Do You like book Yours Until Death (2010)?
Yours is a straightforward, full-of-snappy-dialogue and entertaining non-mystery (the bad guys are easily sussed out), with few - if any - twists in the plot. That said, this word-lean book doesn't seem to be focused on shocking plot convolutions, but rather a philosophical, wry and sometimes melancholic rumination on relationships and love - if that was the author's intention (and it reads like it was), then this is an above average novel with a quirky and engaging lead character.Worth reading, this - perhaps even worth owning, if you're reading Yours for its philosophical points.#This book has resulted in two films.The first film, Brun Bitter, was released in Norway on November 17, 1988. Sølve Skagen wrote the screenplay and directed it.Frank Krog played Alexander "Lex” Larsen (the cinematic stand-in for Varg Veum). Kristin Kajander played Vigdis Wang. Rolf Skøien played Johnny ‘Jocken’. Vidar Sandem played Jens Falch (a.k.a. Falchen). Svein Erik Brodal played "Asbjørn, videomann". Bjørn Floberg played Sebastian Ramsberg. Rulle Smit played Charlotte.#The loosely-linked-to-the-book remake, Varg Veum – Din til Døden, was released in Norway on March 12, 2008. Erik Richter Strand directed the film from a screenplay by Kjersti Rasmussen.Trond Espen Seim played Varg Veum. Bjørn Floberg played Jacob Hamre. Kathrine Fagerland played Anna. Endre Hellestveit played Isachsen. Sølje Bergmann played Wenche Andresen. Henrik Mestad played Jonas Andresen. Jon Ketil Johnsen played Gunnar Våge.(This review originally appeared on the Reading & Writing By Pub Light site.)
—Steve Isaak
Yours Until Death is the first of the Varg Veum books translated into English although, oddly, not the first in the series. Based in Bergen in Norway, Varg is a dissolute small-time private investigator, and was formerly a Child Welfare officer. The book opens with a young child walking into Varg's office seeking help recovering his bike from some vicious bullies. Varg agrees to help, and gradually starts to get involved with the boy and his recently-separated mother. After the mother asks Varg to talk to her ex-husband about child support, he sees him go into her flat where he is soon found dead, and she is found holding the murder weapon.Despite appearances, Veum refuses to believe that she can have done this and offers to help the defense investigation.The book is quite good without being highly original or surprising. Veum has a nice line in wisecracks but the character is not as memorable as Martin Beck or Kurt Wallander, for example. Staalesen gives him some depth by harking back to Veum's own unhappy childhood, but he doesn't do much with that, at least not yet. The book's real strength is Staalesen's prosaic descriptions of Bergen and its surrounds. One passage where he describes the sudden onset of Spring is excellent, as is the brooding presence he gives the mountain that glowers over this ancient city.
—Greg
An early Varg Veum novel. The second I read. It reminded me a great deal of Ross MacDonald. The hard boiled detective dealing with family issues that transcend the sordid crime that sets the plot in motion. I came to these books after seeing the television movies from Norway based on them. In fact, the second or third in the television series was based on this novel. I liked both the book and the film (which deviated quite a lot from the book), but felt both were imitations of other better works.
—Bill