Followers

Friday, December 5, 2014

The Bodyguard (The Bodyguard series Book 1)







The Bodyguard (The Bodyguard series Book 1) [Kindle Edition]

Leena Lehtolainen , Jenni Salmi

Kindle Price: $4.99
Kindle Unlimited: Free




Book Description

December 9, 2014
"As a professional bodyguard, Hilja Ilveskero rarely loses her cool. But one day, she and a client have an argument in a Moscow fur salon, and Hilja quits on the spot. When the client turns up dead, Hilja quickly discovers that she is a suspect. In an attempt to clear her name and find the killer, she uncovers ever-deeper layers of subterfuge. Amid all the covert treachery and intrigue, Hilja finds herself falling in love with a suspicious yet irresistibly sexy man—but is her heart clouding her judgment? In this tale of political romance populated by Russian oligarchs, Finnish politicians, and undercover cops, no one is what they seem and no one can be trusted. A fast-paced, tightly woven tale of love, murder, betrayal, and high-stakes deal-making, The Bodyguard—the first in a gripping trilogy by internationally acclaimed Nordic crime author Leena Lehtolainen—exposes the delicacy and dark underbelly of international relations on both a human and global scale."


I am not sure, if it is the translation from Finnish to English that is making this book so difficult for me to read and enjoy, or if it just not that well written in the first place.  I normally love books that are set (well at least to me) in exotic places, but this book is not doing it for me.

 This book is written in first person and for a mystery, that is normally a very good thing, but getting and staying inside of Hilja Ilveskero’s head is a creepy thing for me.  She has the personality of a 14-year-old sexual predator with an obsession for lynx’s. Yes, you heard me correctly – the part of the first chapter is spent on this; as are many other parts of many other chapters.  As I got to the 75% mark, I had still not understood what the importance of the lynx was and I am bored enough at this point to not care. 

The mystery aspect is interesting enough and the up to date background is quite interesting, politically speaking. Unfortunately, most of the book is not really spent with Hilja trying to solve the murder…it is spent on so many other things, thoughts, brooding moments and secondary characters.

The author seems obsessed with certain aspects of Hilja’s life and personality.  For example, most an entire chapter of us has to learn that Hilja had to undergo an internal exam when she was about six or seven due to a mistake on her teachers’ part.  Very detailed description I might add…and just in case you missed the description the first time, you get to experience it a second time too! In addition, it came to nothing.


  A lot of what is thrown into this book was repetitive (I wanted to scream if I had to hear about the New York Bodyguard school she went to, one more time and that is just one example).  Perhaps the repetitiveness will make further books in this new series make more sense, but I can say that it makes THIS book to be a difficult read.
The chapters that bring us to the conclusion and explanation of the crimes, is so unbelievable that I very nearly laughed at what I felt the absurdity of it all.

Again, all of this might be from the translation: stilted dialogue, cardboard characters, clichés…but I think not.  I think I just don’t get Scandinavian authors and that is unfortunate because I was so looking forward to something different.

No comments: