Henning Mankell – The Dogs of Riga (books)

Sometimes, I try something new. In Sweden there is a Television produced kind of Hennig Mankell movies. The movies are produced in high speed under a low budget, but still they manage to entertain in a nice way. Its more or less because they feel somewhat like extended length criminal episodes.

So I finally thought, lets give the writer a try and read one of his books; Big mistake of course. While this Swedish writer is sold in 36 nations this really does not give any real quality assurance.

I was really, really disappointed about his writing. I mean: even though criminal books are not my favorite (mainly because they normally does not goes deeper than solving a crime) I have read quite a few of them. The marked for criminal books are huge and hard. And there are really many, many excellent writers that make books that shines of quality.

So what is wrong with Mankell? The story does not really thrill you. The writing is childish. In fact I get associations with The Hardy Boys. While I was a teenager I think I read about 100 Hardy Boys books. (Boy must I have been bored…) And while this was ok at the time, as soon as I got over to Morgan Kane I never read another Hardy Boys Book.

So I guess in a way Mankell can thrill a small audience of teenagers and readers who never got beyond the Frank Stratemeyer level.

Poor you. Stay away from these books and watch the movies instead.