpress.com/Wolves in the Dark is the latest outing for Varg Veum and, to be honest, things are not going well for him. He’s still recovering from the emotional aftermath of a tragic event in his personal life and the past few years have just about disappeared in a haze of booze. His bank account is all but empty, the new cases have dried up and it’s a struggle to keep off the b...

It’s amazing to think that this year marks the 40th anniversary of the Varg Veum series and whilst we are probably never going to catch up here in the UK, it’s definitely a good time to read the books that have now been translated into English, two of which are We Shall Inherit The Wind and Where Roses Never Die. I spent Boxing Day last year curled up on the sofa reading Where Roses Never Die and loved it. Although it gives you a little more background into Veum, it’s not essential to have to re...

I'm delighted to be one of the hosts for the Wolves in the Dark blog tour today, along with Vicki over at Cosy Books - this is the first novel I've read by Gunnar Staalesen but the twenty first in his series of Varg Veum books so I have some back list to catch up on. I originally intended to just have a quick glance at the opening few pages prior to reading the book properly for the blog tour, before I knew it however, I was halfway through and had no intention of stopping reading! Despite being...

Wolves in the Dark – The Darkest Underbelly of Nordic NoirIt is hard to believe that Gunnar Staalesen introduced the world to Varg Veum over forty years ago, and that even after all this time, his noir is just as fresh as the first. Never judge his books by the cover (under Orenda Books they are brilliant) or the thickness, what Staalesen delivers in just over two hundred pages others need five hundred. As a wordsmith he wastes nothing, and once again brilliantly translated by Don Bartlett a mat...

All of my reviews can be found on www.novelgossip.comI have to admit that I was pretty intimidated when I realized this book is the twenty first in a series, I mean there is just no way that I could possibly catch up at this point! But I had heard such great things about the author that I took a chance and just jumped in and man am I glad I did. I was needlessly worried as I had no problem reading this as a standalone and my fear would’ve made me miss out on a really gripping read. I love being

Wolves in The Dark is a who’s who of the people that private investigator Varg Veum has peed off in his period of darkness after he lost the love of his life. Veum has to work through his very clouded (aka drunk) memory about who he was engaged by and what was the case he was investigating. By doing this, he’s opening old wounds, ripping off some very old plasters with limited knowledge to start with. But as he picks and rips, he gets flashbacks which shine a brief light on the web of secrets hi...

Ebook not Audio.Disclaimer: ARC via Netgalley Varg Veum is a literary character that I first meet though television. MHZ had the Varg Veum movies on, and I watched them. So, I started reading the series in a haphazard fashion, or in other words, totally out of order. This installment finds Veum coming out of a drinking addiction fueled by depression after a death. In part, some of his sobering comes from meeting a woman (who has a daughter) and part of it comes from being accused of child pedoph...