The Purity of Vengeance by Jussi Adler-Olsen

First published in Denmark in 2010; published in translation by Dutton on December 31, 2013

The difficulty with revenge, particularly when served cold, is that people change. What seems like just retribution may turn out to be a harsh judgment visited upon a repentant transgressor who seeks (and deserves) forgiveness. The lesson of The Purity of Vengeance is that revenge is a dish best not served.

Between 1923 and 1961, a number of women in Denmark who were deemed genetically inferior -- ostensibly "feeble-minded," the women were often regarded as dangerously promiscuous, particularly if they became pregnant -- were institutionalized on an island called Sprogø. There they were subjected to forced abortions and sterilizations. This dark history provides the foundation for The Purity of Vengeance.

The woman seeking revenge is Nete Hermansen, who (with good reason) blames six people for the various misfortunes she has suffered throughout her life. In 1987, a couple of years after her angry husband dies in an accident that she survives, Nete writes a letter to each of the six with a promise to make them wealthy. During the course of the novel, we learn what those individuals did to Nete and what Nete did to them.

Interwoven with Nete's story is a missing persons investigation that takes place in 2010, undertaken by Carl Mørck, who is still stuck in the basement with Assad and schizophrenic Rose, his underlings in Department Q. And interwoven with the story of the investigation is the story of Curt Wad, who is still practicing medicine at 88, talking Nordic women out of having abortions while doing quite the opposite with women he regards as coming from an undesirable heritage. Wad is the driving force behind Denmark's Purity Party, a political movement of calcified ideas that is gaining ground in 2010.

The Purity of Vengeance does the things a good crime novel needs to do, and a little more. The plot is engaging although, until the very end, not particularly surprising. It nevertheless has a degree of depth that most thrillers lack. Building upon personalities established in the earlier Department Q novels, the characters have substance. Carl revisits (and continues to be haunted by) the moment of cowardice that branded him in The Keeper of Lost Causes, and we learn a bit more about the mysterious Assad (although just enough to make him even more enigmatic). Carl is going through some domestic drama (involving both his ex-wife and current girlfriend) that Jussi Adler-Olsen approaches with a light touch, preventing the novel from getting bogged down in maudlin issues of domestic strife. Even the vilest criminals have sympathetic moments, making them believable characters rather than caricatures of evil. Nete's motivation for her appalling behavior is especially easy to understand.

The downside to this novel is that it's longer than it needs to be, and the second half starts to drag a bit, but the pace picks up as the story nears its chilling conclusion. The Purity of Vengeance is a worthy addition to the ever-growing collection of Scandanavian crime fiction.

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Bernhardt's Edge by Collin Wilcox

First published in 1988; published by MysteriousPress.com/Open Road on October 1, 2013

Good noir begins with good characters, troubled people struggling with dark secrets or a shady past. Betty Giles was an art curator for a large corporation before she went to work for a private collector and discovered that her boss, one of the wealthiest men in the world, indulges a sinister passion. Betty's boyfriend tries to take advantage of that knowledge and before long, Betty and her boyfriend are on the run.

Enter Alan Bernhardt, an actor/director working with a small theater company in San Francisco who moonlights as a private investigator. For years he's been working for an unscrupulous investigator named Dancer. That changes after he takes on the assignment of tracking down Betty Giles. Knowing that he may be placing his life at risk, Bernhardt puts himself in the middle of Betty's drama.

Bernhardt isn't a standard noir detective, as you might guess from his theatrical career. Described as gentle and self-effacing, he's no Sam Spade. He owns guns but doesn't like them. While Bernhardt isn't a stereotyped detective, the hit man who chases Betty and her boyfriend is too stereotypical to be interesting. Still, the hit man's meticulous planning redeems him as a worthy noir character. Betty is sympathetic and believable.

Except for a couple of scenes in which Bernhardt becomes needlessly philosophical (which wouldn't be so bad if his philosophical observations were less shallow), the story moves swiftly. Tension mounts effectively as the novel proceeds to a resolution that is a little too neat, but satisfying nonetheless.

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Merry Christmas!

The Tenth Circle by Jon Land

Published by Open Road Media on December 17, 2013

Beginning with a missing colony on Roanoke Island in 1590 (which left behind the word Croatoan) and continuing to the missing crew of the Mary Celeste in 1872 -- as well as Napoléon, who was counting on the cargo that the Mary Celeste was carrying, disguised as barrels of alcohol, to help him reclaim his empire -- it's clear that a new world-threatening danger is being unleashed, and that only Blaine McCracken can save the day.

Turning from the prologue the present: Israel's defense minister wants to destroy an Iranian nuclear complex but the Israeli military isn't up to the task of penetrating the heavily guarded underground facility. To whom does the defense minister turn? Blaine McCracken, of course. Following the formula of his earlier novels, Jon Land starts The Tenth Circle by having McCracken do something outlandish and, having lulled the reader into abandoning any sense of disbelief, moves on from there to the truly strange.

The new threat to America is, in some sense, the typical thriller threat -- Islamic terrorists are blowing up bridges and buildings all over the country -- but Land makes it interesting by giving the terrorists a new motive: a crazy Christian preacher with a murderous past who is stirring up religious bigotry and hatred against Muslims. Yet the true villains are not so easy to identify and the weapon they wield -- well, it isn't a dirty bomb or a deadly virus or other conventional thriller fare. Conventional isn't a word that comes to mind while reading a McCracken novel.

Land writes pure escapist fiction. This isn't the kind of story you want to think about too deeply. Very little in The Tenth Circle is believable. McCracken and his sidekick Johnny Wareagle are so close to being comic book superheroes that they should be wearing capes and masks. Does it make sense that Captain Seven, McCracken's mad scientist friend (who is more of a stoned scientist friend), just happens to have the Roanoke Island governor's journal from 1590 sitting on his desk when McCracken comes calling? No, but Land is one of the few writers who can craft a completely implausible plot that I completely enjoy.

The Tenth Circle moves like lightning on crack. Action scenes are vivid and original. Land never relies on clichéd phrases to tell his story. Dialog is amusing, particularly when McCracken is talking to Captain Seven. Although Land always plays it straight, he brings a tongue-in-cheek attitude to certain scenes (a group of senior citizens taking on armed commandos with bocce balls was one of my favorites). The Tenth Circle isn't serious literature or even a serious thriller, but it's seriously fun to read.

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The Two Moons by James P. Hogan

First published in 2006; published digitally by Baen Books on December 3, 2013.

The Two Moons reprints two novels by James P. Hogan. Inherit the Stars, a fine if flawed science fiction novel, was first published in 1978. Its less interesting sequel, The Gentle Giants of Ganymede, was published in 1981. Both novels are reviewed on Tzer Island; follow the links if you're interested.

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