The Purity of Vengeance by Jussi Adler Olsen

from Boston Globe

4 stars

Sometimes when I am reading a book I picture what the author looks like, this is before I look at the back jacket cover or look online. Sometimes I am quite surprised. Some of the racier books I have read are written by women who look so matronly that you almost wish to blush at their words. You say to yourself, "as if this person really wrote that". Sometimes the picture and the book is spot on. In this books case the character of Carl Morck that I picture while reading looks exactly like the author's picture on the jacket cover. Down to each goatee hair. I wonder if authors often picture themselves in the character role. Painting a picture that gives us a glimpse into their reality. Or, if they are writing an escape for themselves as well and creating something that allows them to live a life one wouldn't expect from them. I know that looks really has nothing to do with how people think and feel. We use looks to characterize people so much but in reality not everyone lives up to those characteristics. It is interesting. We really can't judge a book from its cover, or at least its author's cover.

Synopsis

Carl Morck is working on a cold case of a missing woman who lived a life of ill-repute. He and his team of colleagues realize that on that date there were an more missing people cases and they all had something related to each other, a woman, Nete Hermansen. At the same time a political party was gaining in popularity. One that thought women should be sterilized if they lived a life of promiscuity so their unborn children wouldn't become a drain on society's resources.

In another time line, one from the 80s, we get flashbacks on the heartbreaking life of Nete Hermansen and her time spent on Sprogo, an island where mentally handicapped women were sent. The only way off the island was to be sterilized.

My Thoughts

This was another great read by Jussi Adler-Olsen. The crime was a bit less creepy than others in the Department Q series but it was still disturbing. The message was clear. We do not know the worth of one person. We do not know the back story behind their current circumstances and we do not know what people are capable of given when given a chance to do something good. There is always grey area.

The story line from the 80s I didn't like so much. Perhaps since I am  a mother of a young child the thought of women not being able to have a family or being forced to have abortions made me sad. We don't know how children will turn out or what contributions they will make later in their life and to have a diabolical doctor end that child's existence before it's time, just because he finds the parents to be unfavourable, is disturbing. There are no perfect people, or people who are better than others. Every one is worth something.

I loved reading the present day story line. I found it full of suspense, humour, and your grow to love Carl and his associates even more. You also get to know more about the back story of Carl. It will be interesting to find out if they will ever know what happened in his shooting from the beginning of the series.

As with other of Adler-Olsen's Departmet Q series, you get a sense of some of his political views. And while in this book it does have a political overtone it also has a basic human rights overtone.

While I didn't find it quite as easy to read as the others in the series it was still good and leaves me waiting impatiently for the next installment to be translated.