Firewall

Three apparently unrelated deaths eventually prove connected to a plot to destroy the world economy, and Inspector Kurt Wallander must put the pieces together before it's too late. Dick Hill presents the latest in Mankell's detective series with extreme precision. Hill's exaggeratedly correct pronunciation of every Swedish name and place slows the story, rather than lending it authenticity. Hill enunciates every word in the narrative, sacrificing pace in favor of clarity. His portrayals of supporting characters render them cartoonish rather than realistic, especially the women. Overall, his performance, combined with clunky writing and predictable yet unrealistic plot twists, renders this production less than satisfying. R.L.L. (c) AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine

October 7, 2002
In the sixth Kurt Wallander book to appear in English (One Step Behind, etc.), Mankell proves once again that spending time with a glum police inspector in chilly Sweden can be quite thrilling. In the small town of Ystad, a pair of seemingly random events take place within a matter of days: two teenage girls with no apparent motive brutally beat and stab a taxi driver to death, and a remarkably healthy man checks his bank balance at an ATM and then collapses dead on the sidewalk. After two more odd murders, Wallander becomes convinced that the incidents are all connected. The recurring clues demonstrating the vulnerability of society in the electronic age remain just outside of the Luddite inspector's understanding. But once he detects a conspiracy to collapse the world's financial infrastructure on a specific date, Wallander, whose position at work is already imperiled, ignores office politics and protocol to stop the would-be revolutionary. Although Wallander and his investigative team are forced to work at a dizzying speed, the pace of the book is just right, doling out new leads and intrigues right when they're needed. The only shortcoming in this otherwise smartly written mystery is that too many of the most perplexing clues discovered by Wallander are dismissed as red herrings or coincidence. Overall, however, Mankell's ambitious endeavor to combine large themes with small-town murder is a notable success.

Starred review from June 15, 2009
In Golden Dagger Award winner Mankell's (www.henningmankell.com) eighth entry in the Kurt Wallander seriesall previous entries are also available from Blackstone Audiomeaningless crimes underscore the vulnerability of society in the electronic age. Mankell contrasts themes of international intrigue involving a global financial network collapse with situations listeners might view on the local news. The multitude of characters challenges award-winning narrator Dick Hill (www.dickhill.com) to distinguish clearly among them all, but textual attributions mitigate confusion. The Wallander novels have recently been adapted for television (BBC, 2008), with Kenneth Branagh playing the eponymous police inspector. Highly recommended. [Audio clip available through www.blackstoneaudio.com.Ed.]Sandy Glover, Camas P.L., WA

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