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ATDrake · 04-13-2017, 09:12 PM

Finished The Swede (aka My Name is N) by Swedish author Robert Karjel, a political action thriller I got on sale for 99 cents a few days ago, 1st in his Ernst Grip series starring a Swedish security officer called to consult for the US, which I bought partly out of sheer morbid curiosity* (although it did get nods from Booklist, Publisher's Weekly, and the Lambda Literary Awards).

This was reminiscent of also-Swedish author Joakim Zander's Klara Walldéen political action thrillers which I bought and enjoyed last year, which are topical ripped-from-the-headlines stuff exploring the darker side of compromises made in the current War on Terror global political climate (this one covered powers of detainment and the use of torture during investigations), but somewhat more action adventure-ish, with a less cerebral-feeling plot. There was something of a tendency to rely on surprise reveal connections and hyper-competent shadowy figures, but probably no more so than the average action thriller.

Overall, I don't regret spending my 99 cents. It was an interesting enough read and I'm mildly curious as to where the next book will go, given the uneasy power balance set up at the end, and how the main character will develop, given the decided moments of what TVTropes used to call What The Hell, Hero?! (they've probably renamed the page to something a lot less intuitive and more boring).

* I'm just going to mention that given the kerfuffle that was apparently made by Amazon reviewers complaining about this having an unexpectedly bisexual male hero in it when it was initially released in English and how that burned their tender eyes or whatever, I am disappoint that there wasn't even the obligatory spicy action thriller sex scene between the m/m characters. It was just normal old making unwise life decisions for the sake of the love interest relationship drama stuff with some suggestive hints and then fade to black.

A secondary character having f/m casual sex got a steamier love scene description. Twice. Honestly, idiot reviewers complain about the stupidest things.

04-13-2017, 09:12 PM	#25713
ATDrake Wizzard Posts: 11,517 Karma: 33048258 Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Roundworld Device: Kindle 2 International, Sony PRS-T1, BlackBerry PlayBook, Acer Iconia	Finished The Swede (aka My Name is N) by Swedish author Robert Karjel, a political action thriller I got on sale for 99 cents a few days ago, 1st in his Ernst Grip series starring a Swedish security officer called to consult for the US, which I bought partly out of sheer morbid curiosity* (although it did get nods from Booklist, Publisher's Weekly, and the Lambda Literary Awards). This was reminiscent of also-Swedish author Joakim Zander's Klara Walldéen political action thrillers which I bought and enjoyed last year, which are topical ripped-from-the-headlines stuff exploring the darker side of compromises made in the current War on Terror global political climate (this one covered powers of detainment and the use of torture during investigations), but somewhat more action adventure-ish, with a less cerebral-feeling plot. There was something of a tendency to rely on surprise reveal connections and hyper-competent shadowy figures, but probably no more so than the average action thriller. Overall, I don't regret spending my 99 cents. It was an interesting enough read and I'm mildly curious as to where the next book will go, given the uneasy power balance set up at the end, and how the main character will develop, given the decided moments of what TVTropes used to call What The Hell, Hero?! (they've probably renamed the page to something a lot less intuitive and more boring). * I'm just going to mention that given the kerfuffle that was apparently made by Amazon reviewers complaining about this having an unexpectedly bisexual male hero in it when it was initially released in English and how that burned their tender eyes or whatever, I am disappoint that there wasn't even the obligatory spicy action thriller sex scene between the m/m characters. It was just normal old making unwise life decisions for the sake of the love interest relationship drama stuff with some suggestive hints and then fade to black. A secondary character having f/m casual sex got a steamier love scene description. Twice. Honestly, idiot reviewers complain about the stupidest things.