Reviews with content warning for Sexual assault - Geiger

this book was interesting, if a bit hard to follow. there was lots of historical contextualization, which I enjoyed. the story was good, and I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in a plot-twist heavy book.

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chemistreadingonthejob's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

Compelling, Historically Relevant, but Hard to Follow

Geiger is a spy thriller debut by Gustaf Skördeman. The story hooked me immediately when Agneta Broman, a 69 year old grandmother, recieves a phone call, hears a single word "Geiger", and with no hesitation shoots her husband Stellan dead. Agneta disappears, and a wild goose chase ensues. Sara Nowak, a Stockholm police officer in the prostitution unit, becomes involved in the investigation due to her childhood growing up with the Bromans. This investigation reveals connections between East Germany and Russian espionage, Agenta and her husband, and the truth about Sara's childhood.

What I found the most interesting about this story was Sara's passion for helping those stuck in the prostitution ring. At times she becomes unhinged at their fruitless efforts. This added so much substance to her personality and merged well with other themes of the book. I wish I could see more of Agneta's personality. It was like I was expected to believe she was some sort of sleeper agent her whole life and only cared about the mission. This lack of insight made the ending inexplicable. The rest of the cast is filled with unique personalities from varying backgrounds such as political figures, scientists, double agents, etc. There are some associations that took awhile for me to comprehend because I know next to nothing about German, Russian, or Swedish history and cultural references. A considerable amount about East Germany and Russian history was explained throughout. The initial captivation dissolved and the rest of the story bore on reluctantly. The plot was well designed and fascinating, but the complexity of the Cold War espionage was lost on me. There's alot about this book I still don't understand. In general, this was an interesting spy thriller but too complicated for me to completely appreciate. This was not a home run for me, but those that love spy thrillers and know alot about European history might enjoy this.

Thank you Netgalley and Grand Central Publishing for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

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_desreads's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

Cold War espionage anyone? Skördeman’s debut thriller begins with a phone call to a well known Swedish family in Stockholm. Agneta, the wife, answered the phone and hears one word: Geiger; she then hangs up, gets her pistol, shoots her husband of 30 years and flees the city. As the nation is shocked with the death of its most infamous TV show host, a police officer named Sara is called to the case because she was childhood friends with the family’s daughters. From there a web of dark secrets, false identity and harmful ideology begin to unfold, and Sara learns just how much the past is still shaping the present.

I love me a good spy/espionage story, and for most people I think this will do the trick. There are definitely some twists I didn’t see coming and Skördeman builds strong, multifaceted characters. While I found the ending rushed and a bit more farfetched than the rest of the book presents, the main issue I had were some scenes of Sara’s work as a police officer. Because she works in the prostitution ring in downtown Stockholm, you are exposed to the abuse and sexual assault that the girls she is trying to fight for endure, and it was just not what I was wanting to absorb, especially after reading “Tell Me Everything”.

Thanks for the recommendation @anniebjones05! A good non fiction comparison that I recommend is The Spy & the Traitor by Ben Macintyre

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umbellule's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

I usually don't bother to leave negative reviews, but I wish I had known this going in:

The opening is very compelling, and there are a couple of interesting characters, so when the plot starts going downhill you give it the benefit of the doubt. But it does not get any better.
There are several uncomfortably long & graphic depictions of child sexual assault.
The author seems to have a lot of anger towards sex workers.

The setup had promise, but it needed a harsher edit, and would've been better if the cop character was completely absent.

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