Mats Vederhus

Norwegian policeman Kurt Hammer has several personal problems, being rejected by women he tried his luck with, the physical exhaustion alcohol abuse caused. A murder case in Lima, Peru one that Hammer himself witnessed during a holiday there, so is not the only one to solve. Murder in Lima, translated into somewhat basic English is raw at times, focuses more on Kurt himself than the actual murder case.

The plot didn't really entertain or captured my attention. I've read better crime stories.… (meer)

The only time I visited Trondheim, Norway in 1995, the city was calm, sunny and inviting to have a look in churches, alleys, and parks. Not so in Mats Vederhus' contemporary Trouble in Trondheim: Bikers and Gangsters. In Vederhus' second novel to date bloody murders are popping up and covered for. The local Hell's Angels, journalists, and police are confronted with drugs, sex workers, Russian connections, and media sensitive statements.

Murders in toilets, remote industry zones, add hotels take the lives of many. Is the killer a man, a lone wolf or should you reckon the Hell's Angels chapter taking revenge to safeguard its position? Must journalist Kurt Hammer fear for his own life, after his wife and infant were found brutally murdered. Will Trondheim become a sequel to the island of Utøya?

Trouble in Trondheim not only unearths the discovery of who's victim and who's killer, but also the trial and its outcome to leave the reader with the impression that self-defense or cover-up could also be perceived as truth. This high-paced crime fiction is well-done.… (meer)

I would be interested to know if this short book was originally written in English. There are some words (cavil) and (thrashing) that are not usually used in English in the contexts presented in this book.

The collection of short stories might actually be a collection of ideas for more fully developed future longer stories. Some, such as "Telephone Terror" do not make a lot of sense unless the reader focuses on the book title (Freedom) and tries to make some connection that each story is an attempt to escape from a present to a future that contains the idea of freedom, even when the freedom is found in death. This is too much work for the reader.

"Till Death Do Us Part" was the story with the most promise, an interesting way to find escape from routine.

"2100" was the next best. Aside from these two, the rest were just incomplete story ideas with way too much work for the reader with little reward.… (meer)