Today I am taking part in the blog tour for The Lazarus Solution. My review is written with thanks to Anne Cater for inviting me on the tour and to Orenda Books for my copy of the book.

Blurb:

Summer, 1943. Daniel Berkåk works as a courier for the Press and Military Office in Stockholm. On his last cross-border mission to Norway, he carries a rucksack full of coded documents and newspapers, but before he has a chance to deliver anything he is shot and killed and the contents of his rucksack are missing.

The Norwegian government, currently exiled in London, wants to know what happened, and the job goes to writer Jomar Kraby,whose first suspect is a Norwegian refugee living in Sweden, whose past that is as horrifying as the events still to come…

Both classic crime and a stunning expose of Norwegian agents in Stockholm during the Second World War, The Lazarus Solution is a compulsive, complex, richly authentic historical thriller from one of the godfathers of Nordic Noir.

For fans of Sebastian Faulks, Lars Mytting, Mick Herron and Robert Harris.

Review:

The market for novels set in World War II is quite busy, but I love that Kjell Ola Dahl has found a fresh angle (you don’t often read about how the war affected Norwegian and Swedish people) and created an incredibly engaging, emotional story. Kjell Ola Dahl is a talented writer and I felt that his words took me to the situation – a situation I was previously not familiar with – with ease. There are some dark themes and it’s not always comfortable to read but I was immersed from the beginning. I should also take my hat off to the translator, who ensures that the author’s words come across so powerfully. 

The central characters in The Lazarus Solution are Jomar and Kai. They come from very different backgrounds and I was intrigued by how their stories would be connected. Kjell Ola Dahl has built these characters really well and I was fascinated to learn more about them. 

The plot of The Lazarus Solution is quite complex: there are lots of different threads, red herrings and characters hiding secrets and telling lies. It could be quite difficult to get to grips with at times, but it’s thrilling and surprising and I really wanted to know how everything would play out. The ending, in particular, is absolutely brilliant. 

The Lazarus Solution is available from Amazon.

You can follow the rest of the blog tour here: