"Mankell is a master of the traditional arts of the crime novel, narrative pacing and suspense." –
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette "An arresting story by an arresting writer ... [Mankell] understands and probes the underside of everyday living - in an elegant and artful way.... He is able to look loneliness square in the eye. The result is writing that walks a line between ephemeral and everlasting."
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The Washington Post "Powerful.... Thoroughly engaging.... Amazingly human characters.... It's a testament to Mankell's skill with plot that the story gets more and more urgent as he transforms a series of small mysteries into a much larger thriller.... Mankell [is] a master storyteller."
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San Francisco Chronicle "I salivate with anticipation at the prospect of more from the pen of Mankell, for he is one of the finest
of his genre - a Scandinavian Ian Rankin with a passion for exploring the dark side of human nature.... Mankell builds the tension with care and, as ever, his characters are cleverly rounded....
A masterpiece of atmospheric creation."
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Glasgow Herald "Few of this genre's writers - few of any genre's writers - have been able to balance the ordinary and the grotesque with such literary dash and page-turning brio.... Mankell's atmospherics ... give you metaphysical goose bumps."
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Boston Herald
