The Information Officer

The Information Officer

By Mark Mills

If you enjoy historical mysteries, then Mark Mills is a writer that you should definitely check out. The Information Officer manages to be both beautifully written and well plotted- it's always a pleasure when a novel turns out to be a literary page turner. Additionally, it manages to be both a spy thriller and a hunt for a serial killer in one.

The bulk of the novel takes place in Malta during World War II (1942, to be exact), though the narrative is framed by flash-forwards of 2 central characters meeting again in Italy in 1951. As the novel suggests, Malta was of critical importance in World War II. This setting ratchets up the suspense, and makes it hard to separate the political intrigue from the murder mystery.

Most of the novel is told from the perspective of Max, the information officer (basically, the guy in charge of the propaganda keeping Maltese spirits up). Max is certainly a flawed hero, as evidenced by him juggling two women and contemplating covering up the murders. Overall, though, he's a good guide through the story, since he seems to be as much in the dark about the plots going on around him as the reader is. We also see a fair amount of his best friend Freddie, a surgeon who first brings the murders to Max's attention and plays an important role in the plot. Finally, there's Elliot, the enigmatic (and pragmatic) American pulling strings behind the scenes.

Though I did enjoy this novel quite a bit, I have to admit feeling that the female characters seemed like a bit of an afterthought, at least compared to the men. They seemed more like character sketches than fully developed characters, though perhaps this is a function of seeing them primarily through Max's eyes. There's the socialite, the woman he's having an affair with, and the woman he ultimately ends up falling in love with. Though there's mention of their outside lives beyond Max, it's very cursory. I would have liked a stronger female presence in the novel. 

Finally, I'm not sure that the ending lived up to the rest of the book for me. It seemed rather abrupt, and we only hear about how things worked out second-hand in a flashback. There isn't a very satisfying denouement at the end- but maybe that's part of the point- while car chases, etc, are satisfying, I suppose a good spy does his or her job without us even knowing...

Let the Right One In, Indeed

Let the Right One In

By John Ajvide Lindqvist

This novel is not for everyone- just skip it if you can't stand reading about child molestation, gore, and all things dark and gritty. This is definitely one of the darkest novels I've read. That being said, if you can get past all the darkness, this novel goes beyond your average gore-fest and probes some deeper themes.

First off, the novel has an excellent sense of place- it's set in the fall of 1981 in Vallingby, a northwest Stockholm suburb. I readily admit I'm not all that familiar with Vallingby and what it stands for in Sweden, but I think the author chose this city for a reason. From what I've gleaned, Vallingby is a pretty new suburb that opened in 1954. The idea behind the city was to have all you'd need to work, live, and be a part of the community in one area. Perhaps Lindqvist chose this setting for this dark novel as a critique? Or perhaps I'm reading too much into things...

Additionally, I struggled with what to make of Eli. On the one hand, Eli is a brutalized child fighting for survival, but on the other hand, Eli is a manipulative and fierce killer. Here comes my moral relativism again, but I couldn't just condemn Eli- part of me feels sympathy for his/her desire to survive no matter the cost. To complicate things further, there are all the connections between Eli and religious figures in the book. For example, Hakan yells "Eli!" when he is caught, and according to Staffan, anyway, Eli means God. Additionally, at the end of the novel, witnesses describe Eli as an "angel" after he/she saves Oskar (not to mention Eli's apparent sexlessness, which evoked angels in a way for me). I'm not sure where these references fit in with Eli the character, but it's certainly food for thought.

Finally, I can't resist comparing the novel to the film. Overall, I enjoyed the film, though I did find the pacing strangely slow for a horror flick (maybe that's just my American desire for instantaneousness). The film did a great job with setting and characterization, even if they did need to simplify things some. Unsurprisingly, though, the film couldn't match the depth and richness of the novel.  While I enjoyed the film, it was the novel that really hooked me and got me thinking.