The Voices Beyond by Johan Theorin

First Line: The ghost ship came gliding out of the darkness across the black waters of the Sound, giving way to nothing and no one.

It is summer on the beautiful Swedish island of Öland, and visitors are arriving in their thousands to enjoy the sun and the water. Among the visitors is young Jonas Kloss, who's looking forward to staying with his aunt and cousins. But one moonlit night when he takes a small boat out on the water, a ship looms out of the darkness and the horror the young boy finds on board has him fleeing for his life.

Jonas finds himself on the doorstep of elderly Gerlof Davidsson, a man of the sea and native to Öland. Once Gerlof is able to convince Jonas to talk to him, the old man knows that this summer will be like no other. The Homecomer has returned, and he's waited a lifetime to exact his revenge. 

I loved the previous three books in Theorin's Öland Quartet. The man is a master at creating complex characters and building suspense. Unfortunately The Voices Beyond fell flat for me. Gerlof was still his charming curmudgeonly self with his loneliness and painfully aching legs, and young Jonas was wonderfully complex as well. And that setting! Theorin is also a master at building a setting so vivid and detailed that it counts as one of the characters in his books.

Where the book fell flat was in its pacing. The point of view was constantly shifting from Gerlof to Jonas to a young musician named Lisa to the Homecomer himself who spoke both from the present day and from the time of Stalin's reign of terror. The constant shifting didn't confuse me at all, but the very short chapters moving from one character to the next actually slowed the pace down to a crawl and made the book a chore to read.

As a whole, would I still recommend the Öland Quartet? Yes, I would. The first three  (Echoes from the Dead, The Darkest Room, and The Quarry) are superb, and who knows? The slow pace of The Voices Beyond may not bother you at all. For anyone with a fondness for Scandinavian crime fiction, evocative settings, and complex characters, Johan Theorin's Öland Quartet should not be missed.
   

The Voices Beyond by Johan Theorin

Translated from the Swedish by Marlaine Delargy

ISBN: 9780857520067

Doubleday © 2015

Paperback, 475 pages

Suspense, #4 Öland Quartet

Rating: C+

Source: Purchased from Waterstones, Cambridge, UK

 

The Quarry by Johan Theorin

First Line: It was March in northern Öland, and the sun was shining on small, dirty-white snowdrifts as they slowly melted on the lawns at the residential home for senior citizens in Marnäs.

Gerlof Davidsson is out of the nursing home and back in his home on Öland. He's decided to read the diaries of his beloved wife who died of cancer several years before, but little does he know that his wife's words may shed some light on the goings-on among his neighbors. 

Per Mörner and his son Jesper are in one nearby house. Per spends a good deal of his time visiting his critically ill daughter in the hospital and trying to avoid his father Jerry, a man that Per has always been deeply ashamed of. In the largest and most expensive home are writer Max Larsson and his wife Vendela, who grew up on the island. Max is filled to the brim with his own self-importance while his lonely wife remembers her childhood and lavishes her affection on their dog Ally. What none of them know is that a fire that kills two strangers is going to bring to light many secrets that they hoped would remain buried.

Johan Theorin is a master at setting a scene, and he brings the natural beauty of  Öland to life. He's also a master of atmosphere, and the feeling in The Quarry is one of slowly building dread. Secrets have remained buried for decades, and they are demanding to be brought out into the light. 

Theorin weaves stories of elves and trolls, of the early days of the Swedish porn industry, and of a long disused quarry into a riveting story of poverty and neglect, love and murder. His characters are so well drawn that you can hear each distinctive voice as you read, and your mind stays busy in an attempt to deduce how these people's lives all intersect. 

Although this book is the third in the Öland Quartet, each one can stand alone. They are only connected by their setting and by the occasional appearance of the elderly Gerlof Davidsson. Feel free to jump in wherever you like.

Johan Theorin is a master storyteller, and I have yet to read one of his books that I did not love. He is my favorite Swedish crime writer.

The Quarry by Johan Theorin

Translated from the Swedish by Marlaine Delargy

ISBN: 9780552777049

Doubleday © 2011

Paperback, 477 pages

Amateur Sleuth, #3 Öland Quartet

Rating: A

Source: Purchased from Book Depository.