Norwegian by Night - Hardcover

Miller, Derek B.

3.94

16,042 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0571294251 ISBN 13: 9780571294251

Publisher: Faber & Faber, 2013

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He will not admit it to Rhea and Lars - never, of course not - but Sheldon can't help but wonder what it is he's doing here...

Eighty-two years old, and recently widowed, Sheldon Horowitz has grudgingly moved to Oslo, with his grand-daughter and her Norwegian husband. An ex-Marine, he talks often to the ghosts of his past - the friends he lost in the Pacific and the son who followed him into the US Army, and to his death in Vietnam.

When Sheldon witnesses the murder of a woman in his apartment complex, he rescues her six-year-old son and decides to run. Pursued by both the Balkan gang responsible for the murder, and the Norwegian police, he has to rely on training from over half a century before to try and keep the boy safe. Against a strange and foreign landscape, this unlikely couple, who can't speak the same language, start to form a bond that may just save them both.

An extraordinary debut, featuring a memorable hero, Norwegian by Night is the last adventure of a man still trying to come to terms with the tragedies of his life. Compelling and sophisticated, it is both a chase through the woods thriller and an emotionally haunting novel about ageing and regret.

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Review:

'Elegant and compelling ... Norwegian by Night is a stunningly good debut thriller, subtle and moving with a truly original hero.' The Times

'A remarkably confident debut that is at once a rich psychological study, a political �parable that seems to be about America's compulsion to intervene abroad, and a moving story of an old man's last chance to slay his demons.' Sunday Times

'Sheldon provides an intriguing twist on the usual chase story you get in thrillers [and] Miller ups the ante and the pace to create a nerve-shredding finale that lives long in the memory.' Big Issue

'A tense, extremely well-written novel ... Highly recommended.' Catholic Herald

'A moving, well-written meditation on the ageing process, on memories and regrets ... It's a fine read, and an interesting twist on Scandi-noir.' Sunday Herald

'Outstanding ... I would urge everyone to read this exceptional debut with its powerful and emotive themes, but this is also a book that retains all the tension of a totally authentic Scandinavian crime thriller. I cannot praise it highly enough.' RavenCrimeReads

'Generous with its wit, dazzling in its cultural and historical reach, Derek Miller's novel is the kind of sweep-you-up tale a reader always wants but rarely finds, the kind where you stand in the bookstore reading the opening pages and whisper, This is the one.' Leif Enger, author of Peace Like a River

'Make sure you're in a comfortable spot when cracking this book; you won't be putting it down for an obscenely long while.'

--Jonathan Miles, author of Dear American Airlines

Book Description:

Norwegian by Night by Derek B. Miller is an edge-of-your-seat thriller written with great humanity and humour, following an elderly American on the run across Norway with a kid in danger.

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