Black Seconds

Karin Fossum is a remarkable writer, and "Black Seconds" is a very powerful -- yet subtle -- novel. I don't think you could find a truer example of the genre -- there is not a single false note here. I read this book just after reading a Ruth Rendell book, and the two authors share the ability to turn what could be merely genre novels into literature. I think Fossum and Rendell write very differently than most of the male mystery writers I admire (George Pelecanos, for example). This book is a page-turner, but so much more than that. The characters are very human -- each is different but each is real. This book has so many small touches that add up to a whole that is much greater than the sum of its parts. Fossum must be a dog lover, because there are several very moving scenes involving dogs -- none really significant in terms of plot, but each with real emotional power. All Fossum's books are very good -- but I think this may be her best. Inspector Sejer is a fascinating character -- a unique policeman and a unique man, at least in my experience. He is quieter in this book, more introspective -- perhaps what separates him from most fictional detectives is his empathy for both the victims and the perpetrators. Fossum's imagination and her insight into the human condition are very impressive.

When I read this book's predecessor, "The Indian Bride" (which had gotten so many good reviews around the US), I thought Ms. Fossum had put out one of the best mysteries I'd read in 20+ years. I see now that I was mistaken. "The Indian Bride" was only a warm-up for "Black Seconds." Wow. I truly cannot imagine a better mystery. Characters are tightly drawn, the plot moves along perfectly (at least, in such a manner that you'll likely end up staying up all night to read this book), and, of course, the setting is sketched out with just the right amount of detail. Not a wasted word or sentence in this book. If you like mysteries, if you like really good stories, and you don't mind picking up the kind of book that you'll find difficult to put down until the end, this is the book for you. Don't waste your time reading any more reviews - buy it, read it, enjoy it and join the rest of us waiting for Ms. Fossum's next book.

Characters that are real, not forced or overdrawn. Plot development that is believable and deceiving, with a style that smoothly involves the reader mentally, laying clues that may be clues or not, always with unexpected plot finishes that are satisfying. Read one of her books and you immediately want to start another. A detective mystery writer of the highest order. If you haven't read any Fossum I would recommend starting with The Indian Bride. The British TimesOnline named her one of the 50 greatest crime writers. If you like anything in this genre you will love this author.

Creepy is an understatement when talking about Karin Fossum's detective series featuring Inspector Konrad Sejer and his colleague Jacob Skarre. In "Black Seconds," readers get a glimpse into a dark world not too many authors can create as powerful and troubling as Fossum. From the beginning of the series in "Don't Look Back" until now in "Black Seconds," Fossum knows how to create a believable and realistic sketch of her characters and their aging lives. As evidence, Konrad Sejer is not the same man we have seen in "Don't Look Back" or even in "The Indian Bride." He is more vulnerable, in private and in public life. Behind closed doors, we see his beloved dog Kollberg struggle with the aging process. He can hardly walk anymore, or find his cozy surroundings comfortable. Late one night, while Sejer comes home from work, he sits in his favorite chair by the window and stares across the room at his dog, who walks in circles a few times until he collapses on the floor. His hind legs hit the floor first, then his paws, and finally his heavy head falls in front of him. It is too difficult for Sejer to look his dog in the eyes. At work, Sejer deals with a case that he finds most puzzling to date. As he interviews Emil Mork and his mother, Elsa, Sejer discovers how rewarding and debilitating his line of work really is. At one point in the novel when Sejer questions Elsa about her son's anger management problems, Sejer is seen as weak and scared for the first time. He sees Kollberg in her story, I think, and takes her confession personally. The end of the story is Fossum at her best with the writings of nature and the human condition. Wonderful and haunting at the same time. I look forward to more Inspector Sejer and Skarre mysteries and hope we get a better look at Skarre's personality and private life. I really like these characters and pray we get more cases soon.

Henning Mankell introduced me to the wonders of Scandinavian crime writing, and led me to Karin Fossum, who is even better at it than our venerable Swedish friend. She's a little bit different in approach though: Mankell, who we all know, sticks, in his Wallander books at least, to the police procedural style. Perhaps that's his weakness. Fossum takes some elements of the procedural and mixes them with psychological drama. For comfort she holds on to a common central character or two; Inspector Sejer is the reassurring anchor-man and his junior, Jacob Skarre, the device through which we learn how clever Sejer is. It all works beautifully. Often in her books (and 'Black Seconds' is no exception), there is an 'oddity', an outcast in society on whom suspicion naturally falls. Perhaps this method of revealing society's simplistic reactions is overused in her novels, but it is effective, and usually quite creepy. Here, a middle-aged outcast of childlike intellect is involved in the disapppearance of a child. Fossum once again manages the clever trick of fooling us into believing that what seems obvious isn't. Actually it is. What's really clever is the way the second plot revolves around the first. In fact it's the second plot (about a teenager who crashes his car) is really the most interesting part of the novel. It throws up all kinds of questions about ideal and actual morality. Nothing is clear cut (another theme of Fossum's). The way these two strands are pulled together is beautifully done in the author's unpretentious but stylish hand. In a way, not much happens, but the way it happens is absolutely compelling. In just a few well-chosen words, Karin Fossum creates a world you care about, people you can see and feel, and an atmosphere you can touch. I don't know anybody who does this kind of thing better.