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Brinkmann Trilogy #1
The Andalucian Friend
Enemies Are Everywhere
When Sophie Brinkmann—nurse, widow, single mother—meets Hector Guzman, her life is uneventful. She likes his quiet charm and easy smile; she likes the way he welcomes her into his family. She quickly learns, though, that his smooth façade masks something much more sinister.
Guzman is the head of a powerful international crime ring with a reach into drugs and weapons that extends from Europe to South America. His interests are under siege by a ruthless German syndicate who will stop at nothing to stake their claim. But the Guzmans are fighters and will go to war to protect what’s rightfully theirs. The conflict quickly escalates to become a deadly turf war between the rival organizations that includes an itinerant arms dealer, a deeply disturbed detective, a vicious hit man, and a wily police chief. Sophie, too, is unwittingly caught in the middle. She must summon everything within her to navigate this intricate web of moral ambiguity, deadly obsession, and craven gamesmanship.
The Andalucian Friend is a powerhouse of a novel—turbo-charged, action-packed, highly sophisticated, and epic in scope—and announces Alexander Söderberg as the most exciting new voice in thrillers in a generation.
When Sophie Brinkmann—nurse, widow, single mother—meets Hector Guzman, her life is uneventful. She likes his quiet charm and easy smile; she likes the way he welcomes her into his family. She quickly learns, though, that his smooth façade masks something much more sinister.
Guzman is the head of a powerful international crime ring with a reach into drugs and weapons that extends from Europe to South America. His interests are under siege by a ruthless German syndicate who will stop at nothing to stake their claim. But the Guzmans are fighters and will go to war to protect what’s rightfully theirs. The conflict quickly escalates to become a deadly turf war between the rival organizations that includes an itinerant arms dealer, a deeply disturbed detective, a vicious hit man, and a wily police chief. Sophie, too, is unwittingly caught in the middle. She must summon everything within her to navigate this intricate web of moral ambiguity, deadly obsession, and craven gamesmanship.
The Andalucian Friend is a powerhouse of a novel—turbo-charged, action-packed, highly sophisticated, and epic in scope—and announces Alexander Söderberg as the most exciting new voice in thrillers in a generation.
446 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2012
About the author
Alexander Söderberg
3 books74 followersAlexander Söderberg has worked as a television screenwriter and lives in the countryside in the south of Sweden with his wife and children. The Andalucian Friend is his first novel.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 482 reviews
March 12, 2013
The WORST book ever to come out of Sweden! I had the "privilige" of reading this in what was *hopefully* an unedited version in Swedish. If that was anything to go by, this author cannot write. There is no plot. There is not one likeable character. This book does not have a single redeeming quality - unless the author (or editor for the English edition) rewrote the whole thing since I held this manuscript in my hands.
This is what I wrote to a friend about it after reading it 1,5 years ago (so you don't have trust my unreliable recollection):
This was quite horrid actually, a book of organized crime without a clear purpose. Just one gangster trying to undo another, with a few lesser gangsters messing things up. The story is thinner than the paper it's written on and does not contain a single original thought. There is no atmosphere, no character development and not a single emotion generated or played upon, except a vague sense of disgust. The writer seems to be some kind of mafia wannabe, or possibly a junkie with ambition. There is no end to the drug and alcohol references. I can't believe this is something that could get published and if it does, I can't think of who would want to read it. Just another book on organized crime and a pointless one at that. Messy plot (okay, plot might be pushing it a bit far), too many characters, most of them evil and none of them interesting. BLAH.
This is about as far away from super duper as you can get, complete with incorrect references and spelling mistakes. Donald Duck is NOT called "Anders And" in Norway, that's in Denmark (he's Donald Duck in Norway, plain and simple). The Finnish writer Arto Paasilinna is spelled like I just did it, not "Arto Passilinna" (gah - heresy - spelling a real author's name wrong!). Minor annyoing points, but there was no story to concentrate on so these little mistakes really stood out. Although I always hate this type of mistakes because they would be so easy to check and have correct in the first place.
This is what I wrote to a friend about it after reading it 1,5 years ago (so you don't have trust my unreliable recollection):
This was quite horrid actually, a book of organized crime without a clear purpose. Just one gangster trying to undo another, with a few lesser gangsters messing things up. The story is thinner than the paper it's written on and does not contain a single original thought. There is no atmosphere, no character development and not a single emotion generated or played upon, except a vague sense of disgust. The writer seems to be some kind of mafia wannabe, or possibly a junkie with ambition. There is no end to the drug and alcohol references. I can't believe this is something that could get published and if it does, I can't think of who would want to read it. Just another book on organized crime and a pointless one at that. Messy plot (okay, plot might be pushing it a bit far), too many characters, most of them evil and none of them interesting. BLAH.
This is about as far away from super duper as you can get, complete with incorrect references and spelling mistakes. Donald Duck is NOT called "Anders And" in Norway, that's in Denmark (he's Donald Duck in Norway, plain and simple). The Finnish writer Arto Paasilinna is spelled like I just did it, not "Arto Passilinna" (gah - heresy - spelling a real author's name wrong!). Minor annyoing points, but there was no story to concentrate on so these little mistakes really stood out. Although I always hate this type of mistakes because they would be so easy to check and have correct in the first place.
October 10, 2016
This book is well-written. In the beginning, It had a slow pace because there were to many characters that had to be developed in the background. Mobsters, bad-policemen, gun-dealers, lots of action, blackmailing and a lot of killing. Its plot is like a spider web and too many twists and thought i liked it I don’t agree that this one is “The next Dragon tattoo” best seller.
March 24, 2013
"The Andalucian Friend" by Alexander Soderberg
I was very disappointed with this book. I had read the exciting Prologue last year and was really looking forward to reading more, but oh dear! After the first 200 pages I nearly gave up on it altogether, and indeed only skim read the rest just in case it did finally begin to live up to the publisher's hype, but no ...
There are two problems with the book. Firstly there is only one character who shows any signs of humanity - but she (Sophie Brinkman, the nurse) is simply not credible as a person. How could a nurse develop feelings for a serial killer, the head of an international drug running crime syndicate? Another of the leading characters, Lars, is particularly vile - a drug addict who takes to a most unpleasant form of stalking. All the other characters are simply thugs, ready at a moment's notice to take to the most repulsive forms of violence. And this includes every one of the police force that is introduced into the book!
Secondly, the plot is so very weak that the book does not deserve to be linked to the Nordic Noir genre. Rather it reminds me of the cheap paperback "thrillers" that can be picked up at airport book stalls. From very early on in the book you will know how it is all going to end. Count how many of the book's characters are eventually killed!
This may be the first of a trilogy, but I for one shall not be reading any more.
I was very disappointed with this book. I had read the exciting Prologue last year and was really looking forward to reading more, but oh dear! After the first 200 pages I nearly gave up on it altogether, and indeed only skim read the rest just in case it did finally begin to live up to the publisher's hype, but no ...
There are two problems with the book. Firstly there is only one character who shows any signs of humanity - but she (Sophie Brinkman, the nurse) is simply not credible as a person. How could a nurse develop feelings for a serial killer, the head of an international drug running crime syndicate? Another of the leading characters, Lars, is particularly vile - a drug addict who takes to a most unpleasant form of stalking. All the other characters are simply thugs, ready at a moment's notice to take to the most repulsive forms of violence. And this includes every one of the police force that is introduced into the book!
Secondly, the plot is so very weak that the book does not deserve to be linked to the Nordic Noir genre. Rather it reminds me of the cheap paperback "thrillers" that can be picked up at airport book stalls. From very early on in the book you will know how it is all going to end. Count how many of the book's characters are eventually killed!
This may be the first of a trilogy, but I for one shall not be reading any more.
February 10, 2019
It's at times long-winded, but as far as a Scandanavian Thriller goes, it's still pretty good. I wasn't as big a fan of this novel as I have been of the Stieg Larsson trilogy. This novel, though, offers a really wide cast of characters. It builds slowly at times, but that allows you to really dig at the characters thoroughly.
It has a lot of action. Tons of drug dealers. Plenty of crime. And enough violence to make you squirm. It's a badass novel, no doubt.
I enjoyed the fact that it had a global element, there were the 'Swedes,' 'The Spaniards,' 'The Germans,' and 'The Russians.' I'm not sure which criminals I liked more. Maybe, the Swedes or the Germans.
I had a reservation about the fact that the book started with the main female character. She's definitely no Lisbeth Salander. Salander held The Millenium Trilogy together all on her own, but this main female character - well I'm no so sure. The novel's main focus should have begun with the drug crime and then integrated the female character. I feel she had some of the glue that held together the novel, but I didn't read the novel for her - I read it because I was curious to see how the rival organization were going to interact with one another.
I am curious to see how the second book will evolve. This first one ended pretty well. I think he laid the foundation for the second book pretty well. The ending definitely helps in making you want to read the second in the trilogy. It shows you the disastrous consequences of all the actions and reactions in the first novel, and it leaves the ending shakey... open ended... so can't wait to see what happens in the second book of this trilogy.
April 5, 2016
Гангстери, полицаи, наркотици, оръжие
(Цялото ревю е тук: http://knijenpetar.blogspot.bg/2016/0...)
Сред многото шведски автори на трилъри явно има и такива, които с произведенията си напомнят на по-старата генерация, предимно американски писатели, пишеща основно за битките между престъпни организации от семеен и несемеен тип, трафик на оръжие, наркотици и останалите твърде добре разработени теми, препълнили пазара през деветдесетте. Още тогава ги избягвах, макар да си позволявах от време на време по някоя забежка в тази посока. Ясно е, че подобни сюжети вече са се превърнали в банални и водят единствено до леко отегчение и шумна въздишка в някой тих следобед, придружен от три-четири свободни часа за релакс с някоя неангажираща книга. Все още има много читатели за тях и сигурно доста ще се зарадват на „Андалуският приятел“ („Колибри“, 2015, с превод на Неда Димова-Бренстрьом). Аз от години вече съм се преориентирал и търся по-различното, по-разкрепостеното и по-изненадващото в трилърите. Такива също има в изобилие, и на мен ми става малко мъчно, че не съм бил по-стриктен в подборката.
Все пак Сьодерберг се е постарал да вкара доста интересни персонажи, които до известна степен променят нагласата на читателя и го карат да очаква повече мисъл, обрати и свежи идеи. Добро впечатление ми направи способността на Сьодерберг да налага социално-психологическите аспекти в развитието на някои от героите си, т.е не ги оставя бездушни, роботизирани и схематични като поведение, а ги кара да се развиват, да реагират на промените в живота си и дори да правят опити да променят нагласата си, с която са свикнали до момента в живота си. (Продължава в блога: http://knijenpetar.blogspot.bg/2016/0...)
(Цялото ревю е тук: http://knijenpetar.blogspot.bg/2016/0...)
Сред многото шведски автори на трилъри явно има и такива, които с произведенията си напомнят на по-старата генерация, предимно американски писатели, пишеща основно за битките между престъпни организации от семеен и несемеен тип, трафик на оръжие, наркотици и останалите твърде добре разработени теми, препълнили пазара през деветдесетте. Още тогава ги избягвах, макар да си позволявах от време на време по някоя забежка в тази посока. Ясно е, че подобни сюжети вече са се превърнали в банални и водят единствено до леко отегчение и шумна въздишка в някой тих следобед, придружен от три-четири свободни часа за релакс с някоя неангажираща книга. Все още има много читатели за тях и сигурно доста ще се зарадват на „Андалуският приятел“ („Колибри“, 2015, с превод на Неда Димова-Бренстрьом). Аз от години вече съм се преориентирал и търся по-различното, по-разкрепостеното и по-изненадващото в трилърите. Такива също има в изобилие, и на мен ми става малко мъчно, че не съм бил по-стриктен в подборката.
Все пак Сьодерберг се е постарал да вкара доста интересни персонажи, които до известна степен променят нагласата на читателя и го карат да очаква повече мисъл, обрати и свежи идеи. Добро впечатление ми направи способността на Сьодерберг да налага социално-психологическите аспекти в развитието на някои от героите си, т.е не ги оставя бездушни, роботизирани и схематични като поведение, а ги кара да се развиват, да реагират на промените в живота си и дори да правят опити да променят нагласата си, с която са свикнали до момента в живота си. (Продължава в блога: http://knijenpetar.blogspot.bg/2016/0...)
Read
March 14, 2013I tried hard to stick with it, but it was just too confusing. I found myself dreading picking it up, because it was so much work trying to keep track of all the characters and plot threads.
There were some strange turns of phrase that left me shaking my head, wondering if it was the author's error or a translation problem.
For example: "...he and Inez kept bursting out laughing in Spanish."
Huh? How do you laugh in Spanish as opposed to, say, laughing in Swahili?
There were some strange turns of phrase that left me shaking my head, wondering if it was the author's error or a translation problem.
For example: "...he and Inez kept bursting out laughing in Spanish."
Huh? How do you laugh in Spanish as opposed to, say, laughing in Swahili?
June 16, 2013
Wow. double-expresso mocha-chino. If you like "La Reina Del Sur" by Spanish author Arturo Pérez-Reverte, or did the Millennium series by Stieg Larsson, then this ride is for you. Get some snacks and a comfy seat and enjoy. You won't regret it. There are no good vs. bad guys here. They are all bad . If someone writes a decent script to this book it would be a runaway blockbuster.
March 12, 2013
The Andalucian Friend is heralded as being the next best thing to come out of Sweden and it is being compared to the global phenomenon The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larson. I for one don't see how they are similar besides the location of each title being in Sweden. With that being said, I move on to my review of The Andalucian Friend.
The Andalucian Friend begins with Sophie Brinkmann meeting a man named Hector Guzman in the hospital she is a nurse for. They begin a relationship outside of that hospital and this is where the trouble starts. Sophie is not anyone special. She is simply a widowed nurse who is taking care of her teenage son Alberto yet she is a main focal point for almost everyone in the novel. The cops want her to inform on Hector who is a boss in an international crime ring. It doesn't take long for things to spiral out of control for Sophie and her quiet life.
Enter many characters and then some more characters and you have Soderbergs latest novel. There are so many characters that I used notes to separate them from each other. Besides them all being primarily gangsters or rogue cops, there isn't much else in the way of describing them or their backgrounds until farther down the line in the book. Thankfully Soderberg at least provides a character list that at least helps to maintain their country of origin and who's side they are possibly on in what turns out to be a huge turf battle amongst rival organizations.
Although I didn't find many redeeming qualities about many of the characters, I still found myself taking sides. Besides Sophie the whole lot are mainly comprised of people who are murderers, arms dealers, insane cops, and crime lords. Not the norms who are worthy of any sympathy. The beat cop that is introduced in this novel has a lock on insanely deranged people. I will not forget his drug addiction or his weird obsession with the novel's heroine. He is crazy with a capital C.
Ultimately, The Andalucian Friend is a well-written quick read. It's not what I would generally think of as a thriller but it does have the element of suspense in the background. The many storylines are what kept me very invested in this novel. I was interested in finding out which one of these greedy, guilt-ridden, sociopaths were going to escape with the money and power. The ending did not let me down and I was actually pretty happy with it. I look forward to reading the next book in this series. Hopefully it goes a little deeper into the psyche of the characters remaining after this initial battle.
The Andalucian Friend begins with Sophie Brinkmann meeting a man named Hector Guzman in the hospital she is a nurse for. They begin a relationship outside of that hospital and this is where the trouble starts. Sophie is not anyone special. She is simply a widowed nurse who is taking care of her teenage son Alberto yet she is a main focal point for almost everyone in the novel. The cops want her to inform on Hector who is a boss in an international crime ring. It doesn't take long for things to spiral out of control for Sophie and her quiet life.
Enter many characters and then some more characters and you have Soderbergs latest novel. There are so many characters that I used notes to separate them from each other. Besides them all being primarily gangsters or rogue cops, there isn't much else in the way of describing them or their backgrounds until farther down the line in the book. Thankfully Soderberg at least provides a character list that at least helps to maintain their country of origin and who's side they are possibly on in what turns out to be a huge turf battle amongst rival organizations.
Although I didn't find many redeeming qualities about many of the characters, I still found myself taking sides. Besides Sophie the whole lot are mainly comprised of people who are murderers, arms dealers, insane cops, and crime lords. Not the norms who are worthy of any sympathy. The beat cop that is introduced in this novel has a lock on insanely deranged people. I will not forget his drug addiction or his weird obsession with the novel's heroine. He is crazy with a capital C.
Ultimately, The Andalucian Friend is a well-written quick read. It's not what I would generally think of as a thriller but it does have the element of suspense in the background. The many storylines are what kept me very invested in this novel. I was interested in finding out which one of these greedy, guilt-ridden, sociopaths were going to escape with the money and power. The ending did not let me down and I was actually pretty happy with it. I look forward to reading the next book in this series. Hopefully it goes a little deeper into the psyche of the characters remaining after this initial battle.
April 12, 2013
The Andalucian Friend is Alexander Soderberg 's debut novel.
Sophie Brinkmann is a widowed nurse, living a quiet life with her fourteen year old son Albert. She's a good nurse, often spending extra time with some of her patients. Hector Guzman is one of those. There's an attraction between the two and they continue meeting up after Hector is released from hospital. But, there is much more to Hector than meets the eye. He and his father head up a Spanish (Andalusia) crime family. They're in a drug war with a German criminal organization. That's enough of the plot to get you started. And I couldn't even begin to explain the rest - it gets quite involved with many characters and plot lines.
Don't get me wrong - I like intricate, complicated plots that challenge. But, I've had this book on the go for a few weeks - I pick it up, I put it down. For me it was overly busy and dense and just didn't grab me like I wanted it to. I was curious as to the ending, so I did finish it. But I just felt tired by the time I tuned the last page, not satisfied.
Sophie as a lead protagonist wasn't plausible for me. I never 'bought' her relationship with Hector, her acceptance of the criminal filled world she's entered or the ending - completely over the top and even more unbelievable. The supporting cast of criminals were pretty stereotypical - think bad guys on a crime show. Who, although grievously wounded, soldier on. Car chases, things going kaboom and a drug addicted cop.
I've since discovered that Soderberg did work as a scriptwriter and script editor before penning this first book in a planned trilogy. And that made sense - while I was reading I had thought 'this feels like a Guy Ritchie move'. In fact, the author says that "the idea for The Andalucian Friend began as a TV plot." I think this would have made a great action film, but it didn't translate well to book form for this reader. Film rights have been sold.
Sophie Brinkmann is a widowed nurse, living a quiet life with her fourteen year old son Albert. She's a good nurse, often spending extra time with some of her patients. Hector Guzman is one of those. There's an attraction between the two and they continue meeting up after Hector is released from hospital. But, there is much more to Hector than meets the eye. He and his father head up a Spanish (Andalusia) crime family. They're in a drug war with a German criminal organization. That's enough of the plot to get you started. And I couldn't even begin to explain the rest - it gets quite involved with many characters and plot lines.
Don't get me wrong - I like intricate, complicated plots that challenge. But, I've had this book on the go for a few weeks - I pick it up, I put it down. For me it was overly busy and dense and just didn't grab me like I wanted it to. I was curious as to the ending, so I did finish it. But I just felt tired by the time I tuned the last page, not satisfied.
Sophie as a lead protagonist wasn't plausible for me. I never 'bought' her relationship with Hector, her acceptance of the criminal filled world she's entered or the ending - completely over the top and even more unbelievable. The supporting cast of criminals were pretty stereotypical - think bad guys on a crime show. Who, although grievously wounded, soldier on. Car chases, things going kaboom and a drug addicted cop.
I've since discovered that Soderberg did work as a scriptwriter and script editor before penning this first book in a planned trilogy. And that made sense - while I was reading I had thought 'this feels like a Guy Ritchie move'. In fact, the author says that "the idea for The Andalucian Friend began as a TV plot." I think this would have made a great action film, but it didn't translate well to book form for this reader. Film rights have been sold.
June 3, 2013
I hoped to like this much more than I did. I was expecting a really engrossing story with great characters. While Sophie and Jens were both engaging characters, I ended up asking what drew Sophie to her patient Hector in the first place. I did not understand his great appeal and did not see that she would necessarily get involved with him. It just did not ring true. Depicting nearly all the police characters as corrupt and manipulative made me question the plot. The policeman Lars was the most problematic. He eventually stands up for justice, but his addictions make him so unappealing that I often wanted to just skip him. The story was convoluted and coincidence heavy. While it was interesting, definitely kept me reading, the violence was a bit too much to take. When this violence even affects Sophie's son Albert, the author goes too far. I finished the book, but probably will not put him in my list of favorite Scandinavian authors.
July 13, 2019
Anotacijoje knyga lyginama su “Mergina su drakono tatuiruote” ir “Sopranais”. Sopranų nesu žiūrėjęs, bet su „Mergina su drakono tatuiruote“ knyga aišku nieko bendro neturi. Bet tiesą sakant to panašumo ir nesitikėjau, nes nelabai tikiu pokiais leidyklų palyginimais.
Knyga visiškai nepatiko. Kažkoks jovalas. Visų pirma veikėjai kažkokie neadekvatūs. Pvz.:
Jei jau knyga lyginama su „Mergina su drakono tatuiruote“, tai norėtųsi bent jau kažkokio detektyvinės linijos, bet jos kaip ir nėra. Viskas maždaug aišku nuo pradžių. Toks gaunasi maždaug šaudyk – gaudyk siužetas. Nors kas ką gaudo ne visada aišku. Pirma pusė išvis nuobodi buvo, o ir paskui ne daug geriau.
Dar galima būtų prisikabinti prie vertimo. Pvz. Kristeris virsta Christeriu ir atgal, bet čia jau smulkmenos.
Prasčiausias mano skaitytas skandinaviškas trileris.
Knyga visiškai nepatiko. Kažkoks jovalas. Visų pirma veikėjai kažkokie neadekvatūs. Pvz.:
Jei jau knyga lyginama su „Mergina su drakono tatuiruote“, tai norėtųsi bent jau kažkokio detektyvinės linijos, bet jos kaip ir nėra. Viskas maždaug aišku nuo pradžių. Toks gaunasi maždaug šaudyk – gaudyk siužetas. Nors kas ką gaudo ne visada aišku. Pirma pusė išvis nuobodi buvo, o ir paskui ne daug geriau.
Dar galima būtų prisikabinti prie vertimo. Pvz. Kristeris virsta Christeriu ir atgal, bet čia jau smulkmenos.
Prasčiausias mano skaitytas skandinaviškas trileris.
March 29, 2013
I could not even finish this book. Maybe I messed up on my part, but I had pretty high expectations for this book being called, "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo meets the Sopranos". Please. There were so many things that made this book "unfinishable", I don't even know where to begin. But here it goes anyway:
1. The first thing I noticed about this book was that the writing was a little above 8th grade level. Meaning: this book reads as if it was written by a high school kid. Even in the first page, I could not deal with how he describes his characters. "She had long, dark hair and a pair of green eyes that sometimes gave the impression that she was about to burst out laughing. She wasn't; that was just the way she looked, as if she had been born with a smile in her eyes." A couple of minor characters here and there, sure maybe that's fine, but this is literally how he describes EVERY SINGLE CHARACTER. Even the important ones! Sorry, but hair and eye color is not a description that's going to make me want to actually know more about these characters. Which brings me to my next point...
2. Every character is the same! Sure maybe they have different EYE color, but they are all soulless, cardboard cutouts of people that seemed to be placed there in a whim, and it's a struggle to actually believe a story with faulty characters.
3. The whole story about Sophie Brinkmann: a middle aged, attractive, naive, widowed nurse (who has a kind and gentle heart) meeting a seemingly perfect man (Hector Guzman), who turns out to be a criminal leader of a bunch of drug traffickers and gangsters... I don't know... sounds like a bad porno to me. I mean, did anybody else get this? It's like the storyline to a book the "Fifty Shades of Grey" author would write. Call me crazy, but there's nothing "relatable" about a helpless widow who falls for a Spanish drug trafficker who seems nice but she occasionally "notices something sinister in his eye". Come on. The whole thing is leading up to bad porn written by a middle aged housewife, and you know it.
I just couldn't finish it. It was going nowhere. And if I had to be introduced to another character with "she had dark eyes and a killer smile" or hear Sophie fucking Brinkmann say she thought she saw something scary and sinister in Hector's eyes, or read about her experimenting with ecstasy because she "trusted Hector bwawawawaaa" or some shit, I was gonna blow chunks.
1. The first thing I noticed about this book was that the writing was a little above 8th grade level. Meaning: this book reads as if it was written by a high school kid. Even in the first page, I could not deal with how he describes his characters. "She had long, dark hair and a pair of green eyes that sometimes gave the impression that she was about to burst out laughing. She wasn't; that was just the way she looked, as if she had been born with a smile in her eyes." A couple of minor characters here and there, sure maybe that's fine, but this is literally how he describes EVERY SINGLE CHARACTER. Even the important ones! Sorry, but hair and eye color is not a description that's going to make me want to actually know more about these characters. Which brings me to my next point...
2. Every character is the same! Sure maybe they have different EYE color, but they are all soulless, cardboard cutouts of people that seemed to be placed there in a whim, and it's a struggle to actually believe a story with faulty characters.
3. The whole story about Sophie Brinkmann: a middle aged, attractive, naive, widowed nurse (who has a kind and gentle heart) meeting a seemingly perfect man (Hector Guzman), who turns out to be a criminal leader of a bunch of drug traffickers and gangsters... I don't know... sounds like a bad porno to me. I mean, did anybody else get this? It's like the storyline to a book the "Fifty Shades of Grey" author would write. Call me crazy, but there's nothing "relatable" about a helpless widow who falls for a Spanish drug trafficker who seems nice but she occasionally "notices something sinister in his eye". Come on. The whole thing is leading up to bad porn written by a middle aged housewife, and you know it.
I just couldn't finish it. It was going nowhere. And if I had to be introduced to another character with "she had dark eyes and a killer smile" or hear Sophie fucking Brinkmann say she thought she saw something scary and sinister in Hector's eyes, or read about her experimenting with ecstasy because she "trusted Hector bwawawawaaa" or some shit, I was gonna blow chunks.
September 14, 2012
What a great read this is! It comes out in March 2013 and is the first in a planned trilogy. An ordinary nurse, mother of a teen boy, is unexpectedly caught up in the conflict between competing underworld factions in Sweden. I never really was sure who's good and who's bad but the characters are all very well drawn and I was very involved in their world. Another cool thing is that the nurse is in no way the all-too-typical victim. She takes charge when opportunities arise. Likewise, one of the creepy gangsters does some selfless things and it seems like half the cops turn out to be crooks.
I'm really looking forward to the next book.
I'm really looking forward to the next book.
October 23, 2014
Primeiro livro de uma trilogia, «Brinkmann», O Amigo Andaluz marca a estreia de Alexander Soderberg no nosso país.
É conhecido o meu gosto por policiais, sendo o policial nórdico uma descoberta cada vez maior. No entanto, este foi para mim uma complicada leitura, sobretudo ao início. Repleto de personagens, de diversos países, dei por mim, por diversas vezes, a folhear as páginas para o início do livro para me conseguir situar na história. Talvez por isso o demorei tanto a ler.
Opinião completa: http://marcadordelivros.blogspot.pt/2...
É conhecido o meu gosto por policiais, sendo o policial nórdico uma descoberta cada vez maior. No entanto, este foi para mim uma complicada leitura, sobretudo ao início. Repleto de personagens, de diversos países, dei por mim, por diversas vezes, a folhear as páginas para o início do livro para me conseguir situar na história. Talvez por isso o demorei tanto a ler.
Opinião completa: http://marcadordelivros.blogspot.pt/2...
March 2, 2016
This book had a good storyline but was hard to follow at times. It jumped around from character to character (which there were so many of) that I lost track many times as to who was who (even with the list of characters at the beginning) and how they related to the story. Luckily, I was able to follow the main characters and the general gist of the story. Since I plan on reading the second book in this series, The Other Son, I am really hoping it's easier to follow.
March 5, 2024
There is more blood here than you might see in the sluicing gutter of an abattoir or on the gore-stained set of a Hammer horror vampire movie - and this is liberal-minded Stockholm . The body count is so prodigious that I ended with a feeling that Sweden's organized crime network would go into a decline due to a shortage of personnel.
There are shootings, stabbings, beatings, hit and run attacks, even a partial dismemberment - sharp knives, a portable circular saw, followed by the use of a butcher's mincing machine. We are not reading about nice people here. For those who like their prose soaked in human blood and snarling with brutality, their characters uniformly evil and corrupted - in this story only young Albert, the fifteen year old son of Sophie Brinkmann, is completely innocent and he ends up in a wheelchair paralyzed from the waist down after being run over by a couple of bent coppers - then The Andalucian Friend is a bo0k for you.
On the other hand, if you prefer an intricate plot with believable characters who behave the way they do for understandable reasons, I fear disappointment awaits you. The whole thing is set up as a movie or TV mini-series with short scenes of action jumping one to another, allowing the bewilderingly large cast to share the spotlight and show their evil or foolish intentions whether in gang warfare or police corruption. Of the characters it is a race for who is the least believable. For me it was a choice between the senior police Inspector Gunilla Strandberg and the appallingly useless detective Lars Vinge.
Gunilla and her brother Eric, also a police officer and I think the only person in the story who dies a natural death, have been squirrelling away huge sums of stolen money for years - money that was the proceeds of crimes they were supposedly investigating - and no one in the police force ever had suspicions. Poor Lars, regularly filled up to his eyeballs with prescription drugs, most of which he stole from his dying mother's prescriptions, and alcohol has somehow stumbled through a career without anyone thinking, "I wonder if he's the right man for the job?" Like almost everybody else in the story they are ready to kill in cold blood to get what they want.
As for Sophie Brinkmann, the dedicated nurse who becomes - unknowingly we have to believe - the lover of a Spanish drug baron, and who is reviving a teenage crush on Jens, an arms dealer who is being chased by three vodka-sodden Russian mercenaries - the sort of people the Wagner Group would have rejected as too violent - she has only the love for her son as a redemptive factor in her nature.
The whole is a bit of a hoot most of the time. Savagely violent when the silliness wears thin. It's not so much Scandi-noir as full blooded Mickey Spillane.
There are shootings, stabbings, beatings, hit and run attacks, even a partial dismemberment - sharp knives, a portable circular saw, followed by the use of a butcher's mincing machine. We are not reading about nice people here. For those who like their prose soaked in human blood and snarling with brutality, their characters uniformly evil and corrupted - in this story only young Albert, the fifteen year old son of Sophie Brinkmann, is completely innocent and he ends up in a wheelchair paralyzed from the waist down after being run over by a couple of bent coppers - then The Andalucian Friend is a bo0k for you.
On the other hand, if you prefer an intricate plot with believable characters who behave the way they do for understandable reasons, I fear disappointment awaits you. The whole thing is set up as a movie or TV mini-series with short scenes of action jumping one to another, allowing the bewilderingly large cast to share the spotlight and show their evil or foolish intentions whether in gang warfare or police corruption. Of the characters it is a race for who is the least believable. For me it was a choice between the senior police Inspector Gunilla Strandberg and the appallingly useless detective Lars Vinge.
Gunilla and her brother Eric, also a police officer and I think the only person in the story who dies a natural death, have been squirrelling away huge sums of stolen money for years - money that was the proceeds of crimes they were supposedly investigating - and no one in the police force ever had suspicions. Poor Lars, regularly filled up to his eyeballs with prescription drugs, most of which he stole from his dying mother's prescriptions, and alcohol has somehow stumbled through a career without anyone thinking, "I wonder if he's the right man for the job?" Like almost everybody else in the story they are ready to kill in cold blood to get what they want.
As for Sophie Brinkmann, the dedicated nurse who becomes - unknowingly we have to believe - the lover of a Spanish drug baron, and who is reviving a teenage crush on Jens, an arms dealer who is being chased by three vodka-sodden Russian mercenaries - the sort of people the Wagner Group would have rejected as too violent - she has only the love for her son as a redemptive factor in her nature.
The whole is a bit of a hoot most of the time. Savagely violent when the silliness wears thin. It's not so much Scandi-noir as full blooded Mickey Spillane.
March 12, 2013
I usually judge how good a book is by the amount of time it takes to me to read the first 100 pages. Often I become distracted, wander off for coffee or snack raids to the kitchen or decide that yes, my apartment is a tip and needs tidying, leaving my book to one side to be picked up again later. Indeed, you could be forgiven for thinking, like me, that on initial inspection `The Andalucian Friend' would be a Scandinavian crime novel very much like any other Scandinavian crime novel but you would be wrong...so wrong... So the fact that I read this in pretty much one sitting- all 446 pages- completely immersed in its myriad characters and beautifully interwoven plotting, bears testament to how good this book truly is.
I was instantly drawn into this tale of organised crime- a sordid world of drug trafficking, gun-running and police corruption where any sense of morality can change in a heartbeat. This is a world dominated by money and power, with opposing criminal gangs jostling for control and the story flows effortlessly back and forth across Europe, as each tries to usurp the other leading to bloodshed and betrayal. The `bad guys' are pitch perfect in their characterisation veering from the ruthlessness and wily intelligence of the really quite charming Hector Guzman, to the scheming and unflinching coldness of the Hankes heading up their German crime syndicate, and in direct competition with Guzman and his cohorts. Throw into the mix some truly psychopathic and coldblooded Russians and Jens Vall, a Swedish gun-runner who falls foul of the said Russians, which reluctantly leads him into Guzman's web and let the mayhem commence. There are shoot-outs, dismemberments in restaurant kitchens and double crossings at every turn which would be more than enough for any reader, but Soderberg has more strings to his bow, so read on to discover how he rises above the bog standard organised crime yarn...
Into this mix comes Sophie Brinkmann and Lars Vinge, two brilliantly conceived characters who add a depth and richness to the overall plot and whose experience in this sordid world fundamentally change them in ways they could not have imagined. Sophie is a nurse, a widow and a mother, just a normal fundamentally good woman, who becomes more and more tainted by her involvement with Hector Guzman, but who grows exponentially in character and strength as the plot progresses, through her immersion in this dangerous and violent world. Lars Vinge is a Swedish police officer, tasked with surveilling Sophie, whose moral and physical decline becomes such a potent part of the novel, as his obsession with her and his building distrust of his colleagues, draw him down into a world of addiction and bleakness that at times is truly heartwrenching. His suspicions are in no way groundless, thus unveiling the morally bankrupt and corrupt world of those tasked to catch and punish kingpins like Guzman, and whose greed and moral bankruptcy knows no bounds. Sophie and Lars completely held my interest throughout the novel, experiencing the highs, but generally more numerous lows, of their differing involvement in the violent power struggles of the warring criminals at great personal cost to them both.
As I said in my introduction, this is unlike any other Scandinavian crime novel I've read as in all truthfulness this does not read as a Swedish crime novel per se, but more as a strongly all encompassing European style in characterisation, dialogue and atmosphere. Soderberg captures perfectly the subtle nuances in his characterisation of the differing European protagonists, but also writes with a lyrical style more prevalent in French crime fiction and the emotional intensity of an Italian crime novel, whilst interweaving the bleak psychological darkness of his Scandinavian counterparts. Interestingly his depiction of violence feels distinctly American, and there is one altercation that brings to mind a Tarantino-esque movie scene where no one could possible escape unscathed. The translation by Neil Smith, beautifully allows these contrasting styles to be self evident to the reader, and to my mind certainly, supports the effortless flow of the narrative. Soderberg is supremely confident in linking these different styles together, and with a fairly large cast of dramatis personae to introduce, ensures from the outset that the reader can easily navigate their relationships to one another as the story unfolds and their connections and conflicts are revealed. I am delighted that this is part one of a projected trilogy of books, because purely on the strength of this one this could be one of the most powerful trilogies ever produced in the crime genre. A remarkable debut novel that only bodes well for further books by this author.
I was instantly drawn into this tale of organised crime- a sordid world of drug trafficking, gun-running and police corruption where any sense of morality can change in a heartbeat. This is a world dominated by money and power, with opposing criminal gangs jostling for control and the story flows effortlessly back and forth across Europe, as each tries to usurp the other leading to bloodshed and betrayal. The `bad guys' are pitch perfect in their characterisation veering from the ruthlessness and wily intelligence of the really quite charming Hector Guzman, to the scheming and unflinching coldness of the Hankes heading up their German crime syndicate, and in direct competition with Guzman and his cohorts. Throw into the mix some truly psychopathic and coldblooded Russians and Jens Vall, a Swedish gun-runner who falls foul of the said Russians, which reluctantly leads him into Guzman's web and let the mayhem commence. There are shoot-outs, dismemberments in restaurant kitchens and double crossings at every turn which would be more than enough for any reader, but Soderberg has more strings to his bow, so read on to discover how he rises above the bog standard organised crime yarn...
Into this mix comes Sophie Brinkmann and Lars Vinge, two brilliantly conceived characters who add a depth and richness to the overall plot and whose experience in this sordid world fundamentally change them in ways they could not have imagined. Sophie is a nurse, a widow and a mother, just a normal fundamentally good woman, who becomes more and more tainted by her involvement with Hector Guzman, but who grows exponentially in character and strength as the plot progresses, through her immersion in this dangerous and violent world. Lars Vinge is a Swedish police officer, tasked with surveilling Sophie, whose moral and physical decline becomes such a potent part of the novel, as his obsession with her and his building distrust of his colleagues, draw him down into a world of addiction and bleakness that at times is truly heartwrenching. His suspicions are in no way groundless, thus unveiling the morally bankrupt and corrupt world of those tasked to catch and punish kingpins like Guzman, and whose greed and moral bankruptcy knows no bounds. Sophie and Lars completely held my interest throughout the novel, experiencing the highs, but generally more numerous lows, of their differing involvement in the violent power struggles of the warring criminals at great personal cost to them both.
As I said in my introduction, this is unlike any other Scandinavian crime novel I've read as in all truthfulness this does not read as a Swedish crime novel per se, but more as a strongly all encompassing European style in characterisation, dialogue and atmosphere. Soderberg captures perfectly the subtle nuances in his characterisation of the differing European protagonists, but also writes with a lyrical style more prevalent in French crime fiction and the emotional intensity of an Italian crime novel, whilst interweaving the bleak psychological darkness of his Scandinavian counterparts. Interestingly his depiction of violence feels distinctly American, and there is one altercation that brings to mind a Tarantino-esque movie scene where no one could possible escape unscathed. The translation by Neil Smith, beautifully allows these contrasting styles to be self evident to the reader, and to my mind certainly, supports the effortless flow of the narrative. Soderberg is supremely confident in linking these different styles together, and with a fairly large cast of dramatis personae to introduce, ensures from the outset that the reader can easily navigate their relationships to one another as the story unfolds and their connections and conflicts are revealed. I am delighted that this is part one of a projected trilogy of books, because purely on the strength of this one this could be one of the most powerful trilogies ever produced in the crime genre. A remarkable debut novel that only bodes well for further books by this author.
November 11, 2015
След появата на Стиг Ларшон и неговата трилогия „Милениум“ скандинавската криминална литература не е това, което беше. Именно с Ларшон сравняват Александър Сьодерберг, автора на романа „Андалуският приятел“ (изд. „Colibri“). Причините са две – народността на двамата писатели и фактът, че „Андалуският приятел“ е първата от замислените три книги. Но дали наистина Сьодерберг е тръгнал по успешните стъпки на покойния вече Ларшон и дали ще успее да надмине неговия успех със своята трилогия?
Тук главната героиня е Софи Бринкман. Тя е привлекателна медицинска сестра, вдовица и майка на хитроумен, буден тийнейджър. В живота й се появява неин пациент от Испания, който я привлича неустоимо. Хектор Гусман изглежда стабилен, уравновесен и добър, но това е само едната страна на монетата. В действителност Гусман е син на мафиотски бос, който, заедно с едни много лоши и неотстъпчиви руснаци, е замесен в кървава нарковойна. Софи се оказва в центъра на тяхната гангстерска битка, в резултат на което е застрашен не само нейният живот, но и този на сина й. Софи е изправена пред редица предизвикателства, които я променят неузнаваемо.
Още от ревюто- тук: http://azcheta.com/andaluskiyat-priya...
Тук главната героиня е Софи Бринкман. Тя е привлекателна медицинска сестра, вдовица и майка на хитроумен, буден тийнейджър. В живота й се появява неин пациент от Испания, който я привлича неустоимо. Хектор Гусман изглежда стабилен, уравновесен и добър, но това е само едната страна на монетата. В действителност Гусман е син на мафиотски бос, който, заедно с едни много лоши и неотстъпчиви руснаци, е замесен в кървава нарковойна. Софи се оказва в центъра на тяхната гангстерска битка, в резултат на което е застрашен не само нейният живот, но и този на сина й. Софи е изправена пред редица предизвикателства, които я променят неузнаваемо.
Още от ревюто- тук: http://azcheta.com/andaluskiyat-priya...
February 3, 2014
Seriously, I'm getting mighty tired of crappy books comparing themselves to great books in order to make money.
This book was VERY poorly translated for one.
"Her cell phone buzzed anxiously on the counter."
"A car horn sounded anxiously."
Those two gems appear on the same page.
"Wondering where all the small talk was leading. He realized."
What?!?
My personal favorite was "If I remembered rightly."
These lines and many others stopped me cold.
The characters are cliché and cardboard. Sophie is an idiot. Who dates a serial killing gangster after the initial set up was that she was a nice nurse who liked to help people? All the police officers are corrupt or drug addicts and the story was convoluted. I slogged through 200 pages of this thing and thought "do you really care how it ends?" My answer was a resounding NO!
This author owes me 5 hours of my life back.
This book was VERY poorly translated for one.
"Her cell phone buzzed anxiously on the counter."
"A car horn sounded anxiously."
Those two gems appear on the same page.
"Wondering where all the small talk was leading. He realized."
What?!?
My personal favorite was "If I remembered rightly."
These lines and many others stopped me cold.
The characters are cliché and cardboard. Sophie is an idiot. Who dates a serial killing gangster after the initial set up was that she was a nice nurse who liked to help people? All the police officers are corrupt or drug addicts and the story was convoluted. I slogged through 200 pages of this thing and thought "do you really care how it ends?" My answer was a resounding NO!
This author owes me 5 hours of my life back.
April 7, 2013
Oh, boy. This was touted as a successor to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, but it doesn't come close. The author is a screenwriter and this has the feel of a screenplay. The action scenes were hard to follow and there were practically no characters to feel empathy for, except Sophie, although she seems a bit dead at the beginning. I think the author made a mistake not exploring her ties to Jens. This would have added some depth to her character and explained her loveless first marriage. There was a character who was particularly unsavory, and I found his portions of the narrative totally sickening. I kept hoping that he would die.
September 27, 2019
Ίσως από τα χειρότερα σκανδιναβικά αστυνομικά που έχω διαβάσει. Η υπόθεση αδύνατη, όλοι οι χαρακτήρες βίαιοι, κακοί, ναρκομανείς και αλκοολικοί με εξαίρεση την κεντρική ηρωϊδα. Όσον αφορά στους αστυνομικούς, ούτε ένας, ένας, που να μην είναι διεφθαρμένος και προβληματικός. Και φυσικά χάνεται κανείς μέσα σε μία πληθώρα ονομάτων και κάθε φορά ψάχνει να ανακαλέσει στην μνήμη του ποιος είναι ποιος. Απογοήτευση!
December 26, 2012
A beginning friendship with a patient changes the lives of a widowed nurse and her son into a living hell.
Drug lords, weapon smugglers, over-active police enforcement, the good, the bad and the ugly. But the bad can be good and the good can be bad. Get ready for a roller coasting ride. Amazing thriller, super suspense ... and this is only the first in a trilogy.
Drug lords, weapon smugglers, over-active police enforcement, the good, the bad and the ugly. But the bad can be good and the good can be bad. Get ready for a roller coasting ride. Amazing thriller, super suspense ... and this is only the first in a trilogy.
March 30, 2013
Cops or robbers, who do you dislike? In this case it's the cops. They're worse then the bad guys. I stayed up late to finish the book, but I can see other books being written. It was weird reading because of the bad cops, or the Germans or the Russians. Take your pick. I would recommend this book to be read.
August 17, 2014
Χωρίς πολύ ενδιαφέρον στην πλοκή. Αρκετά ονόματα και γενικά στοιχεία που ίσως και να ηταν περιττά για το όλο story. Γενικά, ένα βιβλίο που εξυπηρετεί εμπορικούς σκοπούς, αφού πληροί ολα όσα θέλουν οι εκδοτικοί θυσιάζοντας λογοτεχνικά στοιχεία και απλώνοντας το κείμενο στην επιφάνεια και οχι στο βάθος. Η ιδέα δεν ειναι άσχημη, αλλά κατα τη γνώμη μου αποδίδεται κουραστικά και βαρετά.
December 11, 2016
Φλύαρο, πολύπλοκο στην αρχή, μάλλον με κούρασε.Πιθανόν υπερβολικά τα όσα λέγονται για τα στυνομικά των σκανδιναβικών χωρών....
April 29, 2013
I literally could not tell you what happened in this book except that a lot of people died.
August 31, 2021
The publisher and critics alike have chosen to compare this novel to the Lisbeth Salander stories of Stieg Larsson. But I see no valid comparison. The protagonist, Sophie Brinkmann, is a widowed nurse with a fifteen-year-old son. She could hardly be any different from the diminutive, ass-kicking heroine of Larsson’s imagination. They’re both Swedish and both women, but there the similarity stops. And the novel is hard to pigeonhole, though it’s a story about an international gang war that echoes The Godfather and The Sopranos.
An innocent woman caught up in an international gang war
Sophie unwittingly stumbles into a running battle between rival European drug smuggling syndicates. She becomes entangled in an unorthodox police operation targeting the Swedish end of one of the two gangs. But there is no clear dividing line between good and evil, as Larsson seemed to suggest in his novels. There are no innocents here. Everyone behaves badly. In fact, you may wonder who are the bigger criminals—the gangsters or the cops. It’s a close contest.
The Andalucian Friend is a novel worthy of its author, a screenwriter, with a cinematic opening and a profusion of action scenes set in exotic locales around the world. It’s a truly original story that follows none of the conventional formulas of police dramas, despite a beginning that suggests it will.
A generous, charming, and attentive gangster
When Hector Guzman ends up in a Stockholm hospital after his leg is broken by a hit-and-run driver, Sophie is assigned to his care. She is a classically beautiful Swedish blonde as well as clearly intelligent, and Hector is entranced. The two hit it off. And a perceptive police detective named Gunilla Strandberg who is sitting in the hallway outside Hector’s room detects the attraction. Once Sophie and Hector have gotten together following his release on crutches, Gunilla approaches her for information about him. Her intention to enlist Sophie as an informer is clear, but Sophie is reluctant. In any case, she knows very little about the man other than that he is generous, charming, and attentive.
Action galore, in Sweden, Germany, Spain, Holland, and Paraguay
The action comes thick and fast after that. Hector is the scion of a wealthy criminal syndicate based in Marbella, Spain. There, his father, Adalberto, lives in splendor, basking in the admiration he receives for his generous philanthropy. Hector runs operations out of a Stockholm restaurant. But all is not well with the Guzmans’ business. A powerful German syndicate based in Munich has been attacking their cocaine shipments en route from Paraguay to The Netherlands, and the rivalry is heating up into all-out war. Hector’s broken leg is an early sign of the international gang war that’s brewing. Yet Sophie knows none of this. She cannot see why the police are interested in him.
As Sophie becomes more and more involved with Hector and his family, Gunilla Strandberg’s police operation comes into focus. We meet the misfits and thugs she employs in her no-holds-barred campaign targeting Hector and his business. We know that none of this will turn out well. What we don’t know is how. In fact, we can’t possibly guess what will happen.
About the author
Alexander Söderberg (1970-) has worked as a screenwriter for Swedish television. The Andalucian Friend is his first novel and inaugurates a planned trilogy. He lives with his wife and children in the south of Sweden.
An innocent woman caught up in an international gang war
Sophie unwittingly stumbles into a running battle between rival European drug smuggling syndicates. She becomes entangled in an unorthodox police operation targeting the Swedish end of one of the two gangs. But there is no clear dividing line between good and evil, as Larsson seemed to suggest in his novels. There are no innocents here. Everyone behaves badly. In fact, you may wonder who are the bigger criminals—the gangsters or the cops. It’s a close contest.
The Andalucian Friend is a novel worthy of its author, a screenwriter, with a cinematic opening and a profusion of action scenes set in exotic locales around the world. It’s a truly original story that follows none of the conventional formulas of police dramas, despite a beginning that suggests it will.
A generous, charming, and attentive gangster
When Hector Guzman ends up in a Stockholm hospital after his leg is broken by a hit-and-run driver, Sophie is assigned to his care. She is a classically beautiful Swedish blonde as well as clearly intelligent, and Hector is entranced. The two hit it off. And a perceptive police detective named Gunilla Strandberg who is sitting in the hallway outside Hector’s room detects the attraction. Once Sophie and Hector have gotten together following his release on crutches, Gunilla approaches her for information about him. Her intention to enlist Sophie as an informer is clear, but Sophie is reluctant. In any case, she knows very little about the man other than that he is generous, charming, and attentive.
Action galore, in Sweden, Germany, Spain, Holland, and Paraguay
The action comes thick and fast after that. Hector is the scion of a wealthy criminal syndicate based in Marbella, Spain. There, his father, Adalberto, lives in splendor, basking in the admiration he receives for his generous philanthropy. Hector runs operations out of a Stockholm restaurant. But all is not well with the Guzmans’ business. A powerful German syndicate based in Munich has been attacking their cocaine shipments en route from Paraguay to The Netherlands, and the rivalry is heating up into all-out war. Hector’s broken leg is an early sign of the international gang war that’s brewing. Yet Sophie knows none of this. She cannot see why the police are interested in him.
As Sophie becomes more and more involved with Hector and his family, Gunilla Strandberg’s police operation comes into focus. We meet the misfits and thugs she employs in her no-holds-barred campaign targeting Hector and his business. We know that none of this will turn out well. What we don’t know is how. In fact, we can’t possibly guess what will happen.
About the author
Alexander Söderberg (1970-) has worked as a screenwriter for Swedish television. The Andalucian Friend is his first novel and inaugurates a planned trilogy. He lives with his wife and children in the south of Sweden.
November 5, 2017
This book was just a really huge mess!
I didn't like any of the characters. The main character, nurse Sophie, was really weird. I couldn't understand her neither her thinking. Some other characters were just disgusting!
There were too many parts of the story, and they weren't connected at all... The book was also too long, some things were so unimportant, descriptions were top precise and boring.
I didn't like any of the characters. The main character, nurse Sophie, was really weird. I couldn't understand her neither her thinking. Some other characters were just disgusting!
There were too many parts of the story, and they weren't connected at all... The book was also too long, some things were so unimportant, descriptions were top precise and boring.
June 30, 2018
Para empezar el escritor, además, es guionista y se nota. La acción no para en ningún momento y, aunque hay protagonistas, hay unos cuantos personajes más con sus historias paralelas que también tienen su miga. Sin embargo, a pesar de la acción, no ha sido de los que tengo que leer sin parar, es decir, casi al contrario, tenía que parar un poco. No obstante lo recomiendo, las historias son muy buenas y merece la pena.
February 3, 2019
Too many characters, so reading should be started with a pen and paper.
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