THE BLINDED MAN

Someone is killing high profile Swedish businessmen and in the face of mounting panic amongst the financial elite a new unit is created to try to catch the killer before he strikes again.

The Blinded Man introduces us to a newly set up unit within the Swedish Police.  The A-Unit comprises of a number of characters that have been taken from various locations within the police force.  One of them is Paul Hjelm, the supposed hero of a standoff involving an immigrant desperate to stay in the country.  To the media Hjelm is a hero, to the police force he is a liability.  It is only his transfer to the A-Unit that saves his career.

Police procedural novels would not be the same without a damaged hero and the Blinded Man is no different.  However, Hjelm isn’t the only damaged hero (or heroine) within the newly formed A-Unit.

I approached this novel with a bit of a heavy heart.  Swedish crime has become a staple of our book shelves in the past couple of years.  As much as I enjoy this genre I was starting to feel “been there, done that” and wasn’t particularly excited at the prospect of yet another novel of the same thing.  I was wrong!

As the first novel of the acclaimed Intercrime Series, one which I feel will be very successful, I found the trademark Scandinavian bleakness coupled with interesting and surprisingly warm characters.  Paul Hjelm and his colleagues at the A-Unit are three dimensional and realistic.  The story did not stall, the action barrelled along and you were left guessing as to the connections between the gruesome Power Murders.

An intelligent and innovative read, I will definitely be looking for the next in the series.