Mercy (Department Q Series Book 1)

Witty wonderful thrillerFor me it’s not the gripping plot that makes this so great but the dry humour. Second time round listening to the audiobook (the narration is wonderful) I can still remember the plot but I still enjoy the detectives journey through life just as much as the first time.Everyone I recommend the book to loves it too. Out of the thousand books I have read of all sorts for me this series is up there for example (in no order) with Stephen King,Samson (shardlake), herbert (dune) and Nesbo (hole) for engagement and fun, albeit it is mostly through the lens of the one character.

I liked this book enough to immediately buy the second in the series, especially as I wanted to see how the Department Q team developed. The plot was unusual and tense and I found it a good read. (Having just finished book 2 in the series, Despair, however, I'm concerned about the level of violence, especially towards women, and I hope this is not a trait which will continue).

Having seen the tv series a few years ago, I was hoping the book would be as good, it is! So glad there are more in the series.

Takes time to get going but gripping story

I really enjoyed this book, mostly because of the characters and the style in which it was written. Copenhagen detective Carl Mørck was an outstanding and dedicated homicide cop with an attitude until an incident killed one of his close colleagues, paralysed another and injured Carl, leaving him with a severe guilt complex. When he returns to work after convalescing - an even bigger 'pain in the butt' than he was before the incident - he is severely lacking in commitment and motivation, has no intention of doing anything at all and can't wait for his retirement, some 20 years away. Despite his extraordinary detective skills, Carl is known by his peers as 'indolent, surly, morose, always bitching and treating his colleagues like crap'.He sounds like someone I should hate.So when the new `Department Q' is launched by politicians, to deal with unsolved cases, Carl is selected as the ideal candidate to run it. Except that he's the only member of staff in that department and his office is a run-down windowless room, deep in the basement out of everybody's way. But Carl's no pushover and soon he's got them decorating and upgrading the place and finding him an assistant. In the meantime, Carl's idea of a working day is to sit in front of the computer, surf the internet aimlessly and put his feet up on the desk and doze."... He looked down at his two spanking-new computers and the bundle of wires attached to them. Apparently the information superhighway had been split up so that the internet was linked to one computer and the rest of the world to the other. He patted computer number two. Here he could sit for hours and surf the Net to his heart's content. No pesky rules about secure surfing and safeguarding the central servers; at least that was something. He looked around for an ashtray and tapped a cigarette out of the pack. `Smoking is extremely hazardous to you and those around you', it said on the label. He glanced around. The few termites that might thrive down here could probably handle it. He lit the cigarette and took a deep drag. There was definitely a certain advantage to being head of your own department...."Enter Assad, Carl's new Arab assistant, who's meant to be the cleaner and odd job man but who has a suspiciously keen interest in police work, compared to Carl's complete lack of it. The couple make a very interesting pair as they struggle to work alongside each other, and as Assad's enthusiasm fights against Carl's cynicism there are some very entertaining moments.The first unsolved case Carl decides to `toy' with is the missing politician, Merete Lynggard, who disappeared without a trace five years ago.The book is structured into two timelines: 2007 the present day, and 2002 just before Merete disappears. While the investigation is trying to get off the ground in Department Q, Merete's timeline gradually reveals what has happened to her, and make no mistake that this is a crime thriller despite the humour of the working relationship between Carl and Assad. When the two time finally merge into one, the whole thing races towards a tense and gripping denouement. Very cleverly done.The ending leaves a few questions unanswered however, particularly around the mysterious Assad - but this is the first in a series of Department Q novels, so I look forward with impatience and excitement to the second novel, Disgrace, which is due out in March 2012. I don't really care what the plot is about - I'm just looking forward to more of the terrific characters and the entertaining but thrilling way in which the book is written.I highly recommend this book.

I enjoyed this novel and would have given it three and a half stars but that option isn't available. It is a conventional page-turning Nordic noir crime thriller, and if that's the sort of thing you like, you will probably like this. There is nothing original or extraordinary about it. It clunks a bit in places but it's difficult to tell if that is the original writing or the translation. The main character is OK but he is yet another rude, maverick cop, who does things his own way and is disliked by his colleagues. We've all come across guys like this in countless books and films and it's a bit tiresome to come across another incarnation in this book. The best character by far is the cop's sidekick - very interesting and original; I'd like to read a lot more about him.The main problem with the book is that, like recent Scandinavian TV series, The Killing 2 and The Bridge 1, the relentless, drawn out lengths the villain goes to to exact his revenge just isn't believable. Having said that, I kept eagerly turning the pages until the end. It's enjoyable, undemanding but far from being a masterpiece.

This Swedish author is an excellent writer. The suspense builds and there is a little bit of humour throughout. The characters are well developed and realistic. And excellent read.

... full of surprises and unsolved personal misteries.

The rare method of torturing the victim was unquestionably the centrepiece of the story. The excellent film version introduced me to the moody detective Carl Mørck, played excellently by Danish actor NIKOLAJ LIE KAAS and prompted me to pick up the book to get deeper into the story. Read it in English and then a second time in Norwegian. It was a tremendously satisfying read from start to finish of this intense police-crook story on vendetta. Certainly not for the faint-heart because it contains excruciating psychological and physical torture that made me squirm. I am quite puzzled with the choice of "Mercy" as the English translated title which is quite meaningless considering the story is all but merciless throughout. Cruel fate had no mercy striking the monsters with immense tragedy in their early lives that shaped them into revengeful blood thirsty monsters. These monsters themselves, in feeding their lust for vendetta, had no mercy for the victims or innocent bystanders. I much prefer the Danish/Norwegian title "Kvinnen i buret" or "The lady in the cage" because it describes the story excellently. The story is of course best read in Danish (or Norwegian as the written form is quite similar) like all books are best enjoyed in their original language. So with Mercy (Department Q Series Book 1), familiarity with Danish history, culture, lifestyle, geography and pathos go a long way to fully enjoy the genius of Adler-Olsen. Unfortunately, all translations as in this English version inevitably lose important nuances and many gems relevant in the Danish setting. I absolutely love Mercy (Department Q Series Book 1), my first crime novel by Danish author Adler-Olsen who paid great attention to details to give us a plot that was highly intelligent and unique, the characters were winsomely realistic be they the police detectives, the victims or the crooks. Despite the mostly sombre and heavy mood, there were some light moments of humor where Carl Mørck grappled with his dysfunctional marriage and incorrigible stepson wrecking havoc at home. Thankfully Carl gratefully had a reliable rent paying tenant called Morten, who loved opera and freely and lovingly volunteered making comfort food and home making service on a daily basis. Morten's playdo collection, audaciously borrowed without permisjon eventually lent valuable support to Carl in helping to uncover the bad guy in the story. Otherwise, much of the moronic fun were provided by the unlikely partners of Carl Mørck and Assad thrown unexpectedly together, whose backgrounds couldn't be more diverse and polarised, giving us comical confrontations while sussing each other out in the newly formed Department Q. There trust and admiration for each other were eventually forged after their harrowing life and death experience in solving their first case together. More so for Carl whose life was saved by the skin of his teeth when his quick thinking, stoic and resourceful assistant Assad came to his rescue. The special police department was a political initiative endorsed by the Danish parliament to reopen old unsolved cases that had attracted media and public great attention one time before they were unresolved and shelved. To establish credibility and to restore the good standing of the unpopular detective Carl Mørck, who was despised and abhorred by his colleagues, solving the all important first case "Woman in the pressure chamber" cannot be more critical on the line. And what a first case it was. A tale of 1extreme inhuman revenge, meticulously planned over a long period of time to torture the victim for a long five period since her abduction before exacting the most cruel form of execution. Adler-Olsen cleverly segmented his story into two different periods at the beginning before the two segments converged in the end to a nail biting finish. It was an incredible suspenseful, and emotionally beautiful ending of reunion and closure. The reader got so caught up with the characters in the book, that hot tears were shed in the end. Already a big fan of Scandinavian crime novels, I have read Norwegian and Swedish crime fictions by Larsson for his Blomkivst journalist , Nesbø for his alcoholic, insomniac, cheerless, Jim Bean addicted Harry Hole, and Staaleson for the physically abused Aquavit addicted Varg Veum. I love them all, each for their unique heroic and conscientious protagonist trying their utmost to rid the world of evil. Adler-Olsen with his creation or Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde "Carl Mørck", is now for me another fantastic Scandinavian crime fiction author, my first from Denmark.

Arrived on time, fast service

This is the first time that I am reading this book by the author and frankly speaking was totally bowled by the entire plot. The writing, the cliffhangers, the mysteries and the backstories are simply the best. Definitely recommend this to anyone looking for a detective novel with a feel of the real world stories