The Boy in the Suitcase
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Has anyone read this book? What did you think?
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Feb 24, 2012 01:03PM

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I think there were a few translation problems which weren't the authors' fault.







I think there w..."
The translation was by one of the authors so on this occasion (unlike many) we can be pretty sure that the translation was not the problem?


The main character Nina became annoying. Her refusal to contact the cops was not entirely justified.
Her fear that the cops wouldn't deal with the boy properly ignored the fact that if Nina, a Danish nurse and aid worker, was involved the cops would pay him more attention than the average illegal picked up in a raid or an arrest.
No matter what your view is of police, they do take a very different view of 3-year-old children than adults.
But if she had contacted the cops right away, there wouldn't have been a story. Her running away from the train station with the boy when it was obvious that a dangerous thug was chasing him was really stupid.
It made her seem like a ditz. Not an interesting enough character to bother with again. I doubt I'll read other books in the series.

The main character Nina became annoying. H..."
I'm so glad I started this thread because I find all these opinions so interesting. I never questioned her running from the police as being anything other than her character would have done because she had seen what happens to displaced children. I found Nina fascinating in that she was so eager to be a mother to this motherless child that she didn't know and that she found it so difficult to mother her own children.

The main character Nina became annoying. H..."
I completely agree with you. This story relies upon two ridiculous assumptions--first, that Nina would not contact the police, thinking that they would return the boy to his family without adequately investigating the situation, and second, that the adoptive family would not try to contact the natural mother of the ailing child and appeal to her and to her son to be tested as a possible donor for the ailing child. There would not have been a book if things proceeded logically.

Yes, Nina was more interested in mothering this child than her own children - which adds to her annoyance - and I think a more interesting character worth reading about would have managed.

You're so right. If a boy in a suitcase caught a reader's attention then it really should have been considered by the authors that the police would have acted on it differently. That's part of where this book went wrong to begin with. Add to that one of the worst characters ever (as in idiotic) Nina, and this book never quite met what should have been a great premise for a story.


I agree with Joanna. The premise of picking up the suitcase, finding a small alive boy in it and NOT reporting it to the police immediately. The justification was meager. This ruined the remainder of the book, even with the interesting ending.

I agree with Joanna. The premise of picking up the suitcase, finding a small al..."
Yeah, the book went downhill from the beginning, all based on some stupid people making stupid choices. Actually, I may have been more forgiving if they were stupid choices, but I must agree with you Martin that they had no justification. I kept reading in the hope that this would get better but it never did. The ending was interesting, but by then I just didn't care and was so fed up with all the stupid characters involved and the poor choices they made that I was just glad it was over.





What have you been reading?


Why the "adoptive" family didn't just reach out to Sagita (sp?) in the beginning, why she had to flee with Makis right after they were reunited, what happend to Barbara...who knows? That's what makes books interesting, right?
I liked Nina; I am interested in her history. She killed her father (or finished him off, anyway), yes? That's why she feels the need to care for these "damaged" individuals?



I find I generally don't identify with American books. I'm often left feeling "are they for real? No-one would do that".
(I'm a New Zealander)

I look forward to the next in the series.


I like the mom of the kidnapped boy. There was the real story for me. Watching her go from helpless to I'll kick your ass. She would be a better character for a second book, Nina not so much. I don't think I could read the second one with Nina as the MC knowing the train wreck was coming.



I agree that it took a very long while for me to place where the mother was and where Nina was. But it was sufficient to know by the language barrier that they were in different countries.
I would read another novel by this author.


I think the author's choice in not handing over the child to the police makes a lot more sense (as the child would simply get lost in the system and would have no chance in finding his mother) than doing so. Her choice in career (nurse/refugees) shows what kind of society she lives in, and that she has a better understanding of what would happen to the child, than our perception (North Americans).
I think it was the overall feel of the book that I enjoyed from this writer. It made it a little bit more exciting than just another mystery.
I would definitely read another from this writer.



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