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A review by honeyreads1066
Geiger by Gustaf Skördeman
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
First off what I was expecting was a generic spy thriller but it was a lot more than that.
This book follows Sara, a police officer who was a friend of uncle Stellan's (a retired very famous TV personality) family as a kid and now after he is murdered, she goes on a long journey to figure out who did it.
Agneta is Stellan's wife who after getting a phone call where the other person just says the word Geiger, immediately kills her husband and flees.
I felt like this book was a mesh of two completely different stories. There was of course the spy angle, but there was also an emphasis on the atrocities committed against women, particularly sex workers. While I thought this would be done well, it felt messy and I didn't see why some aspects were put in there.
The spy angle was okay but I felt it was predictable at times up until you got to the end reveal. There were quite a few elements that were predictable outside of the spy angle but not necessarily in a bad way.
With the characters, I felt that some of them were fleshed out well but others seemed unnecessary and it meant that it was difficult to keep a hold of who was important. Also, I felt like I didn't like the characters I was supposed to. I had a major dislike for Sara but I'm not sure that I was supposed to. I just found her overly preachy and frankly annoying.
I also suppose that when there are books from multiple perspectives there's always a chance that one side is going to be more interesting than another and I did find that here.
Overall, maybe this book was not for me. I don't read a lot of spy thrillers but this seemed lacklustre in my opinion.
This book follows Sara, a police officer who was a friend of uncle Stellan's (a retired very famous TV personality) family as a kid and now after he is murdered, she goes on a long journey to figure out who did it.
Agneta is Stellan's wife who after getting a phone call where the other person just says the word Geiger, immediately kills her husband and flees.
I felt like this book was a mesh of two completely different stories. There was of course the spy angle, but there was also an emphasis on the atrocities committed against women, particularly sex workers. While I thought this would be done well, it felt messy and I didn't see why some aspects were put in there.
The spy angle was okay but I felt it was predictable at times up until you got to the end reveal. There were quite a few elements that were predictable outside of the spy angle but not necessarily in a bad way.
With the characters, I felt that some of them were fleshed out well but others seemed unnecessary and it meant that it was difficult to keep a hold of who was important. Also, I felt like I didn't like the characters I was supposed to. I had a major dislike for Sara but I'm not sure that I was supposed to. I just found her overly preachy and frankly annoying.
I also suppose that when there are books from multiple perspectives there's always a chance that one side is going to be more interesting than another and I did find that here.
Overall, maybe this book was not for me. I don't read a lot of spy thrillers but this seemed lacklustre in my opinion.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Gun violence, Pedophilia, and Torture
Minor: Death, Drug use, Incest, Vomit, and Death of parent