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The Caveman
(William Wisting #9)
by
Only three houses away from the policeman's home, a man has been sitting dead in front of his television set for four months. There are no indications that anything criminal has taken place. Viggo Hansen was a man nobody ever noticed, even though he lived in the midst of a close-knit community. His death doesn't hit the headlines, but there is something about the case that
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Paperback, 352 pages
Published
September 1st 2015
by Sandstone Press
(first published 2013)
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Showing 1-30
Start your review of The Caveman (William Wisting, #9)
Jul 15, 2016
Magdalena aka A Bookaholic Swede
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
read-2016
The first book I read in this series was book Ordeal (book 10), so it was quite natural for me to read the previous book in the series since reading in opposite order is my thing apparently. Also, I wanted to know more about Line and her relationship with the FBI agent and more about the house that she had bought in book 10. So, reading this book felt like the right thing while I wait for book 11 to be translated into Swedish.
And, as with the previous book was this book just as entertaining to ...more
And, as with the previous book was this book just as entertaining to ...more
This was the best Wisting novel by Jorn Lier Horst that I've read so far (I think I've read 3). It was much, much better actually than #2-despite the length. The best aspect was in the rural settings depictions- those places and in that weather- they were 5 star. I'm seeing the skeletons of trees and miles of shapes in white myself right now. The rural here in Norway and Sweden was creepy, stark, and blight filled cement slab topped wells and tanks of 20 or 30 years' disuse. Ominous and forensic
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In his latest novel to cross the language barrier into English, Horst dazzles readers yet again. With the holiday season upon him, William Wisting is taking account of the passing year and what is to come. After man's body is found in his own home four months after he's expired, Line Wisting seeks to personalise the man and bring her father up to speed. Both Wistings recollect the man as a neighbour from years ago, saddened that his isolation may have played a role in the delayed discovery. Insp
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Another fantastic book in this series. The storyline ties together with a case in America and involves the FBI.
Exciting action and bad atmospheric weather with lots of red herrings, will definitely be continuing with this series.
Exciting action and bad atmospheric weather with lots of red herrings, will definitely be continuing with this series.
Excellently-translated (from Norwegian!) mystery by a writer with several in this series.
This is No. 5 in the William Wisting series, many of which have yet to be translated into English. I had a hard time finding a copy, finally locating this one in a large library system to which I belong. AND I had to WAIT for it. I did, was worth it.
William Wisting, police detective in a small Norwegian, semi-rural town, must deal with the death of a man found sitting in front of his TV set for about four mo ...more
This is No. 5 in the William Wisting series, many of which have yet to be translated into English. I had a hard time finding a copy, finally locating this one in a large library system to which I belong. AND I had to WAIT for it. I did, was worth it.
William Wisting, police detective in a small Norwegian, semi-rural town, must deal with the death of a man found sitting in front of his TV set for about four mo ...more
Jørn Lier Horst should write a book on how to write a great mystery series. He gets it right in so many ways; straightforward writing, emphasis on investigating the crime, not on-going character relationships. Riveting plots, likeable characters, beautiful scenery and thrilling conclusions. Secondary characters aren't developed much, which means you don't have to sit through a rehash of each character's history in each book. . On the other hand, the lack of development sometimes leads to plot po
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I just love reading Nordic thrillers. Every time I get into reading slump they are right there to save me. Today I read this book in one sitting only making breaks for food and bathroom.
Captivating book from start to finish and probably my favourite from this author. Loved that there were two sides of the story intertwing and the ending was mind blowing. Now off to buy the next book in the series.
Captivating book from start to finish and probably my favourite from this author. Loved that there were two sides of the story intertwing and the ending was mind blowing. Now off to buy the next book in the series.
28 JAN 2021 - another terrific read. The pages just turn themselves.
Taken from the text of The Caveman:
“Wisting leaned back in his chair. A caveman, he thought. Someone who has crept inside the life of another person. That was what they were searching for. A demon who had taken up residence in another person’s life.”
Taken from the text of The Caveman:
“Wisting leaned back in his chair. A caveman, he thought. Someone who has crept inside the life of another person. That was what they were searching for. A demon who had taken up residence in another person’s life.”
This is one of two of the William Wisting series that was adapted for television and broadcast on BBC4. For once, the scriptwriters and producers followed the books with remarkable accuracy. Seeing the TV programme first in no way reduced my enjoyment of The Caveman, another intriguing thriller from the pen of Jorn Lier Horst. The two key protagonists are, as always, CI William Wisting and his journalist daughter, Line.
For four months a body sat undiscovered just a few doors from the Wisting hom ...more
For four months a body sat undiscovered just a few doors from the Wisting hom ...more
I bought this book from a second hand seller because it caught my eye. A slow start, but I love snowy crime so I kept with it.
In the end, I ended up reading the last 1/3 of the book in one go and finished at 2am. Then I couldn’t sleep because I was so freaked out by the idea of a killer blending in perfectly to his society so as to be unrecognisable.
This novel has two parallel stories that mesh nicely. A few clunky scenes, particularly toward the climax, but completely forgivable in the contex ...more
In the end, I ended up reading the last 1/3 of the book in one go and finished at 2am. Then I couldn’t sleep because I was so freaked out by the idea of a killer blending in perfectly to his society so as to be unrecognisable.
This novel has two parallel stories that mesh nicely. A few clunky scenes, particularly toward the climax, but completely forgivable in the contex ...more
Chief Inspector Wisting is called in to investigate when a body is found decomposing under a tree in a Christmas Tree lot. His daughter Line is writing a story about a neighbor whose decomposing dead body was undiscovered for 4 mos. Both deaths connect to a serial killer wanted in America who has been on the run for the last 24 years. As Wisting and Line investigate their respective stories-and as the body count rises-he realizes that the two seemingly disparate deaths are connected and that his
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A really good police thriller. The story is based on an international mystery based around a seasoned detective and his journalist daughter. When a body is discovered at a Christmas tree farm, it is clear that it has been there for months. As the mystery unfolds it is clear that something dark and sinister is happening around people who are solitary and alone. This a great read and really captures the feel, the intimacy, and the vision of the culture. I can't wait until more of the Wisting serie
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A very interesting book. A complicated story.
A man is found dead, he's nearly a hermit. Another man is found dead, 4 months after he really died. Nobody remembers him or seems to have known him.
The story that Line writes about this second death for her newspaper, crosses the investigation her father conducts for this and the other dead person.
The case grows and grows and finally gets an international character. I liked the scenery: snow, cold, loneliness, remote sheds, houses, typical Norse c ...more
A man is found dead, he's nearly a hermit. Another man is found dead, 4 months after he really died. Nobody remembers him or seems to have known him.
The story that Line writes about this second death for her newspaper, crosses the investigation her father conducts for this and the other dead person.
The case grows and grows and finally gets an international character. I liked the scenery: snow, cold, loneliness, remote sheds, houses, typical Norse c ...more
The best of the William Wisting books published in English so far. This is a meticulously plotted thriller with genuinely chilling moments.
I tend to be a bit compulsive about crime novel series liking to want to read from book 1 in chronological order and whilst generally this allows the reader to learn about the characters and develop a relationship it can also mean the earlier novels sometimes are not as strong as the later ones, persistence is needed, and also important threads are missed and motives for characters actions unclear.
It's therefore enjoyable to pick up a book mid series for the first time and enjoy it as a stand a ...more
It's therefore enjoyable to pick up a book mid series for the first time and enjoy it as a stand a ...more
Finally the familiar setting and writing of the Scandinavian country. Also, finally, a novel without a time stamper the character's name on every chapter. This novel changed the scene and the perspective perfectly without using that ploy.
It's been a while since the last time I was able to immerse myself into that cold, desolate, open wilderness portrayal of the Scandinavia. As it turns out, yes, I agree with the author that Minnesota does resemble Norway. Maybe that's why I enjoyed Fargo and rea ...more
It's been a while since the last time I was able to immerse myself into that cold, desolate, open wilderness portrayal of the Scandinavia. As it turns out, yes, I agree with the author that Minnesota does resemble Norway. Maybe that's why I enjoyed Fargo and rea ...more
I'm butting in to the middle of a series again. Horst's fourth novel with his detective William Witling is perfectly readable. He spends a couple of pages at the start updating people like me on the domestic past of his key characters. Certainly that works well. As ever in these Nordic crime thrillers the setting plays a huge role. I don't see the urban settings working as well as the rural ones. For me Scandinavia needs to be bleak, cold and almost deserted.
The setting here is the south west o ...more
The setting here is the south west o ...more
Although parts of the book were predictable, I thought is was a fast paced, engaging crime novel. I liked the interface of Wisting with the other police agencies in solving the international murders. Line adds another interesting dimension.
The author's career as a police chief adds extra credibility to this highly original and tightly-plotted novel. There are also evocative descriptions of the wintry Norwegian landscape and William Wistig and his journalist daughter Line are engaging central characters.
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Utterly creepy, totally wonderful. One you'll struggle to put down.
...more
THIS BOOK IS FREAKING AWESOME.
I like variety. Having just read a publishing memoir and a non-fiction book about Hitler's Germany, I wanted something different and chose 'The Caveman'. I am quite pleased I have read it but I don't think it's a good book. The beginning is excellent and made me, like the journalist Line at the heart of the novel, think about loneliness and how we treat it in society. I happen to know somebody who is elderly, lives on his own, no relatives, and I've wondered how I'll hear at all if he needs help
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Apr 08, 2021
Zeb Kantrowitz
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
library-book
A body is found in a house near to where Inspector Wisting lives. He has been dead for over four months, but because he had no family or friends, no one knew he was dead. Wisting's daughter Line new the man from when she grew up on that street, but he had always been an enigma to the children of the neighborhood. Among Police, his type of life is referred to as a 'caveman' because it's like he lived in a cave away from all society.
Line, who is a journalist at one of the most important newspaper ...more
Line, who is a journalist at one of the most important newspaper ...more
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Buff I don’t really know… The book is good, yes. It’s a story about loneliness and a serial killer, interesting and intriguing. At the same time it is, as acclaimed, similar to Jo Nesbo writing which in fact I don’t like. Too much thriller/action and third part of the novel I have to be worried about the main character that is constantly in danger. If you like this kind of feeling, then go for it. Just not my style maybe. And not to mention that the series is getting worse and worse. Again the s
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I really appreciated how an international investigation was depicted in this. Unlike the movies where it's all drama and ulterior motives, and the FBI are uniformly dicks, this actually showed the way various organizations will work together effectively to solve murders that occur in different countries. I also like that Horst didn't do the thing I hate where they catch the murderer and he diabolically reveals all the intricacies of his crimes, in fact they didn't waste a single sentence on what
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I power my way though these books and that’s ironic given that these are lovely, slow burning police procedural with a delightfully unique Scandinavian essence.
I will have to return to them and read them more slowly but at the moment I need to devour them.
I enjoyed how Wisting, in his usual quiet but powerful nature, did not allow the Americans to bowl him over. This was his case.
I also enjoyed how the author gently pointed out some of Wisting and Lena’s humanity - they aren’t perfect.
They myste ...more
I will have to return to them and read them more slowly but at the moment I need to devour them.
I enjoyed how Wisting, in his usual quiet but powerful nature, did not allow the Americans to bowl him over. This was his case.
I also enjoyed how the author gently pointed out some of Wisting and Lena’s humanity - they aren’t perfect.
They myste ...more
I've read several of Jorn Lier Horst's books and have enjoyed them all - except for this one, 'The Caveman'.
A dead man is found sitting in front of his television set in Norway and it appears that he may have been dead, in that same state and position for several months. The questions are many. Was he the killer or the victim? Is he connected to a serial killer who was last heard from in the United States? How come no one found him sooner? If he is the serial killer, will he kill again?
All of i ...more
A dead man is found sitting in front of his television set in Norway and it appears that he may have been dead, in that same state and position for several months. The questions are many. Was he the killer or the victim? Is he connected to a serial killer who was last heard from in the United States? How come no one found him sooner? If he is the serial killer, will he kill again?
All of i ...more
I've read. other books by Jorn Lier Horst but not in any particular order. Still, one gets to know Wisting, his daughter, his girlfriend (now former girlfriend.). They are all interesting and I like the way their relationships are explored. And the descriptions of both rural and small town Norway. Towards the very end of this book I got rather lost in the details of how the "bad guy" was finally identified and was so caught up in the story and ending that I didn't go back to figure it out in mor
...more
Very good story, very entertaining. Nordic Noir at its best.
Main Characters were well fleshed out, immediately one became attached to the father and daughter detective/journalist team. The weather and combat as always plays its part and the concept of the caveman serial killer is one of not read before. Only the gratuitous coupling between an fbi agent and the journalist added nothing to the story line. But I guess sex has to be thrown in somewhere these days.
Main Characters were well fleshed out, immediately one became attached to the father and daughter detective/journalist team. The weather and combat as always plays its part and the concept of the caveman serial killer is one of not read before. Only the gratuitous coupling between an fbi agent and the journalist added nothing to the story line. But I guess sex has to be thrown in somewhere these days.
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Jorn Lier Horst (born in Bamble, Telemark 1970) is a former Senior Investigating Officer at the Norwegian police force. He made his literary debut as a crime writer in 2004 and is considered one of the foremost Nordic crime writers.
His series of mystery novels starring chief inspector William Wisting provides a detailed and authentic insight into how criminal cases are investigated and how it affe ...more
His series of mystery novels starring chief inspector William Wisting provides a detailed and authentic insight into how criminal cases are investigated and how it affe ...more
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