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The Man From Beijing (2008)

by Henning Mankell(Favorite Author)

3.44 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

0307271862 (ISBN13: 9780307271860)

languge

English

genre

Mystery & Thriller

publisher

Knopf

review 1: Sadly, this does NOT rank with Mankell's best. The basic police-procedural style story is quite good, but Mankell put a bit too much political and social commentary in, almost to the point of preaching. Too bad - while I do find Mankell's politics interesting, and while he tends to, influenced by the work of Maj Sjöwall & Per Wahlöö, work politics into his thriller mysteries, he usually blends it more into the story, influencing the thoughts of the reader in a more subtle way. Here, he uses too large a hammer, and then keeps pounding. Too bad, all the heavy proselytizing dulls the impact of a good story [in fact, this is my second read of this work, so there must be SOMETHING I like about it). H.M. is STILL my favorite Swedish author, but this one needed some editing. I... more look forward excitedly to his next effort.
review 2: I found this book in the "Nordic mysteries" section and I thought "hey maybe this genre is a thing now" considering the success of the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and The 100-year Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window. But I found I had the same problem with this book as the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo... the pace is slow. Mainly for that reason, it was a tough read and I found myself unable to connect to the character. It's too bad. less

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