(WPF) Anxious People / Fredrik Backman - 3***

[Book Concierge]

Anxious People – Fredrik Backman
Book on CD performed by Marin Ireland
3***

It starts with a really bad idea born of desperation, follows a group of strangers at an apartment viewing who are now hostages, and the two police officers (father and son), who are trying to find the truth.

Backman moves the story back and forth in time, and tells it from various characters’ point of view. Some chapters are written as the recorded notes of a police interview. Others give a glimpse into one character’s sessions with a psychologist. And others relate what is happening inside the apartment where the bank robber realizes these people are “the worst hostages, ever!” There are moments of humor and moments of great tenderness.

It's a bit chaotic, as this scenario would be in real life, and the reader is kept guessing as to what really happened for much of the book. The ending is completely unrealistic but still satisfying, as most fables are.

Marin Ireland performs the audiobook and she does a marvelous job of it. She has a lot of characters to deal with and gives them all unique voices, so it is very easy to understand who is speaking. I particularly liked the way she interpreted Zara and Estelle.


LINK to my review